Montana

Former Montana Heritage Commission director sentenced in embezzlement scheme

Published

2 months ago

December 19, 2025

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.”

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Montana

Montana Lottery Powerball, Lotto America results for March 2, 2026

Published

4 hours ago

March 3, 2026

Press Room

The Montana Lottery offers multiple draw games for those aiming to win big.

Here’s a look at March 2, 2026, results for each game:

Winning Powerball numbers from March 2 drawing

02-17-18-38-62, Powerball: 20, Power Play: 2

Check Powerball payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Lotto America numbers from March 2 drawing

03-08-17-24-34, Star Ball: 06, ASB: 02

Check Lotto America payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Big Sky Bonus numbers from March 2 drawing

06-12-19-29, Bonus: 11

Check Big Sky Bonus payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Powerball Double Play numbers from March 2 drawing

21-28-58-65-67, Powerball: 25

Check Powerball Double Play payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Millionaire for Life numbers from March 2 drawing

28-41-42-50-55, Bonus: 02

Check Millionaire for Life payouts and previous drawings here.

Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results

When are the Montana Lottery drawings held?

Powerball: 8:59 p.m. MT on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
Mega Millions: 9 p.m. MT on Tuesday and Friday.
Lucky For Life: 8:38 p.m. MT daily.
Lotto America: 9 p.m. MT on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
Big Sky Bonus: 7:30 p.m. MT daily.
Powerball Double Play: 8:59 p.m. MT on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
Montana Cash: 8 p.m. MT on Wednesday and Saturday.
Millionaire for Life: 9:15 p.m. MT daily.

Missed a draw? Peek at the past week’s winning numbers.

This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a Great Falls Tribune editor. You can send feedback using this form.

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Montana

Apparent AI Glitch in Filing by Montana Public Defender, Recent Congressional Candidate

Published

16 hours ago

March 2, 2026

Press Room

Apparent AI Glitch in Filing by Montana Public Defender, Recent Congressional Candidate

Everyone makes mistakes, even experienced professionals; a good reminder for the rest of us to learn from those mistakes. The motion in State v. Stroup starts off well in its initial pages (no case law hallucinations), but is then followed by several pages of two other motions, which I don’t think the lawyer was planning to file, and which appear to have been AI-generated: It begins with the “Below is concise motion language you can drop into …” language quoted above.

Griffen Smith (Missoulian) reported on the story, and included the prosecutor’s motion to strike that filing, on the grounds that it violates a local rule (3(G)) requiring disclosure of the use of generative AI:

The document does not include a generative artificial intelligence disclosure as required. However, page 7 begins as follows: “Below is concise motion language you can drop into a ‘Motion to Admit Mental-Disease Evidence and for Related Instructions’ keyed to 45-6-204, 45-6-201, and 4614-102. Adjust headings/captions to your local practice.” Page 10 states “Below is a full motion you can paste into your pleading, then adjust names, dates, and styles to fit local practice.” These pages also include several apparent hyperlinks to “ppl-ai-file-upload.s3.amazonaws,” “ppl-ai-fileupload.s3.amazonaws+1,” and others. The document includes what appears to be an attempt at a second case caption on page 12. It is not plausible on its face that any source other than generative AI would have created such language for a filed version of a brief….

There’s more in that filing, but here’s one passage:

While generative AI can be a useful tool for some purposes and may have greater application in the future, when used improperly, and without meaningful review, it can ultimately damage both the perception and the reality of the profession. One assumes that Mr. Stroup has had, or will at some point have, an opportunity to review the filing made on his behalf. What impression could a review of pgs. 12-19 leave upon a defendant who struggles with paranoia and delusional thinking? While AI could theoretically one day become a replacement for portions of staff of experienced attorneys, it is readily apparent that this day has not yet arrived.

The Missoulan article includes this response:

In a Wednesday interview, Office of Public Defender Division Administrator Brian Smith told the Missoulian the AI-generated language was inadvertently included in an unrelated filing. And he criticized the county attorney’s office for filing a “four-page diatribe about the dangers of AI” instead of working with the defense to correct her mistake.
“That’s not helping the client or the case,” Smith said, “and all you are doing is trying to throw a professional colleague under the bus.”

As I mentioned, the lawyer involved seems quite experienced, and ran for the Montana Public Service Commission in 2020 (getting nearly 48% of the vote) and for the House of Representatives in Montana’s first district in 2022 (getting over 46% of the vote) and in 2024 (getting over 44%). “Его пример другим наука,” Pushkin wrote in Eugene Onegin—”May his example profit others,” in the Falen translation.

Thanks to Matthew Monforton for the pointer.

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