Hardin, Montana update: Jail deal in limbo

By Michelle Malkin  •  October 6, 2009 05:41 PM

Because so many of you have e-mailed asking about the status of the weird Hardin, Montana, jail deal with the shadowy American Police Force outfit, here’s the latest. The arrangement is on hold, per the AP:

Officials in this remote Montana town have placed plans for a California company to take over a never-used, $27 million jail on hold.

The Hardin economic development authority’s decision to step back from an agreement with the newly minted American Police Force, of Santa Ana, Calif., came as town leaders on Monday announced the resignation of both the attorney and the economic development official who helped craft the jail deal for the city.

The decision also follows revelations that Mike Hilton, the lead figure of the American Police Force, has a history of fraud that includes several years in jail and three civil judgments against him for more than $1.1 million.

“We won’t move forward. I don’t think any of us want to be on the chopping block,” said Gary Arneson, president of Hardin’s Two Rivers Authority, which owns the jail…

…On Friday, a California judge ordered Hilton to appear in court Oct. 27 over an outstanding judgment in a fraud lawsuit. In that case, Hilton lured investors to sink money into an assisted living complex in Southern California that was never built. An attorney for the plaintiffs, Cris Armenta, said the $340,000 judgment awarded in 2000 has grown to about $700,000 with interest factored in. Armenta said she planned go after any and all of Hilton’s assets, including his wages, property and three Mercedes SUVs that Hilton had once offered to donate to Hardin.

This is an object lesson in citizen vigilance. If you see something, say something.

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Comments


  1. #1
    On October 6th, 2009 at 5:45 pm, sonofdy said:

    I feel bad for the serbian mercenaries. Well not really.

  2. #2
    On October 6th, 2009 at 5:55 pm, vickisoup said:

    WTH??? Doesn’t ANYONE do any background checks anymore?? Man. If it weren’t for Michelle Malkin and others like her, who knows WHAT would get past these keystone cops.

  3. #3
    On October 6th, 2009 at 5:57 pm, Laree said:

    I asked my niece back home, who is behind this prison deal, she said, Sen Max Baucus (D) and Rep Denny Rehberg (R)

  4. #4
    On October 6th, 2009 at 6:10 pm, MarcoPolo said:

    On October 6th, 2009 at 5:55 pm, vickisoup said:

    WTH??? Doesn’t ANYONE do any background checks anymore?? Man. If it weren’t for Michelle Malkin and others like her, who knows WHAT would get past these keystone cops.

    Well, they are essentially the same people who BUILT the still-empty jail, so we already can assume they’re not exactly brilliant civic leaders.

  5. #5
    On October 6th, 2009 at 6:13 pm, MTConservative said:

    I like the way they refer to Hardin as “remote”. Yeesh! Hardin is small, but it is not remote. And the whole thing, APF, jail, involved players, it all gets sillier every day. This affair makes a great case for limited government. They wasted millions of dollars building this jail that now sits empty, and they try to fill it by hooking up with a bunch of loons like APF! You could not dream up comedy this bad!

  6. #6
    On October 6th, 2009 at 6:17 pm, Pasadena Phil said:

    The Hardin citizens should put all of their government officials under review. This fails the 5-minute test, the smell test and all other rules of thumb related to common sense. That the company HQ is in Santa Ana should have been a red flag right there. They couldn’t have asked for client referrals from one of their supposed government clients?

    Hardin, is that where Brokeback Mountain is?

  7. #7
    On October 6th, 2009 at 6:27 pm, 24Klady said:

    Yep, they scrutinized the scoundrels trying to worm their way into Hardin just about as well as D.C. did when handing out millions $$ to the principal players of ACORN.

    Yet, you and I can go for a min. wage job at a local 7-11 or Quick Stop and have to produce a mountain of documents, which will all be verified.

  8. #8
    On October 6th, 2009 at 6:36 pm, Rogue Cheddar said:

    I guess that kills the timeshare for the IOC.

  9. #9
    On October 6th, 2009 at 6:49 pm, Hangfire said:

    Remote, my eye.

    They have a Super 8, a Best Western, McDonald’s, Taco Bell, Dairy Queen, Pizza Hut, and a Subway. It’s on I-90.

    I guess remote means “far from NYC or LA.”

  10. #10
    On October 6th, 2009 at 6:59 pm, 24Klady said:

    Hardin is just a couple clicks from the Crow Reservation, which is some of the most beautiful territory in eastern MT.. I’ve seen tourists from NYC and CA all but drive off the road trying to take it all in.

  11. #11
    On October 6th, 2009 at 7:10 pm, Bogtrotter said:

    MT Conservative said: “I like the way they refer to Hardin as “remote”.”

    AP Story. To them I am sure anyplace outside the confines of a few major city limits is “remote”…..and very scarey to them.

  12. #12
    On October 6th, 2009 at 7:20 pm, right_on said:

    Why does a remote Montana town need a $27 million dollar jail? Bullets are much cheaper, and more effective in the hands of the self-sufficient Montanans.

    I don’t believe the good citizens of Hardin would approve that kind of expenditure, especially in this economy, so, where did the money come from to build it? Was federal, state, or private money used?

    I’ve run out of red flags to raise…there has to be much more to the story, and I smell the stench of liberal federal electees on this one.

    Seriously…Twenty Seven million? Does anyone have pictures of this grey bar hotel?

  13. #13
    On October 6th, 2009 at 7:48 pm, tiredofit08 said:

    Does anyone have pictures of this grey bar hotel?

    do a google search and then click the images link on the top of the page…plenty of them there…

  14. #14
    On October 6th, 2009 at 9:29 pm, JEM said:

    As a Californian, I happen to think it’d be an excellent place to which to export some of our prison overflow, the problem being our state legislature is a wholly owned subsidiary of the CCPOA (California Correctional Peace Officers Association.)

  15. #15
    On October 7th, 2009 at 6:56 am, kudafa said:

    What or whom ever is behind this isn’t as important as this is a very bad idea. Bad and stupid ideas have a way of coming back over & over again, until they take root somewhere.

  16. #16
    On October 7th, 2009 at 8:44 am, tre said:

    On October 6th, 2009 at 6:49 pm, Hangfire said:
    I guess remote means “far from NYC or LA.”

    Then Oklahoma City is “remote”. Even though, the OKC Metro Area (Oklahoma City, Moore, Edmond, Mid West City, and Oklahoma’s 3rd largest city, Norman)has about 1 million people.

    The decision also follows revelations that Mike Hilton, the lead figure of the American Police Force, has a history of fraud that includes several years in jail and three civil judgments against him for more than $1.1 million.

    Duh One has just found his “Police Czar.”

  17. #17
    On October 7th, 2009 at 11:32 am, WarEagle82 said:

    It looks like Hardin, Montana just barely dodged a really embarrassing and expensive bullet.

    I wonder if the three terminated people were truly gullible and stupid or in on the deal? Who wants to bet on their party affiliation?

    Maybe they were just bucking for their own chapter in Michelle’s next edition of “Culture of Corruption.”

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