And Why Do They Want To Take Over A Former Prison And Run A Private Training-Detention Center In Hardin, Montana?
A vacant prison outside Billings Montana has been leased by a mysterious "Captain Michael" (no last name given for the first few days) and the American Police Force. Who is Michael Hilton and what is the purpose of the APF?
The details remain a mystery, but my guess is that Hilton is attempting to create a competitor to Blackwater's private military organization, and rumors that the facility will be used to house former Gitmo prisoners is likely false.
According to TPM, Captain Michael Hilton has used the following aliases:
- Miodrag Dokovich, Miodrag Djokich, Miodrag Djokovich, Michael Hamilton, Anthony M. Hilton, Michael A. Hilton, Michael Milton and Hristian Djokich, plus related variants.
And he has a lengthy list of previous arrests:
• 1988: Hilton arrested in Santa Ana, Calif. for writing bad checks.
• April 1990: Hilton is again arrested in Santa Ana for writing bad checks and for grand theft.
• 1992: A civil judgment of $83,000 is entered against Hilton and Ilia Dokovich.
• March 1993: Hilton pleads guilty in Orange County court to 14 felonies, including 10 counts of grand theft. One charge involves a $20,000 real estate scam, in which Hilton persuaded an associate to give him a deed on property in Long Beach, Calif., saying it was to be used as collateral on a loan, then sold the property to someone else. According to the AP, he spends six years in prison in California.
• March 2000: Hilton is accused of fraud, larceny, and breach of contract, in connection to a venture in which Hilton and others recruited the plaintiff to invest hundreds of thousands of dollars to create collectible Super Bowl commemorative coins. According to the complaint, Hilton and the others said the money would be used for the design and manufacture of the coins and for a license to produce them from the National Football League -- but the NFL never issued a license. Hilton is ultimately ordered to pay the plaintiff $200,000.
• Around the same period: Hilton also faces two similar fraud suits: In one, he's accused of posing as a fine arts dealer to deceive a Utah couple into giving him a $100,000 silver statue. In the other, he is said to have teamed with a doctor to recruit investors for a southern California assisted-living facility that was never built.
• November 2002: Hilton files for bankruptcy, in order to avoid eviction by his landlord.
• March 2003: Hilton is arrested for DUI in Huntington Beach.
• February 2004: Hilton files for bankruptcy once more, again to avoid eviction.
• January 2006: A $5,052 judgment lien is entered against Hilton in Orange County, CA.
TPM has the most recent update including word that Montana Attorney General, Steve Bullock, has opened an investigation into the agreement between Captain Michael and Hardin, Montana. The funniest quote from the entire mess is the following from Al Peterson, head of the TRA, who negotiated the deal with the APF:
- Addressing concerns, raised mostly on the internet, that citizens could be forced to give up their guns, Peterson writes: "It would be a cold day in hell when anyone could ask the citizens of this area give up their firearms without a HUGE fight." Peterson adds a "personal opinion" that "Gun control in Montana is best described as 'Being Able To Hit Your Target.'"
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