Hardin, Montana under siege! Alex Jones Interviews Michael Hollingsworth (Infowars/ Prison Planet TV)

[James aka adap2k]

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Hardin, Montana under siege!

Michael Hollingsworth Infowars September 30, 2009

Today started not unlike any other. Except that one of my friends emailed me a story about how a company called American Police Force has moved into a town south of me called Hardin, and how they were “taking over that jail that was built and never opened”. Now most Montanans are aware of this financial OOPS that was this modern jail. It was built, and never opened because it was not built to specs in accordance with prisoner housing requirements pursuant to Montana State Law.

	The new prison facility in Hardin, Montana.

When I started reading the KULR 8 news stations reports on this “American Police Force”, it immediately made me suspicious as that is totally against the idea of police. Our police are hired and mandated by the local governments they are local to. They are required to go to what’s called POST, or Peace Officer’s Standards of Training. This school is mandatory by Montana Law prior to be appointed as a “sworn peace officer”.

With these concerns in mind, I started making phone calls. I started with Becky Shay, who was the Billings Gazette reporter who initially broke the story. I spent an hour and a half with her and talked about all of the details. She and I had a positive talk where she assured me that she was “thankful for the chance to be able to talk to people like me.” I was appalled to hear that this company had “no intention of revealing who their parent company is”. Ms. Shay confided in me that she went from a reporter’s salary and conditions “driving a ‘99 Dodge Intrepid with a broken tie rod and bad front brakes”, to “a brand new black SUV that she doesn’t have to pay the gas bill for”. My jaw was on the floor. Story breaker straight to the being the mouth of the beast…

Ms. Shay also told me that there are people in Hardin that are so grateful for APF’s presence, that they literally opened their homes to her if she needed a place to say. Now this SOUNDS great and all, but it also sounded very manufactured. This conversation went down as if Ms. Shay was trying to sell me something. I read some things about how APF arrived in Hardin, Montana with the words: Hardin Police on the door. This is IMPERSONATING A POLICE OFFICER. They had NO RIGHT to bear that title. They are NOT sworn as peace officers. They have NO AUTHORITY!

It was shortly before I ended this call on a positive note, that Ms. Shay expressed a GREAT interest in talking to Alex. I told her that I would be contacting the AJ show. I was told by her that I was TOTALLY 100% OK’d to use ALL of the content in any further correspondence. I then called Mr. Al Pedersen who is the Executive Director of Two Rivers Authority, the financial entity that is in charge of attempting to rebuild Hardin’s infrastructure. I asked Mr. Pedersen to elaborate how a private military company could move into a town, take over a prison that did not meet Montana Code, and dare to emblazon “Hardin Police” on their doors…Mr. Pedersen cursed me out, and hung up on me. I called him back, got his voicemail, and left the message that since he could not see fit to talk to me civilly, that I would be calling all of my elected officials as well as CNN and CSPAN. No reply.

I then proceeded to call KULR8 news in Billings, Montana. They expressed concern about how a near 20 year career reporter could simply sell out and go to work for the very company SHE ousted! The person I spoke to said, “she got herself a bigger paycheck, can’t fault her for that!”. This person also conceded that it was a sell out situation, and was sick. I than called the Office of the Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer. The person who answered the phone assured me that Gov. Schweitzer was watching this situation and would see to it that there was NOTHING illegal or unconstitutional going on, and that his office would NOT allow these people to overstep any legal boundaries. They didn’t want to talk about how the APF showed up labelled as “police”. This conversation was abruptly ended by the intern.

I then called the Office of Max Baucus’ Billings location who denied any knowledge. Although Schweitzer, Baucus, and Mt Senator Jon Tester were sued by Two Rivers Authority to allow this prison to be used by a private entity…wherein a judge overturned Montana Law in order to allow this prison to be used privately without disclosing where the prisoners are coming from, or their nature. This company is known to be affiliated with Blackwater Security now known as XE, as well as other PMC’s.

