(U.S. Department of Justice news release)
BILLINGS—Ten people were arraigned Friday in federal court on allegations of multiple crimes related to trafficking methamphetamine on the Crow and Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservations and in Yellowstone, Big Horn and Rosebud counties. Another person was arraigned Thursday on a related case, U.S. Attorney Jesse Laslovich said.
Seven of the defendants face charges in a multi-count indictment alleging meth trafficking, firearms and money laundering crimes. Four additional defendants, including one who previously was in custody, face meth trafficking charges in three companion indictments.
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 10 of defendants on April 19 in a 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, Hardin, Crow Agency, Wyola and Lodge Grass, and on the Crow Indian Reservation; and at Lame Deer, 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.
Seven of the defendants named in the indictment pleaded not guilty Friday to various counts. The 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, defendants Hailey James, 43, of Lame Deer, and John Littlehead, 37, of Laurel, pleaded not guilty to three meth trafficking crimes. The indictment alleges that from about January 2022 until March 2023, James and Littlehead conspired to possess and distribute meth at Billings, in Yellowstone County; at Hardin, 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 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.
In a second companion indictment, Jacklyn Marcel Garcia-Littlebird, 58, of Lame Deer, pleaded not guilty to three meth trafficking crimes. The indictment alleges that from January 2022 until October 2022, at Lame Deer, in Rosebud County; and at Crow Agency, in Big Horn County; Garcia-Littlebird conspired with others to traffic meth. If convicted of the most serious crime, Garcia-Littlebird faces a mandatory minimum of five years to 40 years in prison, a $5 million fine and at least 4 years of supervised release.
In a third companion case, Geofredo James Littlebird, Jr., 39, of Lame Deer, who was previously in custody, pleaded not guilty on April 20 to meth trafficking and firearms offenses charged in a superseding indictment.
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.
