The United States Attorney's Office today announced that those persons listed below were arraigned before the U.S. Magistrate and the indictments handed down by the Grand Jury unsealed.
Appearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge Lynch in Missoula on Feb. 25, 2014 and entering pleas of Not Guilty were:
* CALVIN CLELAND, a 28-year-old resident of Butte, appeared on charges of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine. If convicted of the charge contained in the indictment, CLELAND faces 40 years imprisonment, $5,000,000 in fines and 4 years supervised release. PACER Case Reference: 13-24
Appearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge Ostby in Billings on Feb. 25, 2014 and entering pleas of Not Guilty were:
* RODNEY TOMMIE STEWART, a resident of Crow Agency, appeared on charges of habitual offender of domestic assault. If convicted of the charge contained in the indictment, STEWART faces 5 years imprisonment, $250,000 in fines and 3 years supervised release. The case was investigated by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. PACER Case Reference: 14-20
Appearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge Strong in Great Falls on Feb. 27, 2014 and entering pleas of Not Guilty were:
* DANIEL WALTER SZWEDKOWICZ, appeared on charges of possession of stolen firearms. If convicted of the charge contained in the indictment, SZWEDKOWICZ faces 10 years imprisonment, $250,000 in fines and 3 years supervised release. The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. PACER Case Reference: 14-06
Appearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge Ostby in Billings on Feb. 27, 2014 and entering pleas of Not Guilty were:
* TRAVIS JOHN BELL, a 22-year-old resident of Billings, appeared on charges of possession with intent to distribute controlled substances and burglary involving controlled substances. If convicted of the most serious offense contained in the indictment, BELL faces 20 years imprisonment, $1,000,000 in fines and 3 years supervised release. The case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Billings Police Department. PACER Case Reference - 14-16
* HOWARD EMBRY, a 39-year-old resident of Billings, appeared on charges of felon in possession, unlawful user of controlled substance in possession. If convicted of the most serious offenses contained in the indictment, EMBRY faces 10 years imprisonment, $250,000 in fines and 3 years supervised release. The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. PACER Case Reference - 14-21
* DYLAN FROST, a 32-year-old resident of Billings, appeared on charges of possession of an unregistered firearm. If convicted of the charge contained in the indictment, FROST faces 10 years imprisonment, $250,000 in fines and 3 years supervised release. PACER Case Reference - 14-18
Appearing before U.S. Magistrate Strong in Great Falls on Feb. 28, 2014 and entering pleas of Not Guilty were:
* CLAYTON WILLARD CARTER, a 23-year-old resident of Missoula, appeared on charges of possession of stolen firearms. If convicted of the charge contained in the indictment, CARTER faces 10 years imprisonment, $250,000 in fines and 3 years supervised release. The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearm, and the Missoula Police Department. PACER Case Reference - 14-06
Appearing before U.S. Magistrate Ostby in Billings on March 3, 2014 and entering pleas of Not Guilty were:
* KIM TROTTIER HIRT, a 55-year-old resident of Billings, appeared on charges of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine, conspiracy to commit money laundering and possession with intent to distribute. If convicted of the most serious offenses contained in the indictment, HIRT faces life imprisonment, $10,000,000 in fines and 5 years supervised release. The case was investigated by the HIDTA Task Force. PACER Case Reference - 14-10
The indictment is merely a formal charging document. It is not proof of guilt and all persons indicted are presumed to be innocent of any crime until proof of guilt is established by trial or guilty plea.
The U.S. Attorney's Office is currently transitioning its media program to new media contacts. Resources and this transition may affect the amount of information the office can process and disclose in a timely manner. Therefore, 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 so that you stay current and not miss any important developments in the case.
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.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
