Montana
Former Montana Heritage Commission director sentenced in embezzlement scheme
Former Montana Heritage Commission Executive Director Michael Elijah Allen was sentenced Thursday to 10-years in the Montana State Prison with seven years suspended for stealing public funds from the state agency charged with preserving some of Montana’s most significant historic sites.
Lewis and Clark County District Court Judge Kathy Seeley said she took no pleasure in imposing the sentence but told Allen he was the brains behind this operation of years of theft and fraud. On a count of theft by embezzlement as part of a common scheme, Seeley sentenced Allen to 10 years at the Montana State Prison with seven years suspended, and imposed a concurrent, fully suspended 14-year term on a felony money laundering count.
“You have destroyed yourself,” Seeley said. “You understand that. I hope you do. This is not anybody but you that did this.”
Allen was ordered to pay $280,000 in restitution to the Montana Heritage Commission, plus a 10% administrative fee, and a series of standard court costs and fees, including a presentence investigation fee and victim-witness surcharge. He received credit for eight days previously served in custody, from Dec. 27, 2024, through Jan. 3, 2025, and was barred from having contact with the Department of Commerce or related entities as he serves his sentence under conditions laid out in a plea agreement.
Prosecutors urged a stiffer punishment, asking the court to impose a 20-year prison sentence with 10 years suspended, arguing that Allen’s years-long scheme was a serious breach of public trust that demanded a lengthy custodial term. Deputy County Attorney Kevin Downs told the court that every defendant in similar embezzlement and financial-crimes cases submitted for comparison had received multi-year prison time and said a 10-year effective prison term was warranted to deter others from stealing public funds.
“He was the one that made this happen. He greased the wheels to steal from people,” Downs said. “This sentence sends a message to people. The people that work in any state agency, god forbid, that if you steal there will be significant consequence.”
Allen’s attorney asked Seeley for a lengthy but largely suspended sentence, arguing that a shorter period of incarceration — about two years, roughly double that imposed on co-defendant Casey Jack Steinke — would still hold Allen accountable while allowing him to work and pay restitution more quickly. The defense said Allen has suffered enough with the public humiliation and collateral consequences, including the loss of his career, voting rights and ability to serve on a jury or possess firearms.
Brenda Elias, chief legal counsel for the Montana Department of Commerce, told the court Allen had been a long-time state employee with significant autonomy as the Heritage Commission’s director and had been compensated for his work. She said Allen abused trust, manipulating people and resources.
“Hundreds of thousands of dollars that should have gone to preserve Montana’s heritage were diverted to Mr. Allen’s personal use,” Elias said.
Elias said Allen served as executive director from 2012 to 2024 and said the Heritage Commission has never been financially self-sufficient, relying heavily on bed tax revenue and other support from the Department of Commerce.
“The Heritage Commission continues to realize the impact of these crimes to this day, and it will take many years for the Commission to recover,” Elias said.
Detective Nathan Casey of the Helena Police Department, a veteran investigator in financial crimes, testified that he was contacted by Commerce employees in mid-2024 after they uncovered significant irregularities, prompting a wide-ranging probe. Casey said investigators ultimately reviewed roughly 744 pages of documents which included invoices, contracts and procurement justifications tied to a state-issued purchasing card controlled by Allen.
According to earlier court records, Allen used his position as head of the Heritage Commission to channel roughly $350,000 in commission funds to Steinke between 2020 and 2024, often through invoices for work that was not legitimately performed. In addition to those payments, investigators found evidence that Allen used public money to cover rent, educational expenses and other personal costs, and that Steinke lived rent-free in Reeder’s Alley, one of the commission’s historic properties, during the scheme.
Steinke, who was charged with accountability for theft by embezzlement and felony money laundering, previously pleaded guilty to one embezzlement-related charge and the money laundering count under a plea deal that called for prosecutors to recommend a 20-year prison sentence with 15 years suspended. As part of that agreement, Steinke agreed to pay $100,000 in restitution, including a $20,000 upfront payment at sentencing.
The embezzlement case comes as the Heritage Commission, which manages historic properties, is facing financial pressure. According to reporting from the Daily Montanan, the Commission is obligated to provide $1.1 million annually to the state but has only generated an average of about $750,000 in recent years, leaving less available for capital improvements than needed to maintain historic buildings.
