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American Police Force Leader Vows to Pursue Military Training Center in Montana

By The Associated Press

Story Created: Oct 16, 2009 at 4:52 PM MST

Story Updated: Oct 16, 2009 at 4:53 PM MST

BILLINGS, Mont. - An convicted con artist from California who roiled a southeastern Montana community with his unlikely bid to take over its empty jail says he intends to return to the state to pursue a military training center.

Michael Hilton, 55, is the lead figure of Santa Ana, Calif.-based American Police Force. The company struck a deal last month with unwitting officials in rural Hardin, Mont. to take over its never-used, 464-bed jail.

The plan unraveled after media revelations about Hilton's criminal past sparked an investigation by Montana Attorney General Steve Bullock.

In his first interview since the jail proposal's collapse, Hilton tells The Associated Press that his intentions had been honest but his "tainted" name sunk the deal. He says he has an agreement to lease 1,200 acres in Big Horn County for a tactical military training ground, but that could not be confirmed.

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Army Vet said on Sunday, Oct 18 at 12:06 AM

Has this whack job ever served in the US military? His American Police thug pr pics show a kingly double eagle of a foreign power and mercs with hidden faces and machine guns drawn to do what? Ride this guy out on a rail and tell him never to come back and embarass us in MT again!!!

Analyst said on Saturday, Oct 17 at 8:17 PM

If this swindler announced tomorrow that he was going to flap his arms and fly to the moon, to retrieve the recently crashed rocket there, the media would feel an obligation to report it, wouldn't they?

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