A Stevensville timber frame home