Free Republic

Michael Hilton, the mysterious figure at the center of a failed plan by American Police Force to take over the vacant 464-bed detention center in Hardin, did not show up for a scheduled court hearing today in California. Hilton had been ordered by a judge in Superior Court of Los Angeles to appear in court and to disclose his assets to a plaintiff who has a civil judgment of almost $700,000 against him. The judge issued a bench warrant for Hilton, who is now subject to arrest for his failure to appear, said Cris Armenta, an attorney representing the plaintiff,...

After trying in vain for two years to fill a 464-bed jail, it appeared deliverance was finally at hand for officials in this remote Montana town. They had struck an agreement with a California company to take over their never-used facility. But those plans have been placed on hold following news that Mike Hilton, lead figure of the newly minted American Police Force, of Santa Ana, Calif., 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...

HELENA - Michael Hilton, the self-styled "Captain Mike" and California felon who founded the private security firm seeking to run an empty jail in Hardin, has been summoned back to court in California over an unpaid judgment in a fraud lawsuit. California Superior Judge Andrew Kauffman on Friday ordered Hilton, who has also gone by more than a dozen aliases, to appear at an Oct. 29 Los Angeles County hearing where he's been asked to provide a stack of financial documents, including details of who has paid for his recent trips to Hardin. Hilton and several of his former associates...