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 Oct. 15 was:

Elvin Ricardo Perez-Villar, 30, of Mexico, on charges of illegal reentry. If convicted of the most serious crime, Perez-Villar faces a maximum 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and three years of supervised release. Perez-Villar was detained pending further proceedings. The case was investigated by the U.S. Border Patrol. Pacer case reference. 19-77.

Lucia Marlene Mendez, 34, of Tampa, FL, on charges of attempted transportation of illegal aliens. If convicted of the most serious crime, Mendez faces a maximum 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and three years of supervised release. Mendez was released pending further proceedings. The case was investigated by the U.S. Border Patrol. Pacer case reference. 19-76.

Appearing in Missoula before U.S. Magistrate Judge Kathleen L. DeSoto and pleading not guilty on Oct. 15 was:

Allan Roy Goodman, 42, of Missoula, on charges of conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, possession with intent to distribute controlled substances, distribution, possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug crime and prohibited person in possession of a firearm. If convicted of the most serious crime, Goodman faces a maximum 10 years to life in prison, a $10 million fine and at least five years of supervised release. Goodman was detained pending further proceedings. The case was investigated by the FBI and Montana Regional Violent Crimes Task Force. Pacer case reference. 19-43.

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.

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.

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