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California entrepreneur promising to revitalize rural Montana town has checkered past ( Hardin )
Los Angeles Times ^
| October 1, 2009 | 11:08 a.m
| MATTHEW BROWN Associated Press Writer
Posted on 10/01/2009 11:40:25 AM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach
In this Friday, Sept. 25, 2009 picture, Michael Hilton stands outside the city offices after meeting with Hardin, Mont. officials. Hilton pitched himself to the city as a military veteran turned private sector entrepreneur - a California defense contractor with extensive government contracts who promised to turn the rural city's empty jail into a cash cow. But now a much different picture of Hilton is emerging from public documents and interviews with his associates and legal adversaries. (AP Photo/Matthew Brown) (Matthew Brown, AP / September 25, 2009)
BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — Michael Hilton showed up in Hardin, Mont., last week, presenting himself as an economic savior, the man who would take over the town's $27 million jail — empty since it was built as a development project in 2007 — and provide 200 new jobs in the process.
He wore a military-style uniform, and as a gesture to local law enforcement offered up the use of three Mercedes SUVs.
But the man who styles himself as a military veteran turned private sector entrepreneur and a California defense contractor with extensive government contracts also has another image, and that one is provided by public documents and interviews with associates and legal adversaries.
The record says that he is a convicted felon with at least 17 aliases, a string of legal judgments against him, two bankruptcies and a decades-long reputation for deals gone bad.
American Police Force is the company Hilton formed in March to take over the Hardin jail.
"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......
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
TOPICS: Business/Economy; Extended News; News/Current Events; US: Montana
KEYWORDS: americanpoliceforce; hardin; hardinapf
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Well...big city shysters con the small town fathers....
To: Ernest_at_the_Beach
The “Hardin Hilton” — you can check in any time; but checkout’s a b*tch.
To: LucyT; WesternMA; Marine_Uncle; Grampa Dave; BIGLOOK; Fred Nerks; Cindy; doug from upland; ...
Posted this thanks to WesternMA pointing out the story on another thread....
To: Ernest_at_the_Beach
LOL!
Imagine the life this guy has had?
I’m not condoning his practices, but you have to admit it has to have been one heck of a ride!
4
posted on
10/01/2009 11:46:09 AM PDT
by
Pessimist
(u)
To: Pessimist; SE Mom; Jim Robinson; RonDog; Gritty; SandRat; Straight Vermonter; Dog; Cap Huff; ...
Man,...we have been in a tizzy around here...see the threads ....click on ...HardinAPF ...keyword...for the ones I have found...there may be others...
To: Beloved Levinite; Crush; FatMax; LastCrusade; backhoe; Notoriously Conservative; BOBTHENAILER; ...
To: Ernest_at_the_Beach
What is his real name? Someone said his real name is some muslim name. Is he trying to get Gitmo scum in that jail?
7
posted on
10/01/2009 11:54:51 AM PDT
by
Frantzie
(Do we want ACORN running America's healthcare?)
To: Frantzie
Well he has 17 alias...so I don’t know his real name.
And Gitmo has been mentioned on a number of threads...
Standby as this story develops...
To: Ernest_at_the_Beach
9
posted on
10/01/2009 11:57:24 AM PDT
by
massmike
(...So this is what happens when OJ's jury elects the president....)
To: Ernest_at_the_Beach
Back to the slammer.
I love happy endings.
*sniff*
10
posted on
10/01/2009 11:59:05 AM PDT
by
Publius6961
(Obama Garden Club: Nothing but plants.)
To: Frantzie
From the article:
*************************EXCERPT**************************
Aliases for Hilton that appear in court documents include Miodrag Dokovich, Michael Hamilton, Hristian Djokich and Michael Djokovich.
To: All
Credits to the Associated Press and the Los Angeles Times on this...from the Article:
Associated Press writers Amy Taxin in Santa Ana and Greg Risling in Los Angeles, and researcher Barbara Sambriski in New York contributed to this report.
Assuming this is the REAL Story....
To: Frantzie
He’s apparently Serbian.
His lawyer is a two-bit shyster of Iranian descent.
To: Publius6961
Well he has been there before...but it should be a cell in Montana...we are full down here.
What a brazen hustler...
To: Ernest_at_the_Beach
I wonder how far this con would have gotten without the internet exposing him.
15
posted on
10/01/2009 12:07:52 PM PDT
by
IYAS9YAS
(The townhalls were going great until the oPods showed up.)
To: MediaMole
He must have a supporting cast,...and Money...some scrubbing of a website...etc....
To: IYAS9YAS
Good point.
Guess I should check Hot Air...and Flopping Aces...maybe Drudge has it ...
To: Ernest_at_the_Beach
18
posted on
10/01/2009 12:18:17 PM PDT
by
Leg Olam
(Make yourselves sheep, and the wolves will eat you. - Benjamin Franklin)
To: Ernest_at_the_Beach
More of our stimulus money down the crapper.
Mama always said if it sounds too good to be true it probably is
Why did the city fathers want this yahoo in the first place? They don’t have a police force. Someone had a scheme at least as big as Hilton’s to build that prison. Our tax dollars went for this ludicrous scheme and there will more going that way
To: Ernest_at_the_Beach
oh yeah it is just a fake and disinformation to keep his really dark black ops background safe. Puuuuhleeeze
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