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''''Dennis Lee Montgomery''' (born 1953) is an American software designer and former medical technician who sold federal officials computer programs he claimed would decode secret Al Qaeda messages hidden in [[Al Jazeera]] broadcasts and identify terrorists based on predator drone videos.<ref>[http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/20/us/politics/20data.html?_r=0 Hiding Details of Dubious Deal, U.S. Invokes National Security], by Eric Lichtblau and James Risen, New York Times, February 19, 2012.</ref> A 2010 Playboy Magazine investigation called Montgomery, "The man who conned the Pentagon" winning millions in federal contracts for his terrorist exposing intelligence software.<ref>[http://members.i.playboy.com/Playboy-Magazine/Jan-2010-Issue/70 The Man Who Conned the Pentagon], by Aram Roston, Playboy Magazine, January 2010.{{subscription required}}</ref> The software was later exposed as an elaborate "hoax" and Montgomery's own lawyer Michael J. Flynn called him a "con artist" and "habitual liar engaged in fraud".<ref>[http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/12/24/cia_montgomery/ Software fraudster fooled CIA into terror alert], by Christopher Williams, The Register (UK), December 24, 2009.</ref> {{Infobox person | name = Dennis L. Montgomery | image = | caption = | birth_date = July 9, 1953 | birth_place = [[Mena, Arkansas]], U.S. | nationality = American | occupation = Software designer | residence = [[Yarrow Point, Washington]],U.S. }} ==Career== In 1998 Montgomery co-founded eTreppid Technologies with partner Warren Trepp to develop video compression and noise filtering software for the gaming and casino industries.<ref name="bloomberg20080829">[http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aehZLi13aTPI Yellowstone Club Divorcee Entangled in Terrorist Software Suits], Bloomberg, August 29, 2008.</ref> Montgomery and Trepp evolved their offerings for military applications and in 2004 won a no-bid contract with the Department of Defense. Following a dispute over software ownership Montgomery was separated from eTreppid in 2006 and formed a new venture with billionaire backers Edra and [[Tim Blixseth]] called OpSpring which was later renamed Blxware where he had the title of Chief Scientist.<ref name="lvrj20090607">[http://www.lvrj.com/news/47141377.html TRUE BELIEVERS: Nevada company's troubles entangle Gibbons, federal government], by David Kihara, Las Vegas Review-Journal, June 7, 2009.</ref> Blxware was dissolved as part of the Blixseth's 2009 divorce and bankruptcy.<ref>[http://www.newwest.net/city/article/yellowstone_club_chronicles_edra_blixseth_bankruptcy/C396/L396/ Yellowstone Club Chronicles: The Edra Blixeth Bankruptcy], by Jonathan Weber, New West, June 11, 2009.</ref> ===eTreppid Technologies, LLC=== Montgomery became a partner to former [[Michael Milken]] junk bond trader Warren G. Trepp and investor Wayne Prim to develop and sell audio, video and data compression software under the banner eTreppid Technologies in 1998. As executive vice president and chief technology officer Montgomery led the company's efforts to promote software to government agencies associated with tracking terrorist activities. In 2004 eTreppid was awarded a $30 million no-bid contract with United States Special Operations Command and was ranked the 16th largest defense contractor that year, according to Aerospace Daily.<ref name="nvtoday20091224">[https://web.archive.org/web/20080403124707/http://www.nvtoday.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=246&Itemid=1 Who is Warren Trepp], Nevada Today, February 2008.</ref> ===BLXware partnership=== After his separation from eTreppid, Montgomery joined with Edra and [[Tim Blixseth]] to bring his alleged terrorist tracking software to other U.S. and foreign government clients. With the Blixseths and former presidential candidate [[Jack Kemp]] he helped formed OpSpring LLC, later renamed BLXware. Via BLXware, Montgomery pursued selling his terror tracking software to the U.S. and Israel governments leveraging political connections of the Blixseth partnership.