The former owner of the historic Somers mansion — a beauty queen who once competed for the Miss USA crown — has been convicted of mail fraud and conspiracy by a federal jury in Missoula.

The U.S. District Court charged Christin D. Didier last September with misrepresenting herself to her insurance company and its representatives over the course of seven months in 2008, persuading them to improperly pay for her temporary housing.

Following a five-day trial, the jury on March 22 found Didier guilty of seven counts of mail fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud. Didier’s co-conspirator, Surayya Mahasin Nasir of Fergus County, was found guilty of one count each of mail fraud and conspiracy to commit mail fraud.

Didier, a Lewistown native who was named Miss Montana at age 24 in 1997, bought the Somers mansion in 2005 for $1.1 million. In 2007 a windstorm reportedly damaged the roof and south side of the landmark home built in 1903 by sawmill owner John O’Brien. 

Didier had plans to fix the roof, but the work was never finished.

About six months after the windstorm, a minor fire at the mansion caused further damage, and Didier made plans to move out while the home was repaired.

Didier filed for bankruptcy, and the mansion was foreclosed on in February 2011. Didier was evicted last September, the same time the federal government was solidifying its case against her.

Earlier this year the Somers mansion was sold; the new owner reportedly has plans to renovate the grand three-story home. 

A federal grand jury charged that from January until June 2008, Didier and Nasir devised a scheme to defraud Didier’s insurance company to get payments of $15,250 per month to rent a temporary residence near Rollins.

While Didier told her insurance company her temporary residence was a 6,900-square-foot home with five bedrooms, two baths and an in-ground pool, it was really an 860-square-foot cabin with no indoor plumbing and no pool, court records noted.

Three insurance companies are named in court documents: Pacific Indemnity Co., Chubb Group of Insurance Companies and ALE Solutions Inc., a company hired by Chubb to help Didier find temporary housing while the mansion was repaired.

Seven checks totaling $122,791 were issued to Didier and mailed from Illinois to Montana, hence the seven counts of mail fraud. One check for $10,875 was mailed to Nasir.

The grand jury said Nasir had filled out a property worksheet and faxed it to the insurance company so its representative could determine a fair market rental price for the Rollins residence. Nasir said she was the broker of record for the Didier Trust, which owned the Rollins cabin, and that she had a lease agreement for the cabin signed by the trust.

Didier’s attorney, Colin Stephens of Missoula, argued during the jury trial that Didier’s actions weren’t devious acts to cheat the insurance company but rather were due to mental impairment. He said a company hired by Chubb to repair the fire damage at the Somers mansion used diesel generators that gave Didier carbon monoxide poisoning.

Two doctors testified at the trial that Didier suffers from “significant mental impairment” due to the carbon monoxide exposure.

Despite Didier’s conviction, Stephens has asked the federal court to grant a Rule 29 motion for a judgment of acquittal.

“While the grant of a Rule 29 motion is an unusual grant after a jury verdict of guilty, Didier’s case was unusual,” Stephens wrote in his request for the motion, maintaining there’s a lack of evidence relating to the elements of materiality and intent to defraud.

Nasir’s attorney also has asked for a motion for acquittal and a motion for a new trial.

Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by email at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com.