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 Billings before U.S. Magistrate Judge Timothy J. Cavan and pleading not guilty on Nov. 10 was:

Robert Kyle Reed, 34, of Billings, on charges of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute fentanyl, possession with intent to distribute fentanyl and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. If convicted of the most serious crime, Reed faces a mandatory five years to 40 years in prison, a $5 million fine and at least four years of supervised release on the drug count and a mandatory five years in prison consecutive to any other sentence on the firearms count. Reed was detained pending further proceedings. The FBI’s Western Transnational Organized Crime Task Force and the Eastern Montana High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force investigated the case. PACER case reference. 21-95.

Appearing on Nov. 9 was:

Fermin Joseph Vasquez, 39, of Billings, on charges of prohibited person in possession of a firearm. If convicted of the most serious crime, Vasquez faces a maximum 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and three years of supervised release. Vasquez was detained pending further proceedings. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives investigated the case. PACER case reference. 21-66.

Appearing in Great Falls before U.S. Magistrate Judge Kathleen L. DeSoto and pleading not guilty on Nov. 10 was:

James Joseph Sanofsky, 60, of Lewistown, on charges of possession of firearm and ammunition by a prohibited person and possession of an unregistered firearm. If convicted of the most serious crime, Sanofsky faces a maximum 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and three years of supervised release. Sanofsky was detained pending further proceedings. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Belgrade Police Department, Lewistown Police Department, Fergus, Gallatin, Garfield and Judith Basin counties sheriff’s offices and Montana Highway Patrol investigated the case. PACER case reference. 21-80.

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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