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Sheriff candidate charged with felony
Thielen faces felony insurance theft claim
Ben Thielen
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A special deputy prosecutor filed a felony insurance fraud charge Friday morning against Butte bail bondsman Ben Thielen, who is also a candidate for Butte-Silver Bow County sheriff.
Thielen, who is scheduled to make an initial appearance at 9 a.m. Thursday, Nov. 13, before District Judge Brad Newman, said he is confident the charge will be dropped.
The complaint comes just over a week before Thielen faces incumbent Sheriff John Walsh in the Nov. 4 general election.
EXCLUSIVE VIDEO: Ben Thielen responds to fraud charge
"Given the timing of this, I find it rather peculiar a week and a half before the election," he told The Montana Standard Friday, adding that he believes the charge is "politically motivated." Roberta Cross Guns, the special deputy Butte-Silver Bow county attorney assigned to the case, said the insurance department of the state auditor's office conducted the investigation independently and without regard to Thielen's campaign.
"His getting elected affects me in no way," said Cross Guns, who is also a special assistant attorney general for the state auditor's office.
Sheriff Walsh said his department had nothing to do with the investigation. However, Walsh said he "had knowledge" that an investigation was being conducted.
The sheriff said Thielen's wife approached him about three months ago with allegations of possible insurance fraud involving her husband at the time. Walsh said he directed her to contact the insurance company.
Walsh didn't want to comment on the charge against Thielen or how it will impact the sheriff's race.
Thielen, however, said he has no plans to drop out.
"I've got a lot of support, and I plan to continue to march forward," he said.
In August, the auditor's office launched its probe into claims that Thielen was paid for an insurance claim for items he alleged were stolen from his home sometime between Jan. 15 and March 11, 2006.
Thielen, 50, told Austin Mutual Insurance Co. he did "not really have a suspect now" and that it could be anyone, court documents state.
He valued the allegedly stolen items at a replacement cost of about $28,430 and received a check for approximately $14,255 from the insurance company, documents state. The charging document did not describe the items.
The state alleges that while Thielen told the insurance company he didn't know who took the property, he also accused his wife of stealing the items in a Sept. 8, 2006, police report.
The former couple both owned the insurance policy and the company would not pay a claim for property allegedly stolen by one spouse from another, court documents state.
"Thielen intentionally told Austin Mutual he did not know who might have taken the allegedly stolen items for the purpose of furthering his deception and to obtain payment from the insurance company," a court filing states.
The property later became part of a divorce dispute between the two and Thielen again accused his wife of stealing the items, but said they were taken sometime between July 1 and July 14, 2007, the state alleges.
He testified in court that he moved the items to a garage at the marital residence at 2925 Bayard per order of the divorce court on or about July 1, 2007, court documents state.
Thielen further alleged his wife stole the property identified in the insurance claim from the garage sometime between July 3 and July 14, 2007, the state alleges.
That's more than 15 months after he alleged the property had been stolen by unknown people in his insurance claim, documents state.
Thielen denied the claims outlined in court documents filed Friday, but said he couldn't discuss specifics of the allegations.
"Giving the circumstances of this case I have been advised not to make comments regarding details of this case," he said.
Thielen said he anticipated his personal life would eventually become part of his run for sheriff and claims the charges are the result of "an ugly divorce." "This is a frivolous charge with no supporting evidence," he said. "I have confidence in the justice system that this charge will be dropped." If convicted, Thielen faces up to 10 years in prison and a $50,000 fine. He owns and operates AA Bail Bonds in Butte. He is free on recognizance.
— Reporter John Grant Emeigh contributed to this report.
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