For more information or to post Montana news tips please go to. http://freedomvideousa.forumwise.com/

[Dee]

http://www.rumormillnews.com/cgi-bin/forum.cgi?read=157138

[Geonwoshill]

This is interesting, although I think the motive here is probably nothing more nefarious then simple fraud. More information is needed to deduce the motives of those involved.

[Geonwoshill]

Via: AP:

The Two Rivers Detention Center was promoted as the largest economic development project in decades in the small town of Hardin when the jail was built two years ago. But it has been vacant ever since.

City officials have searched from Vermont to Alaska for inmate contracts to fill the jail, only to be turned down at every turn and see the bonds that financed its construction fall into default. They even floated the idea of housing prisoners from Guantanamo Bay at the jail.

So when Hardin officials announced this week that they had signed a deal with a California company to fill the empty jail, it was naturally a cause for celebration. Town officials talked about throwing a party to mark the occasion, their dreams of economic salvation a step closer to being realized.

But questions are emerging over the legitimacy of the company, American Police Force.

Government contract databases show no record of the company. Security industry representatives and federal officials said they had never heard of it. On its Web site, the company lists as its headquarters a building in Washington near the White House that holds “virtual offices.” A spokeswoman for the building said American Police Force never completed its application to use the address.

And it’s unclear where the company will get the inmates for the jail. Montana says it’s not sending inmates to the jail, and neither are federal officials in the state.

An attorney for American Police Force, Maziar Mafi, describes the Santa Ana, Calif., company as a fledgling spin-off of a major security firm founded in 1984. But Mafi declined to name the parent firm or provide details on how the company will finance its jail operations.

“It will gradually be more clear as things go along,” said Mafi, a personal injury and medical malpractice lawyer in Santa Ana who was only hired by American Police Force a month ago. “The nature of this entity is private security and for security purposes, as well as for the interest of their clientele, that’s why they prefer not to be upfront.”

On its elaborate Web site and in interviews with company representatives, American Police Force claims to sell assault rifles and other weapons in Afghanistan on behalf of the U.S. military while providing security, investigative work and other services to clients “in all 50 states and most countries.”

The company also boasts to have “rapid response units awaiting our orders worldwide” and that it can field a battalion-sized team of special forces soldiers “within 72 hours.”

Representatives of American Police Force said the company presently employs at least 16 and as many as 28 people in the United States and 1,600 contractors worldwide.

“APF plays a critical role in helping the U.S. government meet vital homeland security and national defense needs,” the company says on its Web site. “Within the last 5 years the United States has been far and away our” number 1 client.

However, an Associated Press search of two comprehensive federal government contractor databases turned up no record of American Police Force.

Representatives of security trade groups said they had never heard of American Police Force, although they added secrecy was prevalent in the industry and it was possible the company had avoided the public limelight.

“They’re really invisible,” said Alan Chvotkin, executive vice president and counsel for the Professional Services Council. The group’s members include major security contractors Triple Canopy, DynCorp and Xe Services, formerly known as Blackwater Worldwide.

“Even a single unclassified contract in the last couple of years should show up” in the federal database, Chvotkin added.

Spokesmen for the State Department and Defense Department said they could not immediately find any records of contracts with the company. The city has not released a copy of its agreement with American Police Force. But the deal as announced would be a sweet one for Hardin, a depressed rural town of 3,500 about 45 miles east of Billings.

The company is pledging to fill the 464-bed facility by early next year.

Hardin officials say the first payment on the contract is due Feb. 1 — regardless of whether any prisoners are in place. The city’s economic development authority would get enough money to pay off the bondholders and receive $5 per prison a day.

American Police Force also is promising to invest $30 million in new projects for the city, including a military and law enforcement training center with a 250-bed dormitory and an expansion of the jail to 2,000 beds. The company says it will build a homeless shelter, offer free health care for city residents and even deliver meals to the needy.

Where the prisoners would come from is unclear. City officials said California was the most likely possibility, but a spokesman for that state’s corrections system said there was no truth to the claim.

