Former state legislator jailed after refusing to pay fine in political corruption case

A former state legislator implicated in a 2010 political dark money scandal has been jailed in Billings for refusing to pay a $59,000 fine issued in 2016.

Former state Representative Wesley Prouse, 48, of Shepherd was jailed Tuesday by District Judge Michael Moses after refusing to pay his $59,066 fine. Prouse was also given the option of providing financial records showing he couldn’t pay up. He chose not to produce the records.

The unpaid fine stems from Prouse’s involvement in a 2010 political campaign scheme in which candidates running in Republican primaries pledged loyalty to national anti-union groups, which in turn spent thousands of dollars in unreported campaign support.

Prouse was running for state Senate that year. He lost a four-way primary race to Alan Olson.

http://missoulian.com/news/state-and-regional/former-state-legislator-jailed-after-refusing-to-pay-fine-in/article_7630ec4c-5dce-5737-b852-9438fe61c830.html