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 beyond a reasonable doubt:

Appearing in Billings before U.S. Magistrate Judge Timothy J. Cavan and pleading not guilty on Nov. 19 was:

Crystal Joy Blakely, 37, of Billings, on charges of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine and fentanyl. If convicted of the most serious crime, Blakely faces a maximum of 20 years in prison, a $1 million fine and at least three years of supervised release. Blakely was detained pending further proceedings. The Billings Police Department, FBI and Drug Enforcement Administration conducted the investigation. PACER case reference. 24-128.

Appearing in Missoula before U.S. Magistrate Judge Kathleen L. DeSoto and pleading not guilty on Nov. 18 was:

Patricia Marie Holcomb, 56, of Kalispell, on charges of possession with intent to distribute meth. If convicted of the most serious crime, Holcomb faces a mandatory minimum of 10 years to life in prison, $10 million fine and at least five years of supervised release. Holcomb was released pending further proceedings. The Northwest Drug Task Force conducted the investigation. PACER case reference. 24-62.

Thomas Joseph Spotted Eagle, 41, of Pablo, on charges of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute meth and fentanyl and possession with intent to distribute meth and fentanyl. If convicted of the most serious crime, Spotted Eagle faces a mandatory minimum of 10 years to life in prison, a $10 million fine and at least five years of supervised release. Spotted Eagle was detained pending further proceedings. The Northwest Drug Task Force conducted the investigation. PACER case reference. 24-48.

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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