He once led 3% of Idaho. Now, he’s losing his right to own and possess firearms.
The former leader of the militia group 3% of Idaho, who led a group of armed men that set up a security perimeter three years ago during a standoff at Oregon’s Malheur Wildlife Refuge, will no longer be allowed to own or possess firearms.
Brandon Curtiss, 45, pleaded guilty to a felony count of grand theft in Ada County District Court. People convicted of a felony crime in Idaho lose their right to firearms.
Curtiss, a onetime police officer in North Idaho, was accused of bilking clients of his former Meridian property management company of $98,564.
In exchange for Curtiss’ guilty plea on Nov. 13, prosecutors agreed to drop 18 additional charges of grand theft. He was originally charged with one count of grand theft for each of the victims.
The state also agreed to recommend to Judge Peter Barton that Curtiss be given a suspended sentence, with no jail or prison time.
Instead, prosecutors will focus on forcing Curtiss to provide restitution to each of the 19 victims. No amount has been set. Both sides will be allowed to argue on how much Curtiss will be ordered to pay at a restitution hearing.
Barton could ignore the sentencing recommendation when Curtiss is sentenced at 9 a.m. on Feb. 5. Grand theft carries a sentence of one to 20 years and a fine of up to $10,000.
Edison Fong, who said Curtiss stole $2,170 from him in rent and a deposit for a Boise rental property he owns, said he hopes the judge sends him to prison.
“I doubt he will pay up,” Fong said in an email to the Idaho Statesman. “Where would he come up with $100,000?”
Under the agreement, Curtiss waived his right to appeal. He also agreed to cooperate with officers compiling a presentence investigation report for the judge.
Curtiss operated two property management companies, Curtiss Property Management and Liberty Property Management. He came under public scrutiny after The Oregonian newspaper in Portland ran a story on him during the Malheur standoff involving Emmett resident Ammon Bundy and others protesting the treatment of two Burns-area ranchers convicted of federal land arson.
In the story, Curtiss said he had “built a property management company from scratch.”
One of his clients, who lives outside Portland, contacted the Idaho Statesman and accused Curtiss of failing to turn over nearly $20,000 in rent, late fees and other payments.
The Statesman wrote its first story on Curtiss in March 2016. The story detailed how the Portland couple, Aaron and Leslie Boyce, who owned two four-plex apartment buildings on West Fairview Avenue, were awarded nearly $20,000 in damages and nearly $49,000 in attorney fees by an Ada County judge the year before.
The Boyces, who were named in the criminal complaint against Curtiss, have never been paid.
While Curtiss told The Oregonian he managed 100 to 150 properties, public records showed a trail of unpaid bills and a string of lawsuits. Three weeks after he spoke to The Oregonian reporter, he filed for bankruptcy protection, for the third time.
After the Statesman story was published, other clients of Curtiss pressed the Idaho Attorney General’s Office to investigate him. The Idaho State Police later spent two years looking into the matter before charges were filed in February 2018.
In 2016, Curtiss was fined $7,200 after he didn’t contest allegations he failed to carry unemployment compensation insurance for his employees.
Curtiss was also accused by members of 3% of Idaho of improperly spending $2,901 in donations earmarked for four men accused in the 2014 Bundy Ranch standoff in Nevada. No charges were brought in that case and the group reorganized under different leadership.
In 2017, Curtiss pleaded guilty to disturbing the peace after pulling a gun on a processs server who came to the house he was renting in Fruitland. He was originally charged with felony aggravated assault, which was downgraded after he agreed to plead guilty to the lesser charge.
He was ordered to write a letter of apology to the process server, which he did.
This story was originally published November 20, 2019 at 5:03 PM.
