BILLINGS — A former Montana state legislator has been jailed for failing to pay a $59,000 fine for violating campaign finance laws.
District Judge Michael Moses ordered 48-year-old Wesley Prouse of Shepherd jailed on Tuesday for contempt of court.
The fine stems from Prouse’s acceptance of just over $9,000 in illegal and unreported corporate campaign contributions in 2010.
The unreported spending included fliers attacking one of his opponents in the Republican primary for a state Senate seat. He lost in the primary.
A default judgment was entered in 2016 because Prouse did not appear in court to defend himself.
The Billings Gazette reports (http://bit.ly/2w9Zs34) Prouse was given the option of providing financial records showing he couldn’t pay the fine, but did not produce the records.
Prouse served in the House from 1997-98.