Jared Ritz
Havre Daily News
jritz@havredailynews.com
Four people appeared in U.S. District Court today after being arrested on felony drug charges in Havre and on Rocky Boy's Indian Reservation on Tuesday.
Those arrested are: Tara Alice Jordan, 29, Lana Marie Turner, 40, and Lorelei Favel Morinkovich, 46, all of Rocky Boy, and Floyd St. Marks Sr., 57, of Havre. All were served federal arrest warrants at residences at Rocky Boy and Havre between 2 and 5 p.m. Tuesday, a Tri-Agency Task Force agent said. The three women face two counts each of distribution of methamphetamine, and St. Marks has been charged with conspiracy to distribute cocaine, as well as a probation violation.
The cases against Morinkovich and Turner are related, the agent said. The other two defendants were arrested as a result of separate investigations, he said.
The arrest warrants were issued after investigators gave the information they had gathered to the U.S. Attorney's Office, which obtained indictments from a federal grand jury, the agent said.
The arrests were conducted by members of the task force, the FBI and Rocky Boy police officers, according to the task force.
The agent said the investigation of St. Marks has been under way since he was arrested and convicted of cocaine possession in 2000 and convicted the following year of cocaine possession and distribution.
Agents arrested him at his home on the 100 block of Ninth Avenue on Tuesday afternoon after obtaining an arrest warrant on Monday, the agent said.
The investigation of Morinkovich and Turner, who live together on the reservation, began in October, according to the task force. Bureau of Indian Affairs agents began the investigation after receiving a report that they were selling drugs, the agent said.
The same goes for Jordan, although the two cases are unrelated, he said.
The women each face two charges because agents purchased methamphetamine from each of the three defendants on two occasions during November and December, the agent said. Each person sold less than 50 grams of methamphetamine in total, he said.
