Becky Shay | TPMMuckraker

American Private Police Force

Reporter-Turned-APPF Spokesperson Becky Shay Is Now On The Job Market

Justin Elliott | October 19, 2009, 9:54AM

Becky Shay

Becky Shay, the beleaguered spokesperson for the American Private Police Force who as recently as last week was a true believer in her company and its felon leader, never received a paycheck for her work and is now gunning for a job as the chief of the Hardin, MT, agency that made the jail deal with APPF in the first place.

The AP reported Friday, in an article that refers to APPF's Michael Hilton as a "con artist":

American Private Police Force

The Unkindest Cut: Hardin Loses Its APPF Mercedes SUVs

Zachary Roth | October 15, 2009, 5:59PM

Michael Hilton

Did we just hear the death rattle of the Hardin-American Private Police Force deal?

The last two Mercedes SUVs that the mysterious private security contractor brought to the tiny Montana town have been taken back.

Al Peterson

Did Hardin Official Benefit Personally From APPF Deal?

Zachary Roth | October 6, 2009, 1:38PM

Fmr. TRA Director Greg Smith

How did American Private Police Force convince the town of Hardin to put it in charge of a 464-bed prison, despite having essentially no proven track record with such projects? The complete answer isn't yet clear. But could the mysterious private contractor have dangled a job for the wife of a top city official to seal the deal?

Let's lay out the evidence...

American Police Force

Hardin, Montana, Puts Jail Deal With APPF On Ice

Justin Elliott | October 6, 2009, 9:08AM

Michael Hilton

Spooked by a man who turned out to be a convicted felon and who appears to have repeatedly lied on his way to acquiring a lease for an empty jail in Hardin, MT, town leaders yesterday put the deal with American Private Police Force on hold.

Last week, the state attorney general launched a probe of the deal that was pushed through by a man calling himself "Captain" Michael Hilton.

The AP reports on the Hardin board meeting yesterday that put a stop to the whole project:

American Police Force

APPF Lawyer Who Said Info Would 'Gradually Be More Clear' Quits

Justin Elliott | October 5, 2009, 3:35PM

Attorney Maziar Mafi

Maziar Mafi, the California lawyer who had been variously identified as American Private Police Force's legal affairs director, president, and a "major" in the company, on Friday severed his ties to the Hardin, MT, jail project until he sees "more concrete action."

Mafi's practice, like APPF, is based in Santa Ana, California. As a specialist in personal injury, immigration, and business law, he had seemed an odd choice of counsel for a firm that claims to play a critical role in filling the United States government's "homeland security needs."

Mafi told the AP: "For the time, I'm pulling out. I need to see more concrete action before I can be involved."

American Police Force

Reporter-Turned-APF-Flack: "I Made A Great Career Choice"

Zachary Roth | October 1, 2009, 12:07PM

Becky Shay

Reporters who go to work in public relations often encounter a bit of skepticism from their former colleagues (see Wolffe, Richard.) But that skepticism may be especially pronounced when the company on whose behalf the former reporter is spinning is a mysterious private security force that has won a contract to take over an empty jail and won't reveal the source of its backing, and whose leader shows up in town wearing a military-style uniform, offering three Mercedes SUVs for use by local law enforcement, and dragging a long criminal record, including jail time for fraud, behind him.

Meet Becky Shay, the American Police Force's new director of public relations. Shay had been a reporter for 20 years, and had been covering the APF story for the Billings Gazette. She filed her last story Thursday night, apparently without telling her editors that she had been in negotiations for a job with the company she was covering. Then she abruptly quit the paper and announced that she had signed on with APF.

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Becky Shay

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American Private Police Force

Reporter-Turned-APPF Spokesperson Becky Shay Is Now On The Job Market

Justin Elliott | October 19, 2009, 9:54AM

American Private Police Force