<ref name="lvrj20090607" /> BLXware’s owners Edra and Tim Blixseth divorced in 2008 and BLXware became part of Edra Blixseth’s sole property. She filed for personal bankruptcy in 2009 which resulted in a Chapter 7 dissolution of all her assets including BLXware and its associated software and intellectual property.<ref>[http://www.newwest.net/city/article/yellowstone_club_chronicles_edra_blixseth_bankruptcy/C396/L396/Yellowstone Club Chronicles: The Edra Blixseth Bankruptcy], by Jonathan Weber, New West, June 11, 2009.</ref> ==Terrorist software "hoax"== National Public Radio reported, "For several months starting in the fall of 2003, Montgomery's analysis led directly to national code orange security alerts and cancelled flights. The only problem: he was making it all up."<ref>[http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=121667905The man who conned the Pentagon], by Guy Raz, All Things Considered, National Public Radio, December 19, 2009.</ref> Montgomery's software claims were reportedly responsible for a false terror alert which grounded international flights and caused Department of Homeland Security Secretary[[Tom Ridge]] to raise the government's security level.<ref>[http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2009/12/montgomery-2/ Programmer conned CIA, Pentagon into buying bogus anti-terror code], ''Wired Magazine'', December 28, 2009.</ref> In February 2006, the FBI and U.S. Air Force office of Special Investigations opened an economic espionage and theft of intellectual property investigation into Montgomery and Blxware.<ref>[http://www.lvrj.com/news/47141377.html Nevada company's troubles], ''Las Vegas Review Journal'', June 7, 2009</ref> In February 2015, Montgomery sued [[James Risen]], the author of [[Pay Any Price: Greed, Power, and Endless War]], for defamation, alleging the book falsely described Montgomery as "the maestro behind what many current and former U.S. officials and others familiar with the case now believe was one of the most elaborate and dangerous hoaxes in American history."<ref>{{cite news|title=Journalist James Risen Sued for Reporting Post-9/11 Contractor Was Con Man|url=http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2015/02/25/journalist-james-risen-sued-for-reporting-post-9-11-contractor-was-con-man|date=February 25, 2015|first=Steven|last=Nelson|work=[[U.S. News & World Report]]}}</ref> ==Nevada governor bribery scandal== During the run-up to the 2006 gubernatorial election, Dennis Montgomery accused gubernatorial candidate [[Jim Gibbons (U.S. politician)|Jim Gibbons]] of accepting bribes while serving as a Member of Congress to help Montgomery's company eTreppid Technologies secure military contracts for his terrorist software. In court papers associated with a lawsuit between Montgomery and former business partner Warren Trepp, Montgomery accused Gibbons of accepting casino chips and $100,000 in cash from Trepp during a Caribbean cruise. Montgomery based his claims on Trepps' personal e-mails he says he accessed while working at eTreppid Technologies.<ref>[http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18613647/ns/nbcnightlynews-nbc_news_investigates/t/fbi-probes-nevada-governor-corruption/#.UNIOJm80WSo FBI probes Nevada governor for corruption], by Lisa Myers & Jim Popkin, NBC News, May 11, 2007.</ref> Gibbons lawyers claimed they had evidence Montgomery fabricated the emails <ref>{{YouTube|Zjux5im6RRs|NBC Investigates Jim Gibbons, an exclusive interview with Dennis Montgomery}}, NBC News, May 11, 2007.</ref> and presented computer expert evidence in trial that challenged the authenticity of Montgomery's alleged evidence.<ref>[http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/nation/2008-11-03-nevada-governor_N.htm Nevada governor cleared in corruption probe, may sue], by AP, USA Today, November 3, 2008.