Tag: Montana
Jeffrey McCown, Wire Fraud, Montana 2007
⏱ 2 min read Jeffrey McCown, a manager at a Bozeman-based dairy cooperative, orchestrated a massive fraud scheme that swindled the dairy out of $1.16 million from 2007-2008. Along with co-conspirators Michael Ernest Monforton, Jeanette Sabrina McCown, and Scott Michael McCown, McCown used co-op funds for personal purchases and reimbursements. The scheme, which began in…
Dion Andre Davis II, Possession with Intent to Distribute Controlled Substances, California 2023
⏱ 4 min read A California prison inmate, Dion Andre Davis II, has admitted to running a large-scale, multistate narcotics trafficking organization from his cell using contraband mobile phones. The 39-year-old pleaded guilty to one count of possession with intent to distribute controlled substances, after law enforcement discovered he was directing the distribution of fentanyl…
Gabriela Lopez-Castro, Illegal Reentry, Montana 2026
⏱ 2 min read Gabriela Lopez-Castro, a 35-year-old Mexican citizen, was sentenced to time served for illegally reentering the United States in Billings, Montana. Lopez-Castro, who was living in Roundup, pleaded guilty in March 2026 to one count of illegal reentry into the United States. She was arrested in Musselshell County on February 4, 2026,…
Thomas Brown Hammond, Securities Fraud, California 2012
⏱ 2 min read Thomas Brown Hammond, a California man, has paid $325,000 in restitution to 14 victims in Montana, nearly a decade after his 2012 conviction for theft from an employee benefit plan. Hammond, a registered securities representative and investment advisor, was found guilty of inducing his victims to invest in a fraudulent private…
Jonathan Lloyd Erwin, Attempted Possession with Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine, Montana 2026
⏱ 2 min read Jonathan Lloyd Erwin, a 38-year-old Billings man, was sentenced to three years in prison for attempting to traffic methamphetamine in Montana. Erwin’s wife tipped off the US Postal Service in February 2025, sparking an investigation that led to his downfall. On March 11, 2025, USPS officials intercepted a package containing 7.5…
Zachary Dean Schifferns, Child Pornography Production and Possession, Montana 2026
⏱ 2 min read Zachary Dean Schifferns, a 38-year-old man from Forsyth, Montana, was sentenced to 27 years in prison for producing and collecting child pornography. Schifferns pleaded guilty in March 2026 to one count of producing child pornography and one count of possessing child pornography. The investigation began on December 25, 2024, when a…
Fabian Lopez-Barragan, Illegal Reentry, Montana 2026
⏱ 2 min read Fabian Lopez-Barragan, a 25-year-old Mexican national, was pulled over in Sidney, Montana, on December 30, 2025, for driving a car with mismatched plates. The traffic stop led to the discovery that Lopez-Barragan was in the country illegally, having been deported in 2019. Lopez-Barragan pleaded guilty to one count of illegal reentry…
Brian Uriel Lopez-Orozco, Conspiracy to Possess with Intent to Distribute Controlled Substances, Montana 2026
⏱ 2 min read Brian Uriel Lopez-Orozco, a 27-year-old Phoenix man, was a major supplier of methamphetamine and fentanyl to the Billings area in Montana. For two years, he ran a drug trafficking ring, shipping significant amounts of narcotics to the region. Lopez-Orozco’s operation was uncovered in November 2022, when local police pulled over two…
Patrick William Allen, Fentanyl Trafficking, Montana 2026
⏱ 2 min read Patrick William Allen, a 55-year-old Spokane, Washington man, was sentenced to 10 years in prison for possessing a firearm while intending to distribute fentanyl in Missoula, Montana. Allen pleaded guilty in February 2026 to one count of possession with intent to distribute fentanyl and one count of possession of a firearm…
Wei Jia Luo, Wire Fraud, Montana 2026
⏱ 2 min read A 73-year-old Joliet man was scammed out of nearly $200,000 by a Chinese national, Wei Jia Luo, 42, who ran an internet scheme posing as a Microsoft representative and a bank courier. The scam started in March 2024 when the victim received a pop-up window on his computer, allegedly from Microsoft.…
