Informational: Federal Court Arraignments

The United States Attorney's Office announced that during a federal court session in Missoula, on June 11, 2013, before U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeremiah C. Lynch, the following individuals were arraigned:

IRENE PASTER, age 66, and YOLANDA PASTER, age 41, residents of Big Sky, appeared on charges of conspiracy to structure currency transactions with domestic financial institutions for the purpose of evading IRS currency transaction reports and currency structuring. They are currently released on special conditions. If convicted of these charges, they each face possible penalties of 5 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, and 3 years supervised release on each count. Assistant U.S. Attorney Chad C. Spraker is the prosecutor for the United States. The investigation was conducted by the Criminal Investigation Division of the Internal Revenue Service.

The defendants pled not guilty to the charges.

The charge, an indictment, information or complaint, is merely an accusation and all persons named as defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty. A pre-trial conference and a trial date will be set and the United States will be required to prove the allegations set forth in the indictment beyond a reasonable doubt.