A local contractor accused of cheating two families out of hundreds of thousands of dollars agreed to admit he failed to build homes for them.

Michael Alan Hubbard, 35, appeared in Lincoln County District Court Aug. 19, 2024, and pleaded not guilty to two felony counts of theft.

But Monday in court, Hubbard pleaded guilty by Alford to both. An Alford plea permits a defendant to plead guilty without actually admitting guilt. By entering an Alford plea, a defendant acknowledges that the prosecution likely has enough evidence to convict them, while still asserting their innocence. 

District Judge Matt Cuffe set sentencing for Jan. 5, but Hubbard attorney Maury Solomon sought a later date, citing the complexity of determining restitution to each of the victims. Cuffe then scheduled sentencing for Feb. 24. Deputy county attorney Lauren M. O’Neill did not object. 

Restitution could be hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Two of the victims filed a civil suit Sept. 20, 2024, against Hubbard, Madison Norman, his significant other, and MAV Construction. 

In early 2022, the married couple bought a 3.5 acre parcel of land on Crow Court in the Lake Creek Ranch Subdivision and hired Hubbard to build a home. They met Hubbard in May. He told them, "there was absolutely no doubt he could do it."

The estimated cost to build was about $900,000, but according to the suit, little work was done on the property. The suit says Hubbard assured them the home would be built by March 2023.

Once they signed a contract with Hubbard to build the house, they rented another property while waiting for work to be completed. The man's parents also moved into the rental property in anticipation of residing in the home after it was built.

The suit also pointed out that during the time the agreement was made, Hubbard, doing business as Idaho Custom Exteriors, was engaged in an active lawsuit that alleged he failed to complete $8,000 worth of work.

Once the contract was signed, Hubbard began making financial draws which totaled $535,000, their life savings. In February 2023, the couple told Hubbard they were concerned that he hadn't completed many items of work while still demanding more money. At the time, the home was without windows, doors, siding, roofing and the framing was not complete, the suit alleged.

They met with Hubbard on Feb. 10, 2023, and he said progress would increase. But, in mid-March, work stopped. They said communication with Hubbard became almost impossible and without notice, sent them two invoices on April 24, totaling $325,000.

The couple sent two emails to Hubbard and he allegedly responded by saying he would breach the contract. The threat prompted them to seek legal help.

Eventually, the family relocated to Washington and do not have a home in the subdivision.

Court records indicate the defendants never answered the suit.

According to court documents, Hubbard operated a business under the names of MAV Built Better or MAV Construction LLC.

In a narrative by county deputy Ben Fisher, he received a complaint from a man on April 19 about an alleged theft by Hubbard. The victim said the defendant asked him for several withdrawals from a local credit union to pay invoices and purchase materials for a home building project at a property in Troy.

Deputy Fisher gave evidence he received from the man to county detective Anthony Jenson. Jenson’s report indicated the man and his wife bought a property in Troy in May 2022 and then began working with an architect to design a house. 

On Sept. 12, 2023, the couple met with Hubbard and signed a contract for the defendant to build a house. The couple had a construction loan through the local credit union to pay for the work.

In the affidavit, Jenson said that Hubbard provided the couple estimates and invoices for the project. The first two invoices, for clearing land, a deposit for concrete and excavation, totaled nearly $54,000. Between Nov. 29, 2023 and Dec. 18, 2023, the credit union issued two checks and they were both deposited within days.

According to the alleged victim, Hubbard texted him Dec. 15 and said the house footers were being formed. When Det. Jenson visited the property May 6, 2024, no work on the footers was done.

Another check was issued to MAV Construction on Jan. 18, 2024, for $64,499 for lumber, a truss package, metal siding, roofing and half of the framing labor. Court documents indicate the check was deposited the next day.

The couple visited their property in Troy on Feb. 11. They asked Hubbard to meet them, but he allegedly never responded. The couple did meet with reps from a company that cleared and excavated the land. The reps expressed their concerns about Hubbard to the couple. 

The couple contacted several building supply stores in the area to see if Hubbard ordered materials for the job and found he hadn’t. They also did some online research and found MAV Construction reportedly had multiple tax liens and other legal problems.

They also learned a local concrete company had not been paid for two deliveries. They asked Hubbard to take care of it, but allegedly he didn’t pay the bills. The couple tried to communicate with Hubbard during the end of February and early March. He allegedly said he was going through a divorce and his business insurance was going to expire.

March 13, the couple sent an email and certified letter to Hubbard that terminated the building contract. After they made a report to the county sheriff, Det. Jenson spoke to the alleged victim May 6 and went to the property to see what work was done.

Jenson reported that excavation work was done and a concrete foundation was poured for a shop, but no forms were set for the house foundation. The investigator said two piles of lumber on the property didn’t appear to be enough to build one wall.

Det. Jenson went to a location on East Missoula Avenue in Troy that was listed as an address for Madison Norman, who was in a relationship with Hubbard. The officer reported seeing the woman’s vehicle in an alley and signs for MAV Construction next to a garage.

Det. Jenson reported he spoke to Hubbard on May 6 on the phone and the defendant made many excuses, including that his employees weren’t working hard and he was dealing with marital problems.

The detective determined nearly $79,000 Hubbard received was unaccounted for.

The second alleged victims, now living in Washington state, called the county sheriff’s office June 17 to report a theft. According to court documents, a man told Det. Jenson he had beat cancer, but had to retire early. He said he and his wife previously lived in New Mexico before deciding to move to northwest Montana.

They bought property on Crow Court, just off the Bull River Highway outside of Troy. They said Hubbard was recommended to them to build their house. They reported signing a $900,000 contract with Hubbard in July 2022 to build a house with completion in March 2023. 

The man told Det. Jenson he believed Hubbard stole $250,000 from them while failing to complete work on the house. They also reported spending an additional $45,000 to roof and wrap the house so they could sell it.