He founded an Idaho patriot group. Now he’s in jail for stealing from his clients
During the 2016 occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon, Brandon Curtiss, then president of the patriot group 3% of Idaho, told a reporter that he had “built a property management company from scratch.”
Curtiss led a group of armed men from Idaho, Oregon and Washington who went to Malheur to provide security for Emmett resident Ammon Bundy and others who had occupied the refuge to protest the treatment of two Burns-area ranchers convicted of federal land arson. They left a few hours later after Bundy told them they weren’t needed.
What Curtiss didn’t tell the reporter from The Oregonian newspaper in Portland was that he was stealing tens of thousands of dollars from clients of his company, Curtiss Property Management in Meridian.
Curtiss eventually was charged with 19 counts of felony grand theft, one for each of 19 victims. He pleaded guilty to one count in exchange for the dropping of the remaining 18. On Wednesday, an Ada County judge chided Curtiss for failing to take responsibility for what he had done and sentenced him to a year in jail and 14 years of probation.
Curtiss, 45, of Fruitland, a former police officer in North Idaho, pleaded guilty to one count of felony grand theft. In exchange, 18 other counts of grand theft were dismissed. He was charged with one count for each of the 19 victims in the case.
Michael Guy, a deputy Ada County prosecutor, told District Judge Peter Barton that Curtiss stole $109,000 in tenant rent payments, deposits and fees that he failed to pass along to owners of the rental properties he managed.
Defense attorney Sean Wynn said Curtiss stole about $49,000.
Addressing Barton, Curtiss did not apologize to the victims. He said simply he had “made some mistakes in my business.”
He told the judge in response to a question that he did not think he had committed a crime at the time he took the money. Upon reflection, he said what he did “was inappropriate.”
His client, Wynn said, was a changed man. Curtiss, who works as general manager of a Boise auto parts store, has taken business classes and has tried to better himself, Wynn said. He has also coached youth baseball, softball and soccer teams. Wynn described Curtiss and his wife as “pillars of the community.”
“All of this paints Mr. Curtiss as a changed man who is not the same person who was engaging in ... stealing and potentially intimidating folks,” Wynn said.
Each of the three property owner clients who spoke at the hearing said Curtiss falsely told them renter money had been deposited into their accounts. They said he quit taking their calls and did not respond to emails.
Daysha Zuber said her credit score suffered as a result of not being able to make her mortgage payments because of the withheld payments. She said her family had to pay a much higher interest rate when she and her husband bought a house two years ago.
Nicole Kindall said Curtiss bullied her and said he knew where she lived and that he had a “network of people who can take you down.”
Leslie Boyce, a Portland-area resident who contacted the Idaho Statesman in 2016 after seeing the story on Curtiss in The Oregonian, said she has suffered health problems from her dealings with Curtiss.
Boyce and her husband, Aaron, contracted with Curtiss in March 2013 to manage two fourplex apartment buildings they own on West Fairview Avenue. Within eight months, Curtiss stopped remitting rent month to the couple.
The couple sued and in 2015, and an Ada County judge awarded them $68,549. Curtiss has never paid them a dime, and Leslie Boyce said she doubts they’ll ever get paid.
“He has stolen far more than money,” Leslie Boyce told Barton. “He’s stolen time, energy, peace, health and trust in our justice system.”
After the Statesman published a story in March 2016 about Curtiss’ third bankruptcy and the lawsuits against him, other victims came forward. They pressed the Idaho Attorney General’s Office for an investigation. The Idaho State Police spent two years looking into the case before Curtiss was charged.
When he was arrested, authorities said Curtiss stole money from the 19 clients between 2013 and 2016. Guy, the prosecutor, said Curtiss funneled the money from his business into personal accounts that paid for vehicles, plane tickets, oral surgery, gasoline and meals at fast-food restaurants.
“He wanted to live in a manner higher than his means, and he just took people’s money to do it,” Guy said.
Wynn asked the judge to impose a withheld judgment, which would have allowed Curtiss eventually to wipe the conviction off his record if he followed the terms of his probation. He also asked Barton to allow Curtiss to be released from jail for work.
Barton rejected both requests and followed Guy’s recommendation.
Barton told Curtiss that he had minimized his criminal behavior in his remarks to the court. Barton asked three pointed questions before announcing his sentence.
“Did you commit the crime of grand theft?” Barton asked. “
“Yes, I did, your honor,” Curtiss replied.
“You stole the money?”
“Yes, your honor.”
“You’re a thief?”
Curtiss paused for four seconds without responding.
“Is that correct?”
“Yes.”
Later, Barton said: “The crime you committed is egregious and was committed over a long length of time. You knew the victims you were stealing from, and you knew at the time your actions were wrong.”
Because of the felony conviction, Curtiss, who was often photographed holding rifles and other firearms, loses his right to bear arms.
The judge also imposed a condition that Curtiss inform any employer in writing of his conviction. The letter must then be filed with his probation officer.
He is also barred Curtiss from any job that involves handling money. He was also fined $5,000.
A hearing to determine how much Curtiss will be ordered to pay in restitution to his victims will be held March 23.
If he violates his probation, he faces a three-year fixed prison term and up to 11 additional years.
Curtiss had a string of legal problems before this conviction.
In 2016, he was fined $7,200 after he did not 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 later 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 February 6, 2020 at 2:10 PM.
