Seven persons accused in a large methamphetamine trafficking conspiracy on the Crow and Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservations and in Yellowstone, Big Horn and Rosebud counties appeared for arraignment this week on various charges, U.S. Attorney Jesse Laslovich said today.
Six of the defendants face charges in a multi-count indictment alleging meth trafficking, firearms and money laundering crimes. A seventh defendant faces drug trafficking charges in a companion indictment.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Timothy J. Cavan presided. All defendants were detained pending further proceedings.
Agents with the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Drug Enforcement Administration and FBI arrested the defendants, along with co-defendants, in a recent coordinated takedown involving multiple law enforcement officers at various locations on the Crow and Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservations, and in Yellowstone, Big Horn and Rosebud counties.
A 13-count indictment alleges that multiple defendants conspired to possess with intent to distribute meth from January 2022 through March 2023 in Billings, in Yellowstone County; Hardin, in Big Horn County; Crow Agency, Wyola and Lodge Grass, in Big Horn County and on the Crow Indian Reservation; and at Lame Deer, in Rosebud County and on the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation. The indictment further alleges possession and distribution trafficking crimes, firearms crimes and conspiracy to commit money laundering. The meth conspiracy count carries a penalty of a mandatory minimum of 10 years to life in prison, a $10 million fine and at least five years of supervised release.
Two of the defendants, Daniel Jiminez-Chavez, aka Raton, 40, of Lodge Grass, and Darlon Richard Lefthand, 37, of Hardin, pleaded not guilty on April 24 to various charges in the indictment, while Roderick Plentyhawk, 39, of Billings; Ranita Roselle Redfield, 47, of Lodge Grass; Carly Joy James, 42, of Billings; and Frederica Lefthand, 52, of Lodge Grass, pleaded not guilty on April 26 to various counts. PACER case reference. 23-41.
Seven additional co-defendants named in the same indictment pleaded not guilty on April 21 to various counts. Those defendants include Wendell Lefthand, 54, of Lodge Grass; Melanie Rose Bloodman, 54, a transient; Jeffrey Prettypaint, 30, of Crow Agency; Keilee Shambrae Diaz, 35, of Crow Agency; Zachary Douglas Bacon, 35, of Garryowen; Morgan Luke Hugs, 34, of Lodge Grass; and Anthony Springfield, 23, of Hardin.
In a companion indictment, Adrienne Dawn LaForge, 35, of Lame Deer, pleaded not guilty on April 26 to three meth trafficking crimes. If convicted of the most serious crime, LaForge faces a mandatory minimum of five years to 40 years in prison, a $5 million fine and at least 4 years of supervised release. Co-defendant Jacklyn Marcel Garcia-Littlebird, 58, of Lame Deer, pleaded not guilty on April 21 to the indictment. The indictment alleges that from January 2022 until October 2022, at Lame Deer, in Rosebud County; and at Crow Agency, in Big Horn County; LaForge and Garcia-Littlebird conspired with others to traffic meth. PACER case reference. 23-38.
The indictments are merely accusations, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
The Bureau of Indian Affairs, Drug Enforcement Administration and FBI investigated the cases.
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
Original source can be found here.