</ref> An 18 month FBI investigation resulted in no charges and Gibbons being "cleared" of all charges by the Department of Justice. Similar reviews by the Nevada State Ethics Commission and U.S. House Ethics Committee also cleared Gibbons. ==Confidential informant for Sheriff Joe Arpaio== In June of 2014, reporter Stephen Lemons of the [[Phoenix New Times]] wrote that Dennis Montgomery had been hired by Sheriff [[Joe Arpaio]] of the [[Maricopa County Sheriff's Office]] as a confidential informant.<ref> {{cite web |last=Lemons |first=Stephen |title=Joe Arpaio's Investigating Federal Judge G. Murray Snow, DOJ, Sources say, and using a Seattle scammer to do it |publisher=Phoenix New Times |date=4 June 2014 |url=http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/news/joe-arpaios-investigating-federal-judge-g-murray-snow-doj-sources-say-and-using-a-seattle-scammer-to-do-it-6630628 |accessdate=21 May 2015 }} </ref> Lemons, citing an anonymous source in the Sheriff's Office, said that Montgomery claimed he could prove, using data he had obtained while working for the CIA, that there was a conspiracy against Arpaio between the Department of Justice and Federal District Judge G. Murray Snow who is presiding over the [[Joe Arpaio#Melendres v. Arpaio racial-profiling class-action lawsuit|''Melendres v. Arpaio'']] lawsuit. Arpaio confirmed the confidential informant relationship in testimony before Judge Snow in April 2015.<ref> {{cite web |last=Joffe-Block |first=Jude |title=Man Sheriff Joe Arpaio Hired to Investigate Federal Agencies Tries to Intervene in Contempt Case |work=KHZZ Public Radio web site |publisher=KJZZ, Rio Saludo College |date=8 May 2015 |url=http://kjzz.org/content/136962/man-sheriff-joe-arpaio-hired-investigate-federal-agencies-tries-intervene-contempt |accessdate=21 May 2015 |archivedate=18 May 2015 |archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20150518083043/http://kjzz.org/content/136962/man-sheriff-joe-arpaio-hired-investigate-federal-agencies-tries-intervene-contempt }}</ref> In May 2015, Montgomery attempted to intervene in the contempt proceedings against [[Joe Arpaio]] in a lawsuit that initially alleged Maricopa County had engaged in impermissible racial profiling, but later revealed that Arpaio had allegedly hired Montgomery to [[Joe Arpaio#Investigation of Federal Judge and DOJ|investigate the DOJ]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://kjzz.org/content/136962/man-sheriff-joe-arpaio-hired-investigate-federal-agencies-tries-intervene-contempt|title=Man Sheriff Joe Arpaio Hired To Investigate Federal Agencies Tries To Intervene In Contempt Case|first=Jude|last=Joffe-Block|date=May 8, 2015|work=[[KJZZ (FM)]]}}</ref> Montgomery, through his counsel, asked the judge presiding over Arpaio's lawsuit to recuse himself; Montgomery also asked the [[United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit]] to replace the judge, but the court declined to do so.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://kjzz.org/content/139326/judge-expected-address-informants-motion-intervene-sheriff-arpaios-contempt-case|title=Judge Expected To Address Informant's Motion To Intervene In Sheriff Arpaio's Contempt Case|first=Jude|last=Joffe-Block|date=May 14, 2015|work=[[KJZZ (FM)]]}}</ref> ==References== {{Reflist|colwidth=30em}} ==External links== *[http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hlYRd6FVf_FvslqUlWb78RD0kk-w Agency France Press: Swindler duped CIA over Al-Qaeda decoding scam] *[http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/dec/23/dennis-montgomery-cia-al-jazeera The Guardian: The Nevada gambler, al-Qaida, the CIA and the mother of all cons] *[http://harpers.org/blog/2011/02/state-stupidities-state-secrets/ Harpers Magazine: State Stupidities; State Secrets] {{DEFAULTSORT:Montgomery, Dennis}} [[Category:1953 births]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:People from Rancho Mirage, California]] [[Category:American fraudsters]] [[Category:Confidence tricksters]] [[Category:Hacking (computer security)]]'