Informational: Federal Court arraignments

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 beyond a reasonable doubt:

Appearing in Missoula before U.S. Magistrate Judge Kathleen L. DeSoto and pleading not guilty on Oct. 1 was:

Kevin Andrew Bacon, 50, of Manhattan, on charges of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute controlled substances and possession with intent to distribute controlled substances. If convicted of the most serious crime, Bacon faces a mandatory minimum of 10 years to life in prison, a $10 million fine and at least five years of supervised release. Bacon was detained pending further proceedings The Montana Division of Criminal Investigation, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Gallatin County Sheriff's Office and Homeland Security Investigations conducted the investigation. PACER case reference. 24-33.

Heather Brook Jenkins, 45, of Bozeman, on charges of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine and possession with intent to distribute meth. If convicted of the most serious crime, Jenkins faces a mandatory minimum of 10 years to life in prison, a $10 million fine and at least five years of supervised release. Jenkins was detained pending further proceedings. The Missouri River Drug Task Force conducted the investigation. PACER case reference. 24-34.

Appearing on Sept. 30 was:

Taylor Gale Penny, 35, of Missoula, on charges of possession with intent to distribute controlled substances and conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute controlled substances. If convicted of the most serious crime, Penny faces a mandatory minimum of 10 years to life in prison, a $10 million fine and at least five years of supervised release. Penny was detained pending further proceedings. The FBI's Montana Regional Violent Crime Task Force conducted the investigation. PACER case reference. 24-51.

Anthony Robert Catalusci, 64, of Three Forks, 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, Catalusci faces a mandatory minimum of 10 years to life in prison, a $10 million fine and at least five years of supervised release. Catalusci was detained pending further proceedings. The Missouri River Drug Task Force conducted the investigation. PACER case reference. 24-34.

Travis Kurt Myers, 56, of Columbia Falls, on charges of pointing laser at aircraft. If convicted of the most serious crime, Myers faces a maximum of five years in prison, a $250,000 fine and three years of supervised release. Myers was detained pending further proceedings. The Flathead County Sheriff's Office and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives conducted the investigation. PACER case reference. 24-54.

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.

XXX