Woman sentenced in Somers Mansion fraud case
The Montana beauty queen and former owner of the Somers Mansion was sentenced Thursday in federal court on charges of mail fraud and conspiracy.
Christin D. Didier received five years of probation and was ordered to pay $213,000 in restitution for a scheme to defraud insurance companies for temporary housing payments.
A back-and-forth court process preceded Thursday’s sentencing.
A federal jury convicted Didier in 2013 following a five-day trial. Months later, U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy acquitted her of all charges.
In November 2014, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reinstated the conviction on an appeal from Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy Raciot.
On Thursday, the same players returned for the sentencing in Missoula’s U.S. District Court. Raciot was present as the prosecutor, Didier sat at the defense table and Molloy handed down the sentence.
A Lewistown native, Didier was crowned Miss Montana USA in 1997 and competed in the Miss USA contest.
The money she collected was supposed to be for temporary housing while the Somers Mansion was being repaired. Didier purchased the hilltop property in 2005 for $1.1 million. Two years later, a windstorm and small fire significantly damaged the historic home. She planned to move out while the house was repaired.
With the help of Surayya Nasir, Didier claimed she was staying in a 6,900-square-foot house near Rollins. It supposedly contained five bedrooms and an indoor pool.
The actual property in which Didier was living was a shack of 860 square feet with no indoor plumbing. There was no indoor pool.
Over six months in 2008, Didier collected monthly checks from the insurance company, usually for $15,250.
Nasir, a Fergus County resident and codefendent in the case, acted as Didier’s broker.
Repair work on the Somers Mansion was never finished. Didier later filed for bankruptcy and the mansion was foreclosed on in 2011. She was evicted the following year.
In 2013, a California woman bought the Somers Mansion. She vowed to restore the iconic yellow house.
Reporter Matt Hudson may be reached at 758-4459 or by email at mhudson@dailyinterlake.com.