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 March 16 was:

Nicholas James Imhoff, 19, of Cape Coral, FL, on charges of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine and possession with intent to distribute meth. If convicted of the most serious crime, Imhoff faces a minimum mandatory 10 years to life in prison, a $10 million fine and at least five years of supervised release. Imhoff was detained pending further proceedings. The Drug Enforcement Administration and Montana Highway Patrol investigated the case.  Pacer case reference. 20-24.

Appearing on March 17 was:

Mitchell Zane Littlelight, 24, of Billings, on charges of prohibited person in possession of a firearm. If convicted of the most serious crime, Littlelight faces a maximum 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and three years of supervised release. Littlelight was detained pending further proceedings. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives investigated the case. Pacer case reference. 20-19.

Christopher Darius Larsen, 38, a transient, on charges of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute meth, possession with intent to distribute meth and prohibited person in possession of a firearm. If convicted of the most serious crime, Larsen faces a minimum mandatory 10 years to life in prison, a $10 million fine and at least five years of supervised release. Larsen was detained pending further proceedings. The Eastern Montana High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force investigated the case. Pacer case reference. 20-21.

Appearing in Great Falls before U.S. Magistrate Judge John T. Johnston and pleading not guilty on March 17 was:

Frank Joseph Lira, 56, of Cut Bank, on charges of conspiracy to possess meth with intent to distribute and possession with intent to distribute meth. If convicted of the most serious crime, Lira faces a minimum mandatory 10 years to life in prison, a $10 million fine and at least five years of supervised release. Lira was detained pending further proceedings. The Cut Bank Police Department, FBI and Bureau of Indian Affairs. Pacer case reference. 20-24.

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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