As you know, we’ve been chronicling the story of Hardin, MT and American Police Force. And you’ve got to sympathize with the town leaders trying to support a decent-sized but unused prison facilitiy on a tax base of like 3500 people. They only went in with Hilton after they lost out on getting the Gitmo prisoners. So you could say they’re kind of desperate. But with all the news coming out about APF chief Michael Hilton’s lengthy criminal record and fraud and theft convictions, we’ve been trying to get in touch with the folks who gave him the contract to find out what was up and whether they’re reconsidering the deal.
TPM’s Zack Roth just got a hold of Hardin development official Al Peterson, who’s still looking on the bright side. Yes, Hilton has a long criminal history, said Peterson. But that was before he got sober.
“He was an alcoholic, and everybody knows that. Did he do some not-the-best choices in his personal and professional life when he was not sober? Absolutely. He made some very unwise decisions.”
Read the rest of the story here.
