Information: Federal Court Arraignments

The United States Attorney’s Office 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 Johnston in Great Falls on February 24, 2015 and entering pleas of Not Guilty were:

• NICOLE MARIE BROCKIE, a 41-year-old resident of Harlem, appeared on charges of theft of federally provided welfare benefits by fraud, federal welfare assistance fraud, and theft from an Indian tribal organization.  If convicted of the most serious charges contained in the indictment, BROCKIE faces 10 years in prison, $250,000 in fines and 3 years supervised release.  The case was investigated by Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General.  PACER Case Reference:  15-05

Appearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge Lynch in Missoula on February 24, 2015 and entering pleas of Not Guilty were:

• JOSEPH BRENT LOFTIS, a 60-year-old resident of Irving, Texas, appeared on charges of wire fraud and money laundering.  If convicted of the most serious charges contained in the indictment, LOFTIS faces 20 years in prison, $250,000 in fines and 3 years supervised release.  The case was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. PACER Case Reference:  15-11

Appearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge Johnston in Great Falls on February 23, 2015 and entering pleas of Not Guilty were:

• FRANK GREGORY HENRY, a 51-year-old resident of Box Elder, appeared on charges of willful failure to file a federal income tax return and federal income tax fraud/filing a false return.  If convicted of the most serious charge contained in the indictment, HENRY faces 3 years in prison, $100,000 in fines and 1 year supervised release.  The case was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service, U.S. Department of Interior Office of Inspector General, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Environmental Protection Agency Office of Inspector General and Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General.  PACER Case Reference:  15-06

• MELODY BILLY HENRY, a 50-year-old resident of Box Elder, appeared on charges of willful failure to file a federal income tax return and federal income tax fraud/filing a false return.  If convicted of the most serious charge contained in the indictment, HENRY faces 3 years in prison, $100,000 in fines and 1 year supervised release.  The case was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service, U.S. Department of Interior Office of Inspector General, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Environmental Protection Agency Office of Inspector General and Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General.  PACER Case Reference:  15-06

Appearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge Ostby in Billings on February 20, 2015, and entering pleas of Not Guilty were:

• ANDREW WAYNE HULEN, a 25-year-old resident of Billings, appeared on charges of failure to register as a sex offender.  If convicted of the charge contained in the indictment, HULEN faces 10 years in prison, $250,000 in fines and lifetime supervised release.  The case was investigated by the U.S. Marshals Service.  PACER Case Reference:  15-12

• WILJO CLEVE SPANG, a 23-year-old resident of Lame Deer, appeared on charges of failure to register as a sex offender.  If convicted of the charge contained in the indictment, SPANG faces 10 years in prison, $250,000 in fines and lifetime supervised release.  The case was investigated by the U.S. Marshals Service.  PACER Case Reference:  15-16

Appearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge Ostby in Billings on February 19, 2015, and entering pleas of Not Guilty were:

• JACQUELINE SUE SPITZER, a 47-year-old resident of Laurel, appeared on charges of bank fraud.  If convicted of the most serious charge contained in the indictment, SPITZER faces 30 years in prison, $1,000,000 in fines and 5 years supervised release.  The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.  PACER Case Reference:  15-08

Appearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge Lynch in Missoula on February 18, 2015, and entering pleas of Not Guilty were:

• DOUGLAS JAMES GOSNELL, a 61-year-old resident of Anaconda, appeared on charges of possession of a firearm by a person under a domestic order and receipt of a firearm while subject of an indictment or information.  If convicted of the most serious charge contained in the indictment, GOSNELL faces 10 years in prison, $250,000 in fines and 3 years supervised release.  The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.  PACER Case Reference:  15-09

• ANGEL ITURBE-GONZALEZ, a 36-year-old fugitive, appeared on charges of conspiracy to distribute controlled substances and possession with intent to distribute controlled substances.  If convicted of the most serious charge contained in the indictment, ITURBE-GONZALEZ faces life in prison, $10,000,000 in fines and 5 years supervised release.  The case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations and Montana Highway Patrol.  PACER Case Reference:  14-23

Appearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge Lynch in Missoula on February 18, 2015, and entering pleas of Not Guilty were:

• MARK ANTHONY FOREMAN, a 56-year-old resident of California, appeared on charges of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine.  If convicted of the most serious charge contained in the indictment, FOREMAN faces life in prison, $10,000,000 in fines and 5 years supervised release.  The case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Missoula HIDTA.  PACER Case Reference:  14-42

Appearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge Lynch in Missoula on February 13, 2015, and entering pleas of Not Guilty were:

• LAURI L. SHAFFER, a 54-year-old-resident of Pryor, appeared on charges of misappropriation of postal funds.  If convicted of the charge contained in the indictment, SHAFFER faces 10 years in prison, $250,000 in fines and 3 years supervised release.  The case was investigated by the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General.  PACER Case Reference:  14-132

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.