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 Aug. 8 was:

Reginald Steven Williams, 31, of Billings, on charges of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine, possession with intent to distribute meth, possession of a firearm in furtherance drug trafficking and prohibited person in possession of a firearm. If convicted of the most serious crime, Williams faces a mandatory minimum five years to 40 years in prison, a $5 million fine and at least four years of supervised release on the drug crimes and a mandatory minimum five years to life, consecutive to any other sentence, a $250,000 fine and five years of supervised release on the crime of possession a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking. Williams was detained pending further proceedings. The Eastern Montana High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force investigated the case. PACER case reference. 22-84.

Appearing in Great Falls before U.S. Magistrate Judge John T. Johnston and pleading not guilty on Aug. 8 was:

Benjamin Richard Skinner, 32, of Great Falls, and Keith Alan Laverdure, 35, of Great Falls, on charges of possession with intent to distribute cocaine and possession of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking crime. If convicted of the most serious crime, Skinner and Laverdure face a maximum of 20 years in prison, a $1 million fine and three years of supervised release on the drug crime and a mandatory minimum five years to life in prison, consecutive to any other sentence, on the crime of possession of firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking. Both defendants were released pending further proceedings. The Great Falls Police Department, FBI and Montana Highway Patrol investigated the case.  PACER case reference. 22-58.

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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