Federal prisoners also were mentioned by both American Police Force and the city. U.S. Marshal Dwight MacKay in Billings said he would have been notified if such a plan was pending.

“There’s skepticism over whether this is a real thing,” MacKay said.

Hardin officials said they were approached by American Police Force about six months ago, soon after the city made international news in its quest to become “America’s Gitmo.” American Police Force incorporated around the same time.

Albert Peterson, the city’s school superintendent and vice president of the authority that built the jail, said the city was “guaranteed” the contract would be upheld.

“There’s never a question in my mind after I’ve done my homework. It’s legit,” Peterson said of American Police Force. “We believe in each other.”

The contract was still being reviewed by the city attorney, he said.

Peterson refused to answer when asked if he knew the name of American Police Force’s parent firm. He said news coverage of the city’s political tussles with the administration of Gov. Brian Schweitzer had left him suspicious of the press. The administration brought a court challenge over whether Hardin could take out-of-state inmates at the jail.

“If you’re looking for the source of the money, you’re not going to find it from me,” Peterson said.

A member of the Texas consortium that developed the jail, Mike Harling, said he had “every reason to believe they’ll be successful.”

Mafi, the American Police Force attorney, said his company intends to reverse Hardin’s recent problems with the jail and give the town an economic boost.

In Santa Ana, American Police Force occupies a single suite on the second floor of a two-story office building. During a visit to the location Thursday, a reporter for The Associated Press encountered a uniformed man behind a desk who would identify himself only as “Captain Michael.”

The man declined to discuss basic details about the company and referred the reporter to the company’s Web site. In a subsequent phone interview, he provided his surname but insisted it not be used because of security concerns. The man said he was a naturalized U.S. citizen born in Montenegro with decades of experience in military and law enforcement operations.

The man said his boss is a retired U.S. Army colonel named Richard Culver who is currently overseas. Culver’s role with the company could not be immediately verified.

The company claim of a headquarters address is just up the street from the White House.

The K Street building houses “virtual offices,” where clients pay to use the prestigious Pennsylvania Avenue address and gain access to onsite conference rooms but have no permanent presence.

“It lets small businesses get started up and have a professional front and not have a lot of a cash to do it,” said Ashley Korner with Preferred Offices, which leases the location.

She said American Police Force’s application to use the address was pending, but incomplete.

[Geonwoshill]

http://cryptogon.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/michaelhilton.jpg
The owner.

[Geonwoshill]

RUFFIN PREVOST Gazette Wyoming Bureau | Posted: Wednesday, September 30, 2009 6:25 pm

CODY, Wyo. – Michael Hilton of American Police Force arrived in Hardin with promises of Mercedes police cars and expertise in operating prisons. He delivered the cars last week, but may have learned about prisons following a 1993 conviction for grand theft.

Public records from police and state and federal courts in California show that Michael Anthony Hilton, using that name and more than a dozen aliases over several years, is cited in multiple criminal, civil and bankruptcy cases, and was sentenced in 1993 to two years in state prison in California.

Hilton pleaded guilty in March 1993 to 14 felonies, including 10 counts of grand theft, one count of attempted grand theft and three counts of diversion of construction funds, according to Orange County court records. He was sentenced to two years in prison, but it is unclear how much time he served.

Court records in that case list his real name as Michael Hilton, but they also include the aliases Midrag Ilia Dokovitch, Midrag Ilia Dokovich and Michael Miodrag.

Hilton, who speaks heavily accented English, has told reporters that he is a naturalized U.S. citizen originally from Montenegro, a country bordering Serbia, and once part of the former Republic of Yugoslavia.

The same aliases and other similar ones, all with slightly different spellings, show up in many other court documents citing Hilton, including a May 2003 Orange County case in which Hilton pleaded guilty to driving under the influence of alcohol.

A booking photo from the Huntington Beach Police Department from Hilton’s DUI arrest on March 14, 2003, shows him heavier, beardless and with more hair than he has now.

