Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

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 Billings before U.S. Magistrate Judge Timothy J. Cavan and pleading not guilty on Aug. 11 was:

Erik Joseph Perlberg, 48, of Billings, on charges of prohibited person in possession of a firearm and illegal possession of a machine gun. If convicted of the most serious crime, Perlberg faces a maximum of 15 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and three years of supervised release. Perlberg was detained pending further proceedings. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives investigated the case. PACER case reference. 23-90.

Appearing on Aug. 10 was:

Caeland Delmon Ackerman, 22, of Billings, on charges of prohibited person in possession of ammunition. If convicted of the most serious crime, Ackerman faces a maximum of 15 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and three years of supervised release. Ackerman was detained pending further proceedings. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives investigated the case. PACER case reference. 23-81.

Appearing in Great Falls before U.S. Magistrate Judge John T. Johnson and pleading not guilty on Aug. 8 was:

Timothy Edward Gonser, 55, of Great Falls, on charges of prohibited person in possession of firearms and ammunition. If convicted of the most serious crime, Gonser faces a maximum of 15 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and three years of supervised release. Gonser was detained pending further proceedings. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Great Falls Police Department and Lewis and Clark County Sheriff’s Office investigated the case. PACER case reference. 23-75.

Appearing on Aug. 7 was:

Agatha Noriz Carranza, 33, of Whitehall, on charges conspiracy to distribute and possession with intent to distribute meth and fentanyl, and possession with intent to distribute meth and fentanyl. Appearing on July 27 on the same charges were co-defendants Juan Felipe Vidrio Fuentes, 25, of Anaheim, California; Martin Topete Garcia, 32, of Mira Loma, California; Johnathan Topete, 27, of Mira Loma, California; and Anthony Wayne Johnson II, 46, of Santa Ana, California. Martin Garcia, Johnathan Topete and Anthony Johnson II face an additional charge of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. If convicted of the most serious charge, all defendants face a mandatory minimum 10 years to life in prison, a $10 million fine and at least five years of supervised release on the drug charges. If convicted of the firearm charge, the defendants face a mandatory minimum of five years in prison, consecutive to any other sentence, a $250,000 fine and five years of supervised release. All defendants were detained pending further proceedings. The Missouri River Drug Task Force, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Montana Division of Criminal Investigation, Montana Highway Patrol and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives investigated the case. PACER case reference. 23-10.

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.