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 Ostby in Billings on August 7, 2015, and entering pleas of Not Guilty were:

• JESUS YEIZON DENIZ MENDOZA, a 18-year-old resident of Worland, Wyoming, appeared on charges of first degree murder, assault with intent to commit murder, assault with a dangerous weapon and assault resulting in serious bodily injury.  If convicted of the most serious charges contained in the indictment, MENDOZA faces life in prison, $250,000 in fines and 5 years supervised release.  The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.  PACER Case Reference.  15-93

Appearing before U.S. Magistrate Ostby in Billings on July 31, 2015, and entering pleas of Not Guilty were:

• ZETH ANDREW HILARIO, a 32-year-old resident of Billings, appeared on charges of mail fraud and aggravated identity theft.  If convicted of the most serious charges contained in the indictment, HILARIO faces 20 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.  15-83

Appearing before U.S. Magistrate Johnston in Great Falls on July 29, 2015, and entering pleas of Not Guilty were:

• SHANLEY LEONARD BIGHORN, a 30-year-old resident of Brockton, appeared on charges of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine, possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, distribution of methamphetamine, felon in possession of a firearm and possession of a firearm not registered in the national firearm registration and transfer record.  If convicted of the most serious charges contained in the indictment, BIGHORN faces life in prison, $10,000,000 in fines and 5 years supervised release.  The case was investigated by the Bureau of Indian Affairs.  PACER Case Reference.  15-44

• PAUL DARRELL RED EAGLE, SR., a 27-year-old resident of Poplar, appeared on charges of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine and possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine.  If convicted of the most serious charges contained in the indictment, RED EAGLE faces life in prison, $10,000,000 in fines and 5years supervised release.  The case was investigated by the Bureau of Indian Affairs.  PACER Case Reference.  15-44

Appearing before U.S. Magistrate Lynch in Missoula on July 28, 2015, and entering pleas of Not Guilty were:

• NATHAN GLEN KIRKLAND, a 45-year-old resident of Lakeside, 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, KIRKLAND faces life in prison, $10,000,000 in fines and 5 years supervised release.  The case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations and the Northwest Drug Task Force.  PACER Case Reference.  15-16

Appearing before U.S. Magistrate Ostby in Billings on July 27, 2015, and entering pleas of Not Guilty were:

• DAVID JAMES MATTHEW, a 54-year-old resident of Hardin, appeared on charges of felon in possession of firearms and ammunition.  If convicted of the charge contained in the indictment, MATTHEW 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.  15-81

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.