Information: Federal Court Initial Appearances

The United States Attorney's Office today announced that the following individuals have been arrested, charged, and made initial appearances on criminal complaints in "Operation Pale Mule." If convicted of the most serious charges in the complaints, each defendant faces possible penalties of life imprisonment, five years supervised release and $10,000,000 in fines. The investigation is a cooperative effort between the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Montana Division of Criminal Investigation, and the Eastern Montana High Intensity Drug Task Force. The prosecution is part of Project Safe Bakken, a cooperative effort between federal and state prosecutors and federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies in Montana and North Dakota.

• Casey Patrick Fleming

• Age: 41

• Hometown: Taft, California

• Charge: Conspiracy to Possess Methamphetamine with Intent to Distribute (21 U.S.C. � 846 & 841)

• Desiree Margarita Jimenez

Age: 30

o Hometown: Taft, California

o Charge: Conspiracy to Possess Methamphetamine with Intent to Distribute (21 U.S.C. � 846 & 841)

• Mario Albert Villegas

o Age: 31

o Hometown: Los Angeles, California

o Charge: Conspiracy to Possess Methamphetamine with Intent to Distribute (21 U.S.C. � 846 & 841)

• David Delcarmen

o Age: 32

o Hometown: Los Angeles, California

o Charge: Conspiracy to Possess Methamphetamine with Intent to Distribute (21 U.S.C. � 846 & 841)

• Gerardo Lopez Martinez

o Age: 35

o Hometown: Los Angeles, California

o Charge: Conspiracy to Possess Methamphetamine with Intent to Distribute (21 U.S.C. � 846 & 841)

• Kathrine Sue Neel a/k/a Catherine Sue Neel

o Age: 49

o Hometown: Taft, California

o Charge: Conspiracy to Possess Methamphetamine with Intent to Distribute (21 U.S.C. � 846 & 841)

• Cody William Simpson

o Age: 25

o Hometown: Taft, California

o Charge: Conspiracy to Possess Methamphetamine with Intent to Distribute (21 U.S.C. � 846 & 841)

• David Lee Barnard, Jr.

o Age: 43

o Hometown: Billings, Montana

o Charge: Conspiracy to Possess Methamphetamine with Intent to Distribute (21 U.S.C. � 846 & 841)

• David Lee Goffena

o Age: 45

o Hometown: Roundup, Montana

o Charge: Conspiracy to Possess Methamphetamine with Intent to Distribute (21 U.S.C. � 846 & 841)

• Kirsta Elaine Goffena

o Age: 38

o Hometown: Roundup, Montana

o Charge: Conspiracy to Possess Methamphetamine with Intent to Distribute (21 U.S.C. � 846 & 841)

• Brandon Scott Robey

o Age: 38

o Hometown: Billings, Montana

o Charge: Conspiracy to Possess Methamphetamine with Intent to Distribute (21 U.S.C. � 846 & 841)

A criminal complaint is merely a written statement of the essential facts constituting the offense(s) charged. It is not proof of guilt and all persons charged 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.