It also shows the same facial features, including a distinct arched wrinkle over his left eye, along with three deep brow furrows, small, circular indentations in the center of his forehead and a cleft tip on the nose.

Michael Hilton and his aliases are listed as defendants in various Orange County civil cases alleging fraud and breach of warranty, including a March 2000 case where he is accused of fraud, larceny, breach of contract and false pretenses.

Court documents in that case allege that Hilton and others solicited investments of hundreds of thousands of dollars from the plaintiff for the creation of collectible Super Bowl commemorative coins.

The complaint alleges that Hilton and others falsely told the plaintiff that the money would be used for the design and manufacture of the coins, and to pay for a National Football League license to produce them.

In fact, the complaint states, no such license was ever issued by the NFL.

Court documents show that the plaintiff obtained a 2001 judgment for $200,000 against Hilton, listing his aliases of Miodrag Dokovich and Midrag Ilia Dokovich.

Hilton also declared Chapter 13 bankruptcy twice during a 15-month period.

He filed under his real name, citing the alias Miodrag A. Dokovich, in November 2002, listing a Stanton, Calif., home address and a Fountain Valley, Calif., business address tied to the Belgrade Market Liquor and Deli.

In February 2004, Hilton filed under his real name, citing the alias Miodrag Dokovich, and listing a Santa Ana, Calif., home address. He estimated his assets at less than $50,000, and listed as creditors only a credit union and his landlord.

Both bankruptcy filings appear to have been intended to delay eviction proceedings against him. Under federal bankruptcy law, tenants are generally protected from eviction while they reorganize their finances.

Anh Q.D. Nguyen, a Garden Grove attorney, said in an e-mail that he represented Hilton’s landlord in an eviction case against Hilton that was filed in January 2004.

Nguyen said that Hilton “filed an eleventh-hour bankruptcy petition in which my office successfully obtained relief from the bankruptcy automatic stay, in order to reclaim possession of the rented premises.”

Hilton had also been named as a defendant in July 2002 as part of separate eviction proceedings before his bankruptcy filing that year.

Hilton filed both bankruptcies without an attorney, paying less than $275 in filing fees for each. Both petitions were dismissed by the court after Hilton failed to provide necessary documentation, including a financial reorganization plan.

Chapter 13 bankruptcies generally remain on personal credit histories for seven years, and show up on standard credit checks.

When asked on Wednesday about Hilton’s business dealings before his involvement with APF, company spokeswoman Becky Shay said, “That information is not going to be made available at this point.”

“That’s his private business. He is a man who distinguishes between private and business, between personal and corporate,” she said.

Shay said she would check with Hilton for a comment about his DUI arrest, but did not provide further details.

She did not respond to an additional call made later Wednesday seeking more information about Hilton’s other past legal problems.

—End Update—

[Geonwoshill]

Here James found some new info about the owners past

Update 5: 10/2/2009 01:35GMT: Montana AG Launches Probe of Jail Deal

Via: AP:

By MATTHEW BROWN (AP)

BILLINGS, Mont. — Montana’s attorney general launched an investigation Thursday into a California company that wants to take over an empty jail in the rural city of Hardin, following revelations that the company’s lead figure is a convicted felon with a history of fraud.

Michael Hilton, who formed Santa Ana, Calif.-based American Police Force in March, came to Hardin last month promising to fill the city’s never-used jail and build a large military and law enforcement training center.

Hilton has a decades-long track record of fraudulent activities and spent several years in a California prison on grand theft charges. A native of Montenegro, he uses at least 17 aliases.

Citing “significant concerns” about the city’s dealings with American Police Force, Attorney General Steve Bullock asked Hardin economic development officials to produce by Oct. 12 all documents related to their dealings with the company.

His office made a similar demand of American Police Force, including information that would back up Hilton’s claims of multiple defense contracts with the U.S government and other agencies.

The launch of the investigation came as some Hardin officials began backing away from American Police Force. The city’s Two Rivers Authority reached a 10-year deal on the jail with the company last month.

