We have been watching with fascination the story out of Montana about a mysterious security company called American Police Force that was slated to take over operation of a never-used jail in the town of Hardin.

Click here for links to earlier stories.

Earlier postings noted some of the twists and turns, including word that one of the front men for the APF, MIchael Hilton, had a criminal record in California, that the company had changed its name to American Private Police Force, that one company SUV showed up bearing a decal that said "City of Hardin Police Department. "

Equally interesting, no one seemed to be able to say what the company would be doing at the jail or, where it would get prisoners to fill it. All of which was enough to prod the Montana attorney general to begin looking into the deal.

Now it appears that the whole thing is unraveling. Greg Smith, the executive director of Two Rivers Authority, the Hardin economic development arm that signed the original deal, has now resigned reports the Billings Gazette. No reason was given for his departure. The TRA lawyer who structured the deal is also being replaced.
 
"We won't move forward," says Gary Arneson, president of the TRA, which owns the jail. "I don't think any of us want to be on the chopping block." 

In another twist, the AP reports that an international security executive that local officials were told would run the jail, says that's not true, that he only had cursory conversations with Hilton about the position.

As for Hilton, the the San Jose Mercury News reports that a California judge has ordered him to appear in court later this month over an outstanding judgment in a fraud lawsuit. Stay tuned.

(Photo by Matthew Brown, AP)

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