Informational: Federal Court arraignments

Press Release

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 May 27 was:

Jamie Leigh Gracey, 43, and Dwight Benjamin Boyce, 34, both of Culbertson, on charges of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine, distribution of meth, and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. If convicted of the most serious crime, Gracey and Boyce face a mandatory minimum 10 years to life in prison, a $10 million fine and at least five years of supervised release. Gracey and Boyce were detained pending further proceedings. The Drug Enforcement Administration investigated the case.  PACER case reference. 21-10.

Angelo Corey Stackhouse, 51, of Billings, on charges of transportation of person with intent to engage in illegal sexual activity, distribution of cocaine to a person under the age of 21, distribution of cocaine and meth, possession with intent to distribute cocaine and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a trafficking offense. If convicted of the most serious crime, Stackhouse faces a mandatory minimum one year to 40 years in prison, a $1 million fine and at least six years of supervised release on the crime of cocaine distribution to a person under the age of 21, plus a mandatory minimum seven years to life in prison, a $250,000 fine and five years of supervised release consecutive to any other sentence on the firearms crime. Stackhouse was detained pending further proceedings. The Montana Division of Criminal Investigation investigated the case.  PACER case reference. 21-35.


Lonnie Burdette Porter, 59, of Fairview, on charges of felon in possession of a firearm. If convicted of the most serious crime, Porter faces a maximum of 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and three years of supervised release. Porter was detained pending further proceedings. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives investigated the case. PACER case reference. 21-16.


Francisco Javi Martinez Escoto, 33, of Bozeman/Honduras, on charges of illegal reentry. If convicted of the most serious crime, Escoto faces maximum of 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and three years of supervised release. Escoto was detained pending further proceedings. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement investigated the case. PACER case reference. 21-33.

Appearing in Great Falls before U.S. Magistrate Judge John T. Johnston and pleading not guilty on May 27 was:

Brandon Lewis Kelly, 30, of Great Falls, on charges of failure to register/update registration of a sexual offender. If convicted of the most serious crime, Kelly faces a maximum of 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and five years to life of supervised release. Kelly was detained pending further proceedings. The U.S. Marshals Service, Glacier County Sheriff’s Office and Great Falls Police Department investigated the case. PACER case reference. 21-29.

Appearing on May 25 was:

Harrison Garrett Alvarez, 30, of Cut Bank, on charges of intimidation. If convicted of the most serious crime, Alvarez faces a maximum of 10 years in prison, a $50,000 fine and three years of supervised release. Alvarez was released pending further proceedings. The FBI, Glacier County Sheriff’s Office and Blackfeet Law Enforcement Services investigated the case. PACER case reference. 21-26.

Regina Ann Peters, 51, of Queen Creek, Arizona, on charges of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute meth and possession with intent to distribute meth. If convicted of the most serious crime, Peters faces a mandatory minimum 10 years to life in prison, a $10 million fine and at least five years of supervised release. Peters was detained pending further proceedings. The Great Falls Police Department, Homeland Security Investigations, Russell Country Drug Task Force, U.S. Postal Service, Cascade County Sheriff’s Office and Utah Highway Patrol investigated the case. PACER case reference. 21-13.

Appearing in Missoula before U.S. Magistrate Judge Kathleen L. DeSoto and pleading not guilty on May 24 was:

Aaron Charles Fritsch, 50, of Missoula, on charges of receipt of child pornography. If convicted of the most serious crime, Fritsch faces a mandatory minimum five years to 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and five years to life of supervised release. Fritsch was detained pending further proceedings. The Homeland Security Investigations and Montana Probation and Parole Division investigated the case. PACER case reference. 21-17.

Craig Mark Draper, 54, of Las Vegas, Nevada, on charges of wire fraud and money laundering. If convicted of the most serious crime, Draper faces a maximum of 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and three years of supervised release. Draper was released pending further proceedings. The FBI investigated the case. PACER case reference. 21-20.

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 http://www.pacer.gov/register.html. To access the District Court’s calendar, please visit https://ecf.mtd.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/PublicCalendar.pl.

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