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 Great Falls before U.S. Magistrate Judge John T. Johnston and pleading not guilty on Oct. 17 was:
Lavanchie Patricia Goodbird, aka Lavanchie Gourneau, 30, of Wolf Point, on charges of kidnapping of individual under 18, assault resulting in serious bodily injury and assault resulting in substantial bodily injury to minor. If convicted of the most serious crime, Goodbird faces a mandatory minimum 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and five years to life of supervised release. Goodbird was detained pending further proceedings. The FBI, Fort Peck Law Enforcement, Roosevelt County Sheriff’s Office and Wolf Point Police Department investigated the case. PACER case reference. 22-77.
Appearing in Billings before U.S. Magistrate Judge Timothy J. Cavan and pleading not guilty on Oct. 19 was:
Brian Kole Hofferber, 34, of Billings, on charges of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine and fentanyl, possession with intent to distribute meth and fentanyl and possession of firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking. If convicted of the most serious crime, Hofferber faces a mandatory minimum 10 years to life in prison, a $10 million fine and at least five years of supervised release on the drug crime and a mandatory minimum five years to life in prison, consecutive to any other sentence, a $250,000 fine and five years of supervised release on the firearm crime. Hofferber was detained pending further proceedings. The Eastern Montana High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force and FBI’s Western Transnational Organized Crime Task Force investigated the case. PACER case reference. 22-77.
Shaylene Jo Suchy, 35, of Seattle, Washington, on charges of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute fentanyl, conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute meth, possession with intent to distribute fentanyl and possession with intent to distribute meth. If convicted of the most serious crime, Suchy faces a mandatory minimum five years to 40 years in prison, a $5 million fine and at least four years of supervised release. Suchy was detained pending further proceedings. The Eastern Montana High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force investigated the case. PACER case reference. 22-114.
Appearing on Oct. 18 was:
Travis Alan-Cody Pair, 38, a transient, on charges of felon in possession of a firearm. If convicted of the most serious crime, Pair faces a maximum of 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and three years of supervised release. Pair was detained pending further proceedings. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives investigated the case. PACER case reference. 22-110.
Marshall Daniel Dammann, 19, of a transient, on charges of robbery affecting commerce and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence. If convicted of the most serious crime, Dammann faces a maximum of 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and three years of supervised release on the robbery crime and a mandatory minimum seven years to life in prison, consecutive to any other sentence, on the firearm crime if found to have brandished a gun. Dammann was detained pending further proceedings. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and Billings Police Department investigated the case. PACER case reference. 22-116.
Ben Michael Williamson, 38, of Billings, on charges of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute controlled substances, possession with intent to distribute controlled substances, possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime and felon in possession of a firearm. If convicted of the most serious crime, Williamson faces a mandatory minimum 10 years to life in prison, a $10 million fine and at least four years of supervised release on the drug crime and a mandatory minimum five years to life in prison, consecutive to any other crime, a $250,000 fine and five years of supervised release on the crime of possessing a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking. Williamson was detained pending further proceedings. The FBI’s Western Transnational Organized Crime Task Force and Eastern Montana High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force investigated the case. PACER case reference. 22-100.
Markel Dean Brown, 60, of Sidney, on charges of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute meth, possession with intent to distribute meth and distribution of meth. If convicted of the most serious crime, Brown faces a mandatory minimum 10 years to life in prison, a $10 million fine and at least five years of supervised release. Brown was detained pending further proceedings. The Drug Enforcement Administration and Montana Division of Criminal Investigation investigated the case. PACER case reference. 22-103.
Jesse Lee Hopkins, 38, a transient, on charges of bank fraud and aggravated identity theft. If convicted of the most serious crime, Hopkins faces a maximum of 30 years in prison, a $1 million fine and five years of supervised release on the bank fraud crime and a mandatory minimum two years in prison, consecutive to any other sentence, a $250,000 fine and one year of supervised release on the aggravated identity theft crime. Hopkins was detained pending further proceedings. Homeland Security Investigations and the Billings Police Department investigated the case. PACER case reference. 22-108.
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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Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
