HELENA — Abbey Lee Cook, a former contractor with Montana political campaigns, will admit to embezzling more than $250,000 from her clients, according to court documents.
A plea agreement filed in federal district court Thursday says that Cook will plead guilty to three counts of wire fraud. It says she will agree to pay $253,000 in restitution, and that prosecutors will not move to detain her – though the final decision will be made by a judge.
According to an information filed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Cook provided services for political candidates and committees, including filing campaign finance reports with the Montana Commissioner of Political Practices. Prosecutors said she used her access to their bank accounts to transfer money to accounts and entities she controlled.
“That is the defendant, Abbey Lee Cook, embezzled funds from various individuals and entities that employed her by fraudulently transferring money for personal expenses, in whole and in part, none of which were authorized,” the information said.
Prosecutors also said, when Cook filed reports with COPP, she inaccurately described how much money she had transferred from these campaigns.
The document lists six victims – none identified specifically – who lost between $1,600 and $88,209 between September 2021 and November 2024.
The Commissioner of Political Practices’ campaign finance data shows that in 2024, Abbey Lee Cook and Associates did work for Montana Supreme Court candidate Jerry Lynch, Democratic attorney general candidate Ben Alke, and Democratic legislative candidates Cora Neumann and Zooey Zephyr.
Her company also received payments last year from Montana Conservation Voters Action Fund, Montana Senior Vote Action Fund, Montanans for Election Reform Action Fund and Planned Parenthood Advocates of Montana PAC.
In addition, according to filings with the Federal Election Commission, another committee blamed Cook as it defended itself against an FEC fine. Montana Outdoor Voters Action Fund, which made independent expenditures in support of Democrat Jon Tester during last year’s Senate race, faced a fine of about $12,000 for filing a quarterly financial report late in July 2024. The group said Cook had lied to them and told them the document had been filed in time.
Cook is scheduled for a change of plea hearing September 9 in Great Falls, in front of U.S. District Judge Brian Morris.