But that was never ratified by US Bank, the trustee on the construction bonds used to pay for the 464-bed facility.

Attorney Becky Convery, who helped negotiate the deal, said Hilton overstepped his bounds when he showed up in Hardin last week with three Mercedes SUVs marked with fictitious “Hardin Police Department” logos.

He pledged to donate the SUVs to the city and also offered to provide law enforcement for Hardin for $250,000 a year. That prospect has stirred suspicion among critics that rural Hardin, population 3,500, could be transformed into a privately run police state.

Convery said Two Rivers director Greg Smith had a tentative deal with Hilton’s company to provide law enforcement service, but she said it was never finalized and she was uncertain whether it would be legal.

“We are not at all pleased with American Police masquerading as if they were the police for the city of Hardin,” she said.

Yet other Hardin officials remained loyal to American Police Force despite knowing little of its origins beyond what they’ve been told by Hilton.

“I don’t know that his background has affected his position or his ability to do his work,” said Carla Colstad, a member of the Hardin City Council. “I don’t consider it relevant to what’s going on today.”

Hilton — who came to Hardin last week in a black, military-style uniform — portrayed his company as an international player in the security industry. No records have been found of the extensive U.S. government contracts he claims.

Instead, documents and interviews with Hilton’s associates revealed a history of fraud and criminal activity. That includes outstanding judgments against him in three civil cases totaling more than $1.1 million.

“Such schemes you cannot believe,” said Joseph Carella, an Orange County, Calif., doctor and co-defendant with Hilton in a real estate fraud case that resulted in a civil judgment against Hilton and several others.

Carella, described in court documents as a “pawn” in the scheme, said he was never a willing participant. But he acknowledged partnering with Hilton in other failed business deals after being won over by his charm.

“The guy’s brilliant. If he had been able to do honest work, he probably would have been a gazillionaire,” Carella said.

As for Hilton’s military expertise, including his claim to have advised forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, several associates interviewed knew of no such feats, although one said Hilton had talked of being in the special forces in Greece decades ago.

Most who knew him described Hilton alternately as an art dealer, cook, restaurant owner, land developer, loan broker and car salesman.

Hilton did not return numerous calls seeking comment this week. American Police Force attorney Maziar Mafi referred questions to company spokeswoman Becky Shay.

When asked about court records detailing Hilton’s past, Shay replied: “The documents speak for themselves. If anyone has found public documents, the documents are what they are.”

The three SUVs Hilton brought to Montana have yet to be turned over to the city, which does not have a police force of its own but is considering forming one.

At least one is being driven by Shay, a former reporter who abruptly quit her job at the Billings Gazette to work for American Police Force. She said Hilton offered her $60,000 a year.

The jail deal is worth more than $2.6 million a year, according to city leaders.

His criminal record goes back to at least 1988, when Hilton was arrested in Santa Ana, Calif., for writing bad checks. In 1993, Hilton was sentenced to six years in prison in California on a dozen counts of grand theft and attempted grand theft and other charges including illegal diversion of construction funds.

—End Update—

[UnSpy]

APF Founder Has Criminal Background

[James aka adap2k]

VID: Montana Rep. questions Armed Foreign troops in MT DID Hardin / American Police Force violate the MT constitution?



“American Police Force” Santa Ana Office Headed By Bosnian Con Artist With Long Criminal History

[Tara]

To see the shadow of yesterdays dawning rise and fall under a boot that falls hard upon a battered soul shrinking. The fist of fortune forever tries to smother the dreamer within, but never conquers the cheers of those who seek freedom unbending. Freedom still reigns in the hearts of those who know thyself over their master, to one day dance on the graves of those that believe by a grander dress, they are mightier. To all those that suffer by the fate of a few....your day will shine upon you like a golden shield of honor in the battlefield of truth and honor....evermore!

[Kat Smithstad]

I know that other and myself are screaming at the people of Montana to do something. I did get a response from one friend who said his buddy told him that Hardin didn't get the money they were promised. I later found an article that said by Feb 2010 they will get their funding....