The United States Attorney’s Office 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 Lynch in Missoula, on January 15, 2016 and entering pleas of Not Guilty were:
- JAMES ANTHONY LOVENGUTH, a 38-year-old resident of Havre, appeared on charges of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine, possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, illegal receipt of a firearm by a person under Information, and possession of a firearm by a prohibited person. If convicted of the most serious charges contained in the indictment, LOVENGUTH faces 40 years in prison, $5,000,000 in fines and 4 years supervised release. The case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration. PACER Case Reference. 16-01
- TANDA AURORA TROUT, a 36-year-old resident of Havre, appeared on charges of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine, and possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine. If convicted of the most serious charges contained in the indictment, LOVENGUTH faces 20 years in prison, $1,000,000 in fines and 3 years supervised release. The case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration. PACER Case Reference. 16-01
Appearing before U.S. Magistrate Johnston in Great Falls, on January 13, 2016 and entering pleas of Not Guilty were:
- HARLAN JEROME DEAN MAD PLUME, a 19-year-old resident of Browning, appeared on charges of assault resulting in serious bodily injury. If convicted of the charge contained in the indictment, MAD PLUME faces 10 years in prison, $250,000 in fines and 3 years supervised release. The case was investigated by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. PACER Case Reference. 16-03
Appearing before U.S. Magistrate Lynch in Missoula, on January 13, 2016 and entering pleas of Not Guilty were:
- OCTAVIO GUADALOPE GARCIA-MORALES, a 29-year-old resident of Mexico, appeared on charges of conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, and distribution of heroin. If convicted of the most serious charges contained in the indictment, GARCIA-MORALES faces life in prison, $10,000,000 in fines and 5 years supervised release. The case was investigated by the Northwest Montana Drug Task Force. PACER Case Reference. 16-05
Appearing before U.S. Magistrate Lynch in Missoula on January 12, 2016 and entering pleas of Not Guilty were:
- GEORGE LESLIE MANLOVE, a 58-year-old resident of Eagle, Idaho, appeared on charges of conspiracy, wire fraud, bank fraud, false statement to federal insured bank, bankruptcy fraud, and money laundering. If convicted of the most serious charges contained in the indictment, MANLOVE faces 30 years in prison, $1,000,000 in fines and 5 years supervised release. The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, U.S. Department of Labor and the Internal Revenue Service. PACER Case Reference. 16-40
- PAUL LYN NISBET, a 46-year-old resident of Missoula, appeared on charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. If convicted of the most serious charge contained in the indictment, NISBET faces 5 years in prison, $250,000 in fines and 3 years supervised release. The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, U.S. Department of Labor and the Internal Revenue Service. PACER Case Reference. 15-43
Appearing before U.S. Magistrate Ostby in Billings, on January 12, 2016 and entering pleas of Not Guilty were:
- CHARITY LEIGH MENDONSA, a 39-year-old resident of Cathedral City, California, appeared on charges of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine, possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, and distribution of methamphetamine. If convicted of the most serious charges contained in the indictment, MENDONSA faces life in prison, $10,000,000 in fines and 5 years supervised release. The case was investigated by the Montana Division of Criminal Investigation and the Drug Enforcement Administration. PACER Case Reference. 15-147
- JOSEPH EMMANUEL SOBECK, a 43-year-old resident of Ashland, appeared on charges of possession of a firearm not registered in National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record, and felon in possession of a firearm. If convicted of the most serious charges contained in the indictment, SOBECK faces 10 years in prison, $10,000,000 in fines and 3 years supervised release. The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. PACER Case Reference. 15-153
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.