Information: Federal Court Initial Appearances

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 6, 2014, and entering pleas of Not Guilty were:

• DANIEL FLANSBURG, a 20-year-old resident of Hays appeared on charges of assault resulting in serious bodily injury and assault with a dangerous weapon. If convicted, FLANSBURG faces possible penalties of 10 years in prison.

• CHERYL L. GUARDIPEE, a 39-year-old resident of Cut Bank appeared on charges of theft of government funds and false statements. If convicted, GUARDIPEE faces possible penalties of 10 years in prison.

• PEDRO MARTINE ROBLEDO, a 19-year-old resident of Cut Bank appeared on charges of involuntary manslaughter and assault resulting in serious bodily injury. If convicted, ROBLEDO faces possible penalties of 10 years in prison.

• RHONDA LEE WRIGHT, a 48-year-old resident of Richland, Washington appeared on charges of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine and distribution of methamphetamine. If convicted, WRIGHT faces possible penalties of a mandatory minimum of 10 years in prison and could be sentenced to life in prison.

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.