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APPF Backs Out Of Hardin Jail Deal
Zachary Roth | October 9, 2009, 6:01PM
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The end has come...
Controversial private security contractor American Private Police Fore has officially backed out of a deal with Hardin, Montana, to run a local prison, APPF spokeswoman Beck Shay announced this afternoon. (Watch Shay's press conference here.)
Shay said that Hardin's economic development agency, which signed the deal with APPF, "deserves a less controversial partner." She added that the jail needed upgrading, and "we just cannot make infrastructure investments at this time."
The announcement comes after revelations that APPF's Michael Hilton, who led the negotiations with Hardin, has a history of criminal fraud. And numerous claims made by Hilton about the company's background and experience have been called into question.
Shay addressed those concerns, in a manner of speaking, telling the media:
We have not given you an opportunity to separate Michael Hilton from APF. For those people who feel there may be fraud, I would say to them: there was finally a contractor who was willing to come in and open that detention facility.
She added: "There was never any fraudulent intent in Hardin."
Still, Shay showed a hint of the strain that the controversy has taken. "It's been a pretty arduous process," she noted.
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nrimmer
October 9, 2009 6:16 PM
Firsties!!
Yeah, I'm doing it, got a problem?
I definitely feel better for the people of Montana.
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San Fernando Curt
October 9, 2009 6:20 PM
Dammit! I suppose now i must go back to pouring my paranoid outrage onto Max Baucus and... what's her name?... the Alaska gal. Gonna miss this story. Gonna miss it bad.
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pqowieur
October 9, 2009 6:30 PM
"There was never any fraudulent intent in Hardin." Notice she corrected herself, before she had said fraudulent **attempt**. I'm thinking some were attempting *wittingly* to get one over,(cough, Smith, Peterson, Convers?),while some didn't intend, but just got *caught up* in the bizarre "scam".
Can't wait to see the next contractor will be. Guess they know what not to do next time.
Can't say that I blame some in MT state gov for not supporting a privately *owned* detention facility. Its not so bad(?) if the contractor operating it is private company, but in any case they should be governed by local/state/fed laws and regulations and be transparent to citizens.
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brillobreaks
October 9, 2009 7:31 PM in reply to pqowieur
Given that Smith was suspended (with no public explanation) by the rest of the TRA board a day after he announced the agreement, I think it's likely that at least some of the board had some idea there was something hinky going on. How many went down to do the negotiations and sign the MoU? Two or three, plus Smith's wife?
Smith's wife is running for mayor in Hardin. Pushing hard on economic development and crime. The scuttlebutt is that the two of them were the ones really pushing this deal- either to help her in the mayoral campaign, and/or later, to try and get her a job there.
Either way, times running out for the TRA. The bank will probably take the property back at some point, at least that seems to be the board's worry.
I suspect at the end of the day, it'll end up being turned over the feds for BIA use, just like the Crow tribe offered to do after the initial issues securing any prisoners.
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pqowieur
October 9, 2009 9:54 PM in reply to brillobreaks
Peterson,Smith, and Hilton signed the Sep.4 contract. (Conyers in California with them). The contract states in section 1.05 that the Aug.18 MOU was *attatched*. The MOU says APPF will give proposal to provide Hardin a police department. So I don't see how Peterson or Convery can deny knowledge of this. Am I missing something? They have/will throw curve ball statements out there like Conyers saying 'Smith was the first to suggest APPF provide Hardin police dept and exceeded his authority'. Yeah, but she had to know.
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pqowieur
October 9, 2009 10:01 PM in reply to pqowieur
http://www.kulr8.com/news/local/63886567.html
And peterson is on camera as saying he had no idea why APPF police cars rolled into town. He said it wasn't part of any discussions he had. Didn't he see the MOU that was apparently attatched?
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The Hedonistic Pleasureseeker
October 9, 2009 7:44 PM
Notice Becky Shay still insists that there WAS a contractor willing to make the investment in a detention center/training program/firing range. Which means the money was there. One that she had complete confidence in, which means it was the company BEHIND APF.
