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 Nov. 5 was:
Jaylin McKinley Half, 29, of Lodge Grass, on involuntary manslaughter. If convicted of the most serious crime, Half faces a maximum eight years in prison, a $250,000 fine and three years of supervised release. Half was released pending further proceedings. The case was investigated by Bureau of Indian Affairs. Pacer case reference. 19-131.
Christopher Dennis Shelton, 41, of Billings, on charges of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute a controlled substance, possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance and prohibited person in possession of firearm. If convicted of the most serious crime, Shelton faces a minimum mandatory five years to 40 years in prison, a $5 million fine and at least four years of supervised release. Shelton was detained pending further proceedings. The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Pacer case reference. 19-137.
Appearing on Nov. 6 was:
Dustin Neal Saksa, 36, of Billings, on charges of prohibited person in possession of firearm, possession of a stolen firearm, possession of a firearm not registered in National Firearm Registry. If convicted of the most serious crime, Saksa faces a maximum 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and three years of supervised release. Saksa was detained pending further proceedings. The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Pacer case reference. 18-161.
Appearing on Nov. 7 were:
Franklin Joseph Takeshorse, 40, of Billings, on charges of prohibited person in possession of firearm. If convicted of the most serious crime, Takeshorse faces a maximum 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and three years of supervised release. Takeshorse was detained pending further proceedings. The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Pacer case reference. 19-139.
Joshua Ray Vogel, 41, of Billings, on charges of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute meth, possession with intent to distribute meth, possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime and prohibited person in possession of firearm. If convicted of the most serious crime, Vogel faces a minimum mandatory five years to 40 years in prison, a $5 million fine and at least four years of supervised release. Vogel was detained pending further proceedings. The case was investigated by the Eastern Montana High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Pacer case reference. 19-140.
Appearing in Missoula before U.S. Magistrate Judge Kathleen L. DeSoto and pleading not guilty on Nov. 7 was:
Jeffrey Shawn McDevitt, 51, of Kalispell, on charges of prohibited person in possession of firearm and possession of stolen firearm. If convicted of the most serious crime, McDevitt faces a maximum 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and three years of supervised release. McDevitt was detained pending further proceedings. The case was investigated by the Flathead County Sheriff’s Office, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and Montana Probation and Parole. Pacer case reference. 19-50.
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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Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