Allen, 49, told the court he accepted full responsibility for his actions, saying he was ashamed and that the crimes were an aberration from how he had otherwise lived his life. He described the embarrassment his children have faced as his case played out publicly, and said he hopes to work and resume making restitution payments.
“I apologize to my friends and to my community,” Allen said. “I’m incredibly ashamed of the actions.”
The Bridger project is a massive oil pipeline project that would come in from Alberta, Canada, into Montana at Phillips County, then go through nine counties before getting to Wyoming.
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the Montana Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) are reviewing the project, and it could cut across private, state, and federal land.
Watch Bridger pipeline story here:
Proposed Bridger pipeline would bring crude from Canada through Montana to Wyoming
The 647-mile-long Bridger pipeline would move up to 550,000 barrels of crude oil a day.
“It’s a win for Montana. It’s a win for America,” said Yellowstone County Commissioner Mark Morse.
Morse and the Yellowstone County commissioners are among the many Montana leaders supporting the project.
Just this week, they drafted a letter to the Bureau of Land Management expressing that support.
“The energy security is again, it’s going to be on the North American continent and transporting oil via a pipeline is safer than rail or truck,” Morse said.
Commissioners also say the pipeline would be an economic boost for Yellowstone County, bringing construction jobs, supply contracts, and local spending.
“We’ll be a hub for their construction activities,” Morse said. “Supplying parts and pieces, labor.”
But there are plenty of opponents.
They say the risks are simply too high, pointing to past oil spills, including the 2015 Poplar pipeline rupture that sent 30,000 gallons of crude oil into the Yellowstone River near Glendive and a diesel spill of 45,000 gallons near Sussex, Wyoming.
“If that crossing has spilled into the Missouri River, it eventually would make it to that intake,” said Lance Fourstar, co-director of the American Indian Movement Montana. “Highly carcinogenic tar sand bitumen, so we already know it’s highly carcinogenic.”
Fourstar also has concerns about sacred tribal lands.
“The key point of concern is the sovereignty and treaty rights,” Fourstar said. “This project crosses lands, that with treaty reserved rights, hunting, fishing, and gathering.”
The Montana Environmental Information Center (MEIC) says the pipeline would originate in Alberta with what it calls environmentally destructive fuel sources.
“It’s an environmental disaster waiting to happen in a state that gets a lot of revenue from fishing and agriculture. A majority of the route crosses through Montana, putting land and water at risk,” MEIC spokesperson Shannon James said in a telephone interview with MTN News.
But for Yellowstone County leaders like Morse, it’s a win-win, not just for Yellowstone County, but also the country.
“I just see energy independence for America,” Morse said.
MTN News contacted True Companies in Casper, which proposed the Bridger pipeline.
True and BLM were not available for interviews.
KALISPELL, Mont. — Country music star Walker Hayes will headline the 2026 Northwest Montana Fair concert, opening the Northwest Montana Fair & Rodeo in Kalispell.
Hayes is scheduled to perform Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026, at the Flathead County Fairgrounds. The 2026 Northwest Montana Fair & Rodeo runs Aug. 12-16.
Hayes is known for hit songs including “Fancy Like,” “AA,” and “You Broke Up With Me.”
“We are thrilled to bring Walker Hayes to the Northwest Montana Fair,” said Sam Nunnally, Manager of the NW Montana Fair & Rodeo. “Our goal each year is to create unforgettable experiences for our community and visitors, and this concert will be a highlight of the 2026 Fair.”
Tickets for the Walker Hayes concert will be available through the Northwest Montana Fair website at nwmtfair.com.
The Northwest Montana Fair & Rodeo welcomes more than 80,000 guests annually and is one of the largest summer events in the region, featuring concerts, PRCA ProRodeo action, carnival rides, exhibits, food vendors, and family entertainment.
BOZEMAN — Aaron Flint and Al Olszewski, Republican candidates for Montana’s Western District U.S. House race, squared off Tuesday in their party’s only scheduled debate before the party primary.
The two debated for about 90 minutes at Bozeman’s Calvary Chapel before an audience of about 120 people. Bozeman anchors Gallatin County, which is second in Republican votes only to Flathead County within the 18-county district.
Natural resource jobs, affordable housing and U.S. military attacks on Iran dominated the discussion. Each question drew 12 minutes of response. Both men called for an end to stock trading by members of Congress, and for federal budgets to be passed on time through regular procedures.
