Article with good history of this scene.
Our story goes back prior to 2006 when a Texas operator of private prisons convinced Hardin officials that there’d be money in building an operating a prison. Hardin’s economic development agency, The Two Rivers Authority, floated bonds to build the $27 million jail which was ready to open in July 2007. Only problem— no prisoners. None then, none now. In May 2008, Two Rivers Authority defaulted on those bonds. The Texas operator (CEC/CiviGenics) tried with no success to get contracts to house prisoners, and they ended their contract last January.
Since that time, Two Rivers Authority in Hardin has tried everything they can think of to get prisoners— not that everything wasn’t tried previously including putting in a bid (which was rejected) to house sexual offenders. There’s a rumor that this is going to be the location to house the terrorists from Guantanamo Bay. Forget it— in their desperation, Two Rivers thought of that already and were rejected out of hand by the state and feds. The jail is a minimum/medium security facility. Two Rivers had to do something... and that’s where our current saga begins.
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http://www.rollye.net/BLOG-2.html
From Prison Legal News
...According to court records, APF front man Michael Hilton was named as a defendant in a civil lawsuit in Los Angeles, CA in 2000 that included ten counts of fraud and conspiracy. The case resulted in a $1.4 million judgment against the defendants, including $339,950 against Hilton. In an unpublished ruling, the California Court of Appeals noted that “Hilton is a convicted felon.” One of Hilton’s co-defendants, Ivano Stamegna, also was identified in the court ruling as a convicted felon. Stamegna accused Hilton of using another defendant in the suit as a pawn and stated that Hilton was the “main perpetrator of the fraud.” At least three of the parties involved in this case, upon reviewing photos of APF’s Michael Hilton from news articles, confirmed that he is the same Michael Hilton who was involved in the civil suit. The case is Bentley v. Carella, Case No. YC035740, Los Angeles Superior Court; the appellate ruling is Bentley v. Carella, 2003 Cal.App.Unpub. LEXIS 8418 (Cal. App. 2d Dist. Sept. 4, 2003)...
https://www.prisonlegalnews.org/21709_displayArticle.aspx