Informational: Federal Court Sentence | USAO-MT
The U.S. Attorney’s Office announced that the following individuals were indicted or arraigned this week on indictments handed down by a grand jury or before U.S. magistrate judges on criminal charges. Charging documents are mere allegations and defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty:
US Magistrate Judge Timothy J. Cavan appeared in Billings and pleaded not guilty on November 3:
Jamise Maria Jefferson, 32, of Busby, charged with conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, possession with intent to distribute meth and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. If convicted of the most serious offense, Jefferson faces a mandatory minimum of five years to 40 years in prison, a $5 million fine and at least four years of supervised release for the drug count and a mandatory minimum of 10 years to life in prison, consecutive. Any other sentence, a $250,000 fine and five years of supervised release on the firearms count. Jefferson was detained for further proceedings. The FBI and Bureau of Indian Affairs investigated the case. PACER Case Reference. 22-89.
Attended on November 2:
Jordan Joseph Backer, 26, of Lame Deer, charged with aggravated sexual assault and abusive sexual contact. If convicted of the most serious offense, Backer faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 30 years to life in prison, a $250,000 fine and at least five years of supervised release. Backer was detained pending further proceedings. The FBI investigated the case. PACER Case Reference. 22-115.
US Magistrate Judge Kathleen L. DeSoto appeared in Missoula and pleaded not guilty on Nov. 3:
Chance Allen Chambers, 24, of Butte, on charges of possession of a firearm by an unlawful user of a controlled substance and possession of a firearm by a prohibited person. If convicted of the most serious offense, Chambers faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and three years of supervised release. The Chamber is released for further proceedings. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Butte Police Department and Montana Probation and Parole investigated the case. PACER Case Reference. 22-33.
James Allyn Batterton, 24, of Missoula, charged with conspiracy to distribute meth, possession with intent to distribute meth and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. If convicted of the most serious offense, Batterton faces a mandatory minimum of 10 years to life in prison, a $10 million fine and at least five years of supervised release on the conspiracy charge and a consecutive minimum of five years to life. Any other sentence, a $250,000 fine and five years of supervised release on the firearm charge. Batterton was released pending further proceedings. The Missoula High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force investigated the case. PACER Case Reference. 22-51.
Case progress can be monitored through the US District Court calendar and the PACER system. To establish a PACER account, which provides electronic access to review documents filed in a case, please see http://www.pacer.gov/register.html. To access the District Court calendar, please visit https://ecf.mtd.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/PublicCalendar.pl.
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