So! Will the this secret company go away, or come back at a different angle with a better cover story? Maybe the company, and those like it, will look for another town in which to set up shop, because the US government is STILL highly motivated to train as many people as possible to:
1) engage in nation building overseas,
2) guard rich bankers and politicians from furious investors and consituents, and
3) crack down on civil unrest, G-20 style.
How do I know? All the policy issuances from the State Department, Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security, the EU and the UN regarding private military and civilian police programs are posted to the internet for anyone to read, along with the partnerships between US and Serbia, specifically in the areas of counterterrorism and policing. I'm going to start posting links to them on my site if anyone is interested.
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brillobreaks
October 9, 2009 8:01 PM in reply to The Hedonistic Pleasureseeker
Hilton is a scam artist. This is a basic, classic scam, and Hilton's done it before. Set up a fake company, hire a few gullible (and greedy) people to make it look real, sit back and collect investment money from the people you're conning, skip town and leave the gullible/greedy holding the bag.
What leads you to believe this time is any different?
Or maybe you think the 'secret backer' of his imaginary retirement home scam was real too? Maybe a secret transnational conglomerate of adult diaper makers? Or the 'secret backer' of his art company (which also never failed to materialize), was that real too? A dark menacing megacorp, out to steal all the world's artwork for themselves?
Ya know, as clueless as the TRA members who fell for this 'secret backer' scam are, you conspiracy theory guys that are still insisting there must be one are even more clueless.
There never was any secret backer. Never. Bottom line.
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barrelhse
October 9, 2009 8:43 PM in reply to brillobreaks
Harold Hill, the Music Man.
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brillobreaks
October 9, 2009 8:54 PM in reply to barrelhse
Yep. Like I said, it's a classic scam.
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The Hedonistic Pleasureseeker
October 10, 2009 11:05 AM in reply to brillobreaks
What leads me to belief it's "different this time?"
The fact that I have NO reason to believe that Becky Shay or her colleagues were lying. She is not the type. There was no motive to lie. She's a reporter an knows how do due diligence, that's why. The TRA working with them for a LONG time before any of us read about them. This guy didn't just roll into town.
THAT'S WHY.
So! When the US $$$ economy collapses and America turns into a Twin Peaks version of a banana republic, you'll see private security guards as the new fashion must among disgraced politicians and shady VIPs.
If you don't see what's coming, you're a mushroom.
Nothing says luxury like your own Serbian mercenary. And NOTHING says "failed state" like riot police with their faces covered, brutually cracking down on the public fury. Like Argentina when it's currency collapsed:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rH6_i8zuffs
Everyone together now: Ex-PJPs are the new black!
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slb
October 11, 2009 3:36 AM in reply to The Hedonistic Pleasureseeker
She's a reporter an knows how do due diligence, that's why.
Umm, like Judith Miller, you mean? Or Dan Rather?
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The Hedonistic Pleasureseeker
October 11, 2009 4:51 AM in reply to slb
Judith Miller was likely paid to lie, and Dan Rather was framed.
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psyopswatcher
October 9, 2009 9:57 PM in reply to The Hedonistic Pleasureseeker
Napoleon knew how to take care of #2: "Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich."
Didn't Bush try it with Faith-Based Charities?
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Ann Arbor
October 9, 2009 7:48 PM
Whither Becky Shay, and what of her nascent career in public relations? Is APF still the best move she ever made?
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rynato
October 9, 2009 8:03 PM in reply to Ann Arbor
No kidding. You beat me to it. She won't even get a month's salary out of those jokers, and then what is she going to do to rehabilitate her reputation in Bismarck? It may be technically a city, but it's small enough to be a town in the sense that everyone knows everyone else, more or less.
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brillobreaks
October 9, 2009 8:08 PM in reply to rynato
Bismarck?
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rynato
October 9, 2009 10:31 PM in reply to brillobreaks
wherever. whatever.
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more5600
October 9, 2009 7:56 PM
Boy, It's gonna be tough to open all these FEMA camps unless we get a more reliable partner...
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pqowieur
October 9, 2009 9:48 PM
Check out TRA's guest book postings. Its brutal
http://www.tworiversauthority.org/~site/Scripts_NewGuest/NewGuest.dll?CMD=CMDGetViewEntriesPage&STYLE;=retro/&ENTRYID;=&FORWARDFLAG;=true&GBID;=15629238&DISPLAY;=19&TARGETURL;=DEFAULT&EMAILADDRESS;=ENC__36609b82cf0ea501127c0c06edc36c13636f6d&EM;=true&CUSTOMVALUE;=false&H;_H=1755058634
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rynato
October 9, 2009 10:33 PM in reply to pqowieur
I hear you are building Obamas private police force in your town. Is that true? There is an incredible amount of info going around that you are preparing a US wide private police force to enforce Marshall Law when it comes. Whats the truth?
Marshall Law!!!! haw haw haw
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pqowieur
October 9, 2009 10:49 PM in reply to rynato
Yeah, this whole saga really had the consiracy theorists and liberty people fired up. TRA/Hardin officials used this to say, nothing is wrong, "theres no commandos in the street". Well investigative journalists and people following/reading the Billings local news articles saw all along that some officials and APPF was working on having APPF as Hardin Police Dept. APPF's (even if they aren't "real") website shows them as a Blackwater kind of group. So even if your not a "conspiracy theorist", if you were following the actual story closely, you couldn't hep but be disturbed. Some people just can't believe something if it sounds too weird too them. That's not good.
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EastWest
October 10, 2009 3:05 AM in reply to pqowieur
Holy crap. The best part is, too many of those fools are getting tripped up over their own conspiracy web. So now it's all Obama's fault that Blackwater/Xe is killing civilians in Iraq, which explains how and why he and the UN are setting up their private police force that will send all of our children to reeducation camps. Where they'll be forced to drink flouridated water. While undergoing eugenics experiments. Which are conducted by (non-white) pedophiles....
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psyopswatcher
October 9, 2009 9:51 PM
I'd still like to know what inmate telephone revenues they were planning on. Enough to make the investment pay off with free (inmate) manpower?
"12.04 Inmate telephone revenues are not Project revenues, and shall be payable to, and belong to, the Operator." --Agreement, page 12
Does Becky know? She was there helping to set up the phones.
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pqowieur
October 10, 2009 12:05 AM
Oct.9, Company run by ex-con drops Montana jail plan, AP -M.Brown
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5ifOx0LPKy5B_0KAyPHyNTEqdQz6QD9B7TDI00
"Peterson said Friday he does not regret the decision.
"I can't say it was a mistake," he said. "We make the best decision we can based on the information we have on hand. I don't think we did anything we couldn't or wouldn't do in the future."
"Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer upbraided Hardin officials for first striking a deal with what he called "con men" and then defending American Police Force after Hilton's history emerged. "They became part of the conspiracy. They became apologists," he said of Peterson and others involved in the deal. Schweitzer added that Hardin residents "need some people to represent them that have some business skills, that are honest and have integrity."
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Alana
October 10, 2009 1:58 AM
Becky Shays must by now know that she too got scammed, wouldn't she?
I'd like to know if she goes back begging for her job at the Gazzette.
With no house, no car, no job, promised from APF, and what are are the odds of finding a job in a town so small? It was a countrybumpkin pipe dream. Poor Becky Shay
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EastWest
October 10, 2009 2:51 AM in reply to Alana
You know, totally sans snark, I agree with that. She's an adult who made her own decision, but a rube is still a rube. I actually feel bad for her.
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The Hedonistic Pleasureseeker
October 10, 2009 7:43 PM in reply to EastWest
I know EastWest, me too. I'm convinced what Ms. Shay did was all in good faith.
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jurassicpork
October 11, 2009 11:54 PM
Upgrades? The fucking jail was never used! It's brand new.
"Less controversial". What fucking chutzpah.
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tracy79
October 12, 2009 2:29 AM
what an article!
http://www.craigspr.org
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