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 June 8 was:

Richard Morris Little Nest, 29, a transient, on charges of possession of an unregistered firearm. If convicted of the most serious crime, Little Nest faces a maximum 10 years in prison, a $10,000 fine and three years of supervised release. Little Nest was detained pending further proceedings. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives investigated the case. Pacer case reference. 20-44.

Christopher Michael Emter, 41, of Billings, on charges of prohibited person in possession of a firearm. If convicted of the most serious crime, Emter faces a maximum 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and three years of supervised release. Emter was detained pending further proceedings. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives investigated the case. Pacer case reference. 20-43.

Appearing on June 9 was:

Anthony Dwayne Boldt, 43, of Glendive, on charges of production of child pornography, possession of child porn and attempted witness tampering. If convicted of the most serious crime, Boldt faces a minimum mandatory 15 years to 30 years in prison, a $250,000 fine plus a $5,000 special assessment and five years to life of supervised release. Boldt was detained pending further proceedings. The FBI investigated the case. Pacer case reference. 20-35.

Appearing on June 10 was:

Chad Henry Swoboda, 36, of Billings, on charges of felon in possession, and false statement during a firearms transaction. If convicted of the most serious crime, Swoboda faces a maximum 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and three years of supervised release. Swoboda was released pending further proceedings. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives investigated the case.  Pacer case reference. 20-47.

Appearing in Missoula before U.S. Magistrate Judge Kathleen L. DeSoto and pleading not guilty on June 9 was:

Rhonda Lee Mueller, 60, of Bozeman, on charges of conspiracy to distribute fentanyl and possession with intent to distribute fentanyl. If convicted of the most serious crime, Mueller faces a minimum mandatory five years to 40 years in prison, a $5 million fine and at least four years of supervised release. The U.S. Postal Service, Missouri River Drug Task Force and FBI investigated the case. Pacer case reference. 20-08.

Appearing in Great Falls before U.S. Magistrate Judge John Johnston and pleadeing not guilty on June 9 was:

Joshua Patrick Vanatta, 30, of Bainville, on charges of possession of ammunition by a felon, possession of an unregistered firearm and possession of a firearm without a serial number. If convicted of the most serious crime, Vanatta faces a maximum 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and three years of supervised release. Vanatta was detained pending further proceedings. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives investigated the case. Pacer case reference. 20-39.

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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