Information: Federal Court Arraignments

The United States Attorney's Office today announced that those persons listed below were arraigned before the U.S. Magistrate and the indictments handed down by the Grand Jury unsealed.

Appearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge Strong in Great Falls on January 21, 2014 and entering pleas of Not Guilty were:

• TONY BRONSON, a 53-year-old resident of Gary, Indiana appeared on charges of child exploitation enterprise and conspiracy to advertise child pornography. If convicted of the most serious offense charged in the indictment, BRONSON faces life in prison, $250,000 in fines and lifetime supervised release. The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. PACER Case Reference: 13-30

Appearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge Ostby in Billings on January 21, 2014 and entering pleas of Not Guilty were:

• FELIS LUSIANO ROMO, a 32-year-old resident of Sidney appeared on charges of conspiracy to possess methamphetamine with intent to distribute, possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, and felon in possession of a firearm. If convicted of the most serious offenses charged in the indictment, ROMO faces 40 years in prison, $5,000,000 in fines and 4 years supervised release. The investigation was a cooperative effort between the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, Drug Enforcement Administration and the Montana Division of Criminal Investigation. PACER Case Reference: 13-113

Appearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge Strong in Great Falls on January 23, 2014 and entering pleas of Not Guilty were:

• DAVID V. CHASER, 39-year-old resident of Wolf Point appeared on charges of assault with a dangerous weapon and assault resulting in serious bodily injury. If convicted of the most serious offense charged in the indictment, CHASER faces 10 years in prison, $250,000 in fines and 3 years supervised release. The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. PACER Case Reference: 14-05

• AMANDA MAY RICHTER, 28, appeared on charges of acquiring controlled substance by fraud and deception or subterfuge. If convicted of the most serious offense charged in the indictment, RICHTER faces 4 years in prison, $250,000 in fines and 1 year supervised release. The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. PACER Case Reference: 13-18

The indictment is merely a formal charging document. It is not proof of guilt and all persons indicted are presumed to be innocent of any crime until proof of guilt is established by trial or guilty plea.

The U.S. Attorney's Office is currently transitioning its media program to new media contacts. Resources and this transition may affect the amount of information the office can process and disclose in a timely manner. Therefore, if any of the above cases are of interest to your media organization and the community it serves, we encourage you to monitor the progress of the case regularly through the U.S. District Court calendar and the PACER system so that you stay current and not miss any important developments in the case.

To establish a PACER account, which will allow you to review documents filed in the case, please go to, http://www.pacer.gov/register.html.

To access the district court's calendar, please go to https://ecf.mtd.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/PublicCalendar.pl.