Sampson Adkins
Snitch
Montana public records are governed by the Montana Public Records Act. Access court filings, arrest records, and jail rosters from counties across Big Sky Country.
Former longtime Montana Probation and Parole officer Kyle Curtis Hinzman charged in Flathead County District Court with solicitation to commit distribution of dangerous drugs and official misconduct, plus later sexual abuse of children and tampering with a witness or informant. Affidavit states he directed former probationer Jane Doe to supply fentanyl to probationer Michael Odom in a September 2024 reverse sting to entrap him, describing Doe as his confidential informant; state does not typically permit probation officers to use confidential informants. (Flathead Beacon, Jun/Oct 2026)
Cascade County jury found Gary Wayne Temple, Jr. guilty of criminal distribution of dangerous drugs from incidents July 2017-Feb 2018. Four lay witnesses involved in distributing meth in Great Falls testified; Derek Lohmeyer worked as a confidential informant after his 2017 arrest, arranging a drug transaction with Danielle Wilson. Lohmeyer suffered a relapse while serving as CI and cut ties with law enforcement. Temple moved twice for mistrial; appeal affirmed. Postconviction relief denied July 2024; appeal briefed Feb 2025 (DA 24-0539).
Jailhouse informant case arising at Great Falls Regional Prison. Inmate Robert Gardner (serving 50 years for deliberate homicide) contacted Great Falls detectives after cellmate Old-Horn disclosed he had acted as a confidential informant and held info on the unsolved murder of Harold Mitchell, Jr. Old-Horn offered information through Gardner hoping Gardner would receive a sentence reduction. District Court suppressed Old-Horn's statements as involuntary (belief of immunity); Montana Supreme Court affirmed new trial and suppression.
Methamphetamine conspiracy convictions in Great Falls. Police orchestrated controlled purchases using paid informant Connie Riggs (met Larson through drug interaction) and confidential informant Jason Gilstrap (two buys from Laverdure), plus an unnamed CI who bought from Joy Lynn Poitra and Rick Lee Lamere. Poitra and Lamere agreed to testify against Larson and Laverdure in exchange for reduced charges. Ninth Circuit addressed cross-examination of cooperating coconspirators about sentences.
Eighth Judicial District, Cascade County. Johnson convicted March 3, 1999 of three counts criminal sale of dangerous drugs. On June 10, 1998 sold cocaine to Kathy Hart, a reliable/experienced CI for Great Falls Police Department; subsequent buys June 12 and June 19, 1998 with wire and surveillance. Trial court sustained State's objection to Johnson's attempt to impeach the CI (income tax evasion on $60 earned). Speedy trial claim denied; affirmed.
Ferris charged March 2008 with felony distribution of dangerous drugs after selling hydrocodone to an undercover informant; transaction monitored via body wire worn by informant without search warrant. Ferris pleaded guilty then sought to withdraw plea after State v. Goetz (2008 MT 296) required warrant for electronic monitoring in home despite informant consent. District Court denied motion to withdraw plea Aug 26, 2009; appeal.
Whitecotton appealed conviction for conspiracy and possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine and cocaine. MNIB Agent Ken Poteet working unrelated case in Great Falls when CI John Maddox offered introduction to a drug seller. On April 17, 1996 Maddox wore a recording device ('wire') on drive to Whitecotton's residence. Conviction affirmed; sentencing challenge addressed.
Eighth Judicial District, Cascade County. Davison appealed denial of motion to dismiss; affirmed. October 2001 Great Falls police received info from a CI that Davison was manufacturing methamphetamine, trading meth with manager of Four Seasons Hotel; lab located near hotel; Davison arrested in vehicle. Separate charges for operating clandestine lab and manufacturing dangerous drugs.
Eighth Judicial District, Cascade County. Morse and codefendant Ray Brown charged Nov 19, 1985 with conspiracy (aggravated kidnapping) and conspiracy (deliberate homicide); jury not guilty on both but guilty of solicitation. State's informant Thomas Marchington (met Morse playing poker in Billings) wired with transmitter; Great Falls police officers, Cascade County deputy, three DOJ investigators testified. Corroborating evidence introduced; Marchington not an accomplice.
Great Falls man sentenced to 43 months federal prison plus 3 years supervised release after guilty plea Dec 2025 to possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine. Between 2021 and Mar 2025 officers investigated group distributing meth in/around Great Falls; three controlled purchases from Williams utilizing a confidential informant; drugs confirmed meth at DEA lab. Williams admitted selling meth 2021-late June 2024. Russell Country Drug Task Force and DEA investigated; AUSAs Zeno Baucus and Jeff Starnes prosecuted.
Great Falls man pleaded guilty June 13, 2023 to possession with intent to distribute controlled substances (superseding information); mandatory minimum 10 years, $10M fine, 5 years supervised release; sentencing Nov 9, detained. Fall 2022 Russell Country Drug Task Force learned St. Onge distributing in Great Falls; undercover agents and confidential informants made controlled buys of meth and fentanyl pills in January; search warrant February recovered fentanyl pills and meth. AUSA Ethan R. Plaut prosecuted.
Tyler Shane O'Brien, Logan Patrick Berkner, Roger Cantrell charged with felony tampering with witnesses or informants (or intimidation) over October assault at Cascade County Adult Detention Center; max 10 years/$50,000. Victim believed assault aimed to stop him testifying, wearing a wire, or being a 'snitch' due to August case. Cantrell implicated in prior jail assaults and has pending tampering charge for directing another not to testify during recorded jail call. Cantrell in custody on multiple charges.
Burkhart convicted of 2001 homicide of William LeDeau in Great Falls based on single witness; conviction overturned after Montana Innocence Project found post-conviction jailhouse informant told police another inmate confessed to killing LeDeau with motive, info never disclosed to defense. Another testifying witness later said he lied. Cascade County prosecutors declined to re-try (Jan). Burkhart had 2006 prison riot conviction and 2010 attempted deliberate homicide charge. Legislative hearing Jan 29, 2019 on wrongful conviction bills.
Cascade County Sheriff's Office had a confidential informant with concerns teen sexually assaulted by Mellinger; GFPD conducted forensic interview Feb 18 at Cascade County Child Advocacy Center. Mellinger charged with misdemeanor sexual assault for inappropriately touching 17-year-old girl. Reported by Great Falls Tribune.
Great Falls federal court. Nunn, 41, resident of Great Falls, sentenced to 12 months prison + 3 years supervised release for distribution of heroin. Oct 2009 Nunn and wife Margaret met 'John Doe'; Jan 2010 John Doe provided heroin to Margaret for distribution in Great Falls. DEA/GFPD/Central Montana HIDTA task force made controlled purchases; on March 17, 2010 an informant called Margaret about purchasing heroin and bought two bindles from Nunn at residence. Margaret Nunn pled guilty and sentenced.
Great Falls woman jailed on five counts felony distribution of dangerous drugs. Russell Country Drug Task Force recorded sales to undercover officers and confidential informants. Police obtained search warrants Jan/Feb to electronically monitor drug transactions. First three occasions Bryant sold meth to a CI and two undercover officers; final occasion sold meth and heroin to undercover officer. Arrested on $25,000 warrant. Reported by Traci Rosenbaum.
Brian Dean Ward, Terrence Kenneth Holloway, Leonard James Hilton, Brandon Anthony Peressini arrested on drug charges in Great Falls/Fairfield. Peressini alleged to have sold heroin to a confidential informant earlier in month; provided info on Ward/Holloway. Hilton charged two felony counts drug distribution; Ward/Holloway held on $75,000 bond with heroin/meth seized. Reported by Traci Rosenbaum.
Cascade County prosecutors filed additional charging documents in justice court related to drug ring investigation including Aug 2 standoff. Confidential sources and informants told task force group had been in Great Falls area off and on since Dec 2022; Milan arranges meetings; sources spoke with Milan then met Litsey/others usually at park; informants said group wore construction vests to pose as park workers.
Patrick Henderson and Anthony Beavers charged in early-November citywide burglary spree. A confidential informant came forward to identify Henderson as involved in Columbus Center ATM burglary. Woman known to law enforcement admitted purchasing stolen items; prior booking photo and facial tattoos used for identification.
Montana Senate committee heard bills on vacating convictions for new non-DNA evidence and reliability hearings for incentivized witnesses. Richard Burkhart (exonerated of 2001 Great Falls homicide of William LeDeau) testified he was convicted on single witness; post-conviction jailhouse informant told police another inmate confessed; info never disclosed. Cascade County prosecutors declined re-trial. Law enforcement/prosecutors opposed bills citing impact on CI investigations.
Allan Roy Goodman sentenced to 195 months federal prison for drug distribution, retaliating against a witness, firearm offenses. Confidential informants told authorities Goodman became heroin/meth supplier in Missoula taking over from son Stephen. Goodman indicted for assaulting another inmate he believed to be an informant at Crossroads Correctional Center near Shelby. (Cross-jurisdictional; reported in Great Falls Tribune.)
Donald DuBray appealed homicide conviction; in 1997 Detective Cameron received info from a CI that DuBray committed homicide while in prison for rape. DuBray sought jury instruction on informant testimony (money/escape punishment/personal advantage) and disclosure of CI identity; district court refused; Montana Supreme Court found cautionary instruction given and no disclosure required since CI did not testify. Cites State v. Grimes (1999 MT 145) on jailhouse informants. (Statewide; informant principles applied in Montana courts.)
Court records and a 1985 LA Times report describe James Dean Cochrum, an Orange County Jail inmate who informed on at least five fellow inmates, including Adolpho Aguirre and Elliott Beal, claiming to overhear confessions in separate murder cases. Jail informants testified in more than 100 major Orange County cases over five years.
HuffPost reported that Oscar Moriel, a Delhi gang member who admitted to at least six killings, signed an informant agreement with Orange County law enforcement in July 2009 and served as a key informant for 2.5 years, testifying in two high-profile murder trials and a Mexican Mafia crackdown case. Audio from Superior Court records requests revealed officers recruited him.
San Diego County Superior Court Judge Daniel Goldstein found Orange County prosecutor Ebrahim Baytieh committed misconduct using jailhouse informant Jeffrey Platt to elicit statements from Paul Gentile Smith, convicted in 2010 of killing Robert Haugen in Sunset Beach. The conviction was overturned in 2021; a retrial is pending.
Court filings in the Brandon Price habeas case allege San Diego County DA's office used Jarius Bush as a serial jailhouse informant across multiple gang murder cases, including James Carter, Darius Days, Lamar Long, and Jamar Phillips. Bush was moved cell-to-cell at investigators' behest and received a sentence reduction after testifying.
Orange County Sheriff Sandra Hutchens testified in a 2017 hearing about the department's use of jailhouse informants in the Scott Dekraai mass shooting case. Assistant Public Defender Scott Sanders alleged a decades-long operation violating defendants' rights by using snitches to elicit confessions, including concealed TRED records.
California Supreme Court affirmed Christopher Towler's second-degree murder conviction for killing Ron Stone, a police drug informant who introduced undercover Sacramento narcotics agents to Towler. Towler repeatedly called Stone a 'snitch' and threatened to kill him before Stone's disappearance in January 1978.
California Court of Appeal case (1988) involving a Sacramento County Sheriff's deputy search warrant based on a confidential informant who alleged defendants were dealing methamphetamine. Defendants moved to compel disclosure of the informant's identity and criminal history records.
Ninth Circuit case: Gloria Barajas was convicted in 1998 in Fresno County Superior Court of heroin charges based solely on testimony of longtime confidential informant Maria Arellano. Federal court granted habeas relief because the state refused to disclose the informant's addresses, violating the Confrontation Clause.
Fresnoland reported on Alberto, a Fresno resident who provided information to law enforcement and applied for an S-Visa ('snitch visa'), but was arrested by ICE during a green card interview in October 2025 and again at a follow-up appointment, spending months in detention before release on bond.
HuffPost reported that jailhouse informant Daniel Timms alleged Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department detectives ordered him to create false testimony against rap mogul Suge Knight in the Compton murder case, and that similar tactics were used in other LA County cases. The DA's office dismissed the claims.
Federal court order granting sanctions against the Government for untimely and/or undisclosed Giglio information in a D. Montana criminal case, including audio recordings of interviews with cooperating, informant, and confidential sources; trial continued to allow disclosure. Judge Brian Morris, Sept. 18, 2026.
Montana Supreme Court decision (Sept. 9, 2025) affirming denial of postconviction relief; defendant alleged improper use of information by incarcerated (jailhouse) informants and prosecutorial misconduct. Missoula County Fourth Judicial District.
