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 Missoula before U.S. Magistrate Judge Kathleen L. DeSoto and pleading not guilty on Jan. 5 was:
Christopher Glenn Lakey, 35, of Kalispell and Columbia Falls, on charges of prohibited person in possession of firearm, armed career criminal. If convicted of the most serious crime, Lakey faces a maximum of 15 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and five years of supervised release. Lakey was detained pending further proceedings. The FBI, FBI Lab, Flathead County Sheriff’s Office, Whitefish Police Department, Montana Probation and Parole and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives investigated the case. PACER case reference. 22-43.
Appearing on Jan. 4 was:
Jared Glenn Barth, 33, of Missoula, on charges of depredation of government property. If convicted of the most serious crime, Barth faces a maximum of 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and three years of supervised release. Barth was released pending further proceedings. The Department of Homeland Security Federal Protective Services and U.S. Marshals Service Court Security staff investigated the case. PACER case reference. 22-61.
Appearing in Billings before U.S. Magistrate Judge Timothy J. Cavan and pleading not guilty on Jan. 5 was:
Nicole Marie Schwalbach, 40, of Billings, 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, Schwalbach faces a mandatory minimum 10 years to life in prison, a $10 million fine and at least five years of supervised release. Schwalbach was detained pending further proceedings. The Drug Enforcement Administration, Billings Police Department and Yellowstone County Sheriff’s Office investigated the case. PACER case reference. 22-150.
Cody Lawrence Big Hair, 31, of Billings, on charges of prohibited person in possession of a firearm. If convicted of the most serious crime, Big Hair faces a maximum of 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and three years of supervised release. Big Hair was detained pending further proceedings. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives investigated the case.
PACER case reference. 22-119.
Crystal Angela Nicole Gutierrez, 33, of Aurora, Colorado, on charges of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute controlled substances and possession with intent to distribute controlled substances. If convicted of the most serious charge, Gutierrez faces a mandatory minimum 10 years to life in prison, a $10 million fine and at least five years of supervised release. Gutierrez was released pending further proceedings. The Montana Division of Criminal Investigation, Montana Highway Patrol, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and Laurel Police Department investigated the case. PACER case reference. 22-144.
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 https://www.pacer.gov/register.html. To access the District Court’s calendar, please visit https://ecf.mtd.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/PublicCalendar.pl.