The Montana GOP sponsored the debate. Candidate Christi Jacobsen, Montana’s secretary of state, was unable to attend, according to state Republican Party Chair Art Wittich. State Senate President Matt Regier moderated.
Among the highlights: Flint mentioned no fewer than eight times that he is endorsed by President Donald Trump. Olszewski mentioned Trump by name only a couple of times.
Never too far from Flint’s talking points were “far-left socialists,” whom he credited for “gerrymandering” the Western House District (which has delivered comfortable wins for Republicans since first appearing on the ballot in 2022). The 2026 election cycle was the target of Democrats on the state’s districting commission, Flint said. (Both Democrats on the commission that drew the district in 2021 voted against its current configuration.)
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The near faux pas of the night came during Olszewski’s discussion of good-paying jobs in trades and natural resources: “Trades jobs, natural resource jobs, you know, high-dollar, white-collar jobs, our remote workers who have moved into Montana, and we’ve adapted an economy around them. You know, these are the people, and those are the jobs that will bring our kids home, those high-paying white-collar jobs, or a good natural resource job in western Montana, in one of those mines, or, you know, you know, a sawyer or a hooker” — big pause — “as in timber, not the other way around.”
The line that didn’t land: Flint tried and failed to get audience applause for the 2024 defeat of Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Tester by Republican Sen. Tim Sheehy — an unseating Flint campaigned for.
“How many of you out there are so glad that we finally got rid of the flip-flop, flat-top liberal senator, Jon Tester? How many of you are so glad we finally did that?”
After a silence, Flint explained to people watching the debate on Facebook that the audience was just being polite.
“They’re waving because we can’t have disruptions. See, they’re good rule followers here in the Republican Party,” Flint said.
Asked how to alleviate Montana’s housing affordability crisis:
Olszewski: “The only way you can afford an expensive house is you’ve got to have a job that pays good money. Tourist jobs provide rent and roommates. Trades jobs, natural resource jobs, high‑dollar white‑collar jobs … those are the jobs that will bring our kids home.” Dr. Al, as Olszewski is widely known, said Wall Street investment buyers are distorting housing prices and the federal government has weakened the dollar.
Flint: “Thirty percent of the cost of a home is all due to red tape and regulations … It costs $100,000 to build a home before you even put a hole in the ground.”
Flint said reviving Montana’s timber industry would lower home values and added, “I support President Trump’s ban on these big Wall Street firms buying single-family homes. I think that’s something that we’ve got to get across the finish line.”
“We can deliver when it comes to making the Montana dream affordable again by delivering affordable housing. But another piece is promoting trades and trades education to build up our workforce.”
Asked how Congress should respond to the Iran conflict:
Olszewski: “I supported our president with what happened in Venezuela. There’s a $25 million bounty on basically someone that was killing our people through drugs, right? I’m not so happy with what’s going on in the Iran war. I’m not a warrior. I’m a physician from the military that fixed military people … What my perspective is, is that countries can win wars, but people do not. They don’t come back.” Olszewski said Congress will have to decide whether to authorize further use of military force and set terms in about 10 days.
Flint: “Let me just say this. We are sick and tired of these forever wars, and we do not want to see a long-term boots-on-the-ground Iraq-style nation-building exercise, and I think President Trump shares that mission as well. Let me also say this about Iran. First off, [former Venezuelan President Nicolás] Maduro is behind bars. [Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali] Khamenei is dead, but the far-left socialists are on the march in Montana.”
Asked about reforming Congress:
Olszewski: “What our congressmen and congresswomen have to understand is that if you’re in the House, the House belongs to the people, and they need to, first and foremost, represent you, not themselves, not special interests. It’s not about sound-bites. It’s about actually getting work done and governing.” Olszewski said the House needs to pass a budget based on 12 agency appropriations bills before the end of each federal fiscal year, a process known as “regular order.”
Flint: “We need to return to regular order and get single-subject bills and get these appropriations bills done one by one. If they can’t get a budget done, they shouldn’t get paid. And we need a ban on congressional stock trading. Because I think part of the reason why the American people are so frustrated with Congress right now is because … they believe that Congress is so useless, because we’ve got some of these politicians back there that are getting rich off the backs of taxpayers.”
Neither candidate offered a plan for cutting taxes, once a staple of Republican platforms. Both supported reductions in federal spending without identifying particular cuts.
Voting in Montana’s 2026 primary election begins May 4 and ends June 2.
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