Informational: Federal Court arraignments

The U.S. Attorney’s Office announced that the following persons were arraigned or appeared this week before U.S. Magistrate judges on indictments handed down by the Grand Jury or on criminal complaints. The charging documents are merely accusations and defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty:

Appearing in Great Falls before U.S. Magistrate Judge John T. Johnston and pleading not guilty on April 13 was:

Khalil Lajuan Lyons, 19, of Eastpoint, Michigan, on charges of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute oxycodone and fentanyl and possession with intent to distribute oxycodone and fentanyl. If convicted of the most serious crime, Lyons faces a maximum 20 years in prison, a $1 million fine and three years of supervised release. Lyons was detained pending further proceedings. The FBI, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Fort Peck Law Enforcement Services and Roosevelt County Sheriff’s Office investigated the case.

PACER case reference. 21-25.

Jason Tyrell Lee, 45, of Prior Lake, Minnesota, on charges conspiracy to possess and distribute oxycodone, possession with intent to distribute oxycodone, conspiracy to commit money laundering and money laundering. If convicted of the most serious crime, Lee faces a maximum 20 years in prison, a $1 million fine and three years of supervised release. Lee was released pending further proceedings. The FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration, Roosevelt County Sheriff’s Office and Montana Highway Patrol investigated the case. PACER case reference. 21-11.

Appearing in Billings before U.S. Magistrate Judge Timothy J. Cavan and pleading not guilty on April 13 was:

Leanna Martie Miranda, 52, of Billings, on charges of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute meth and possession with intent to distribute meth. If convicted of the most serious crime, Miranda faces a mandatory minimum 10 years to life in prison, a $10 million fine and at least five years of supervised release. Miranda was released pending further proceedings. The FBI Transnational Organized Crime West Task Force investigated the case. PACER case reference. 21-15.

Appearing on April 15 was:

Christian Mikal David Bramley, 21, of Billings, on charges of prohibited person in possession of a firearm and ammunition. If convicted of the most serious crime, Bramley faces a maximum 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and three years of supervised release. Bramley was released pending further proceedings. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives investigated the case. PACER case reference. 21-09.

Larry Sylvester Hines, 41, of Billings, on charges of false statement during a firearms transaction. If convicted of the most serious crime, Hines faces a maximum 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and three years of supervised release. Hines was released pending further proceedings. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives investigated the case. PACER case reference. 21-12.

Teisha Nicole West, 35, of Wichita Falls, Texas, on charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. If convicted of the most serious crime, West faces a maximum 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and three years of supervised release on the fraud counts and two years in prison consecutive to any other crime, a $250,000 fine and one year of supervised release on the identity theft count. West was released pending further proceedings. The Billings Police Department investigated the case. PACER case reference. 21-19.

The progress of cases may be monitored through the U.S. District Court Calendar and the PACER system. To establish a PACER account, which provides electronic access to review documents filed in a case, please visit http://www.pacer.gov/register.html. To access the District Court’s calendar, please visit https://ecf.mtd.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/PublicCalendar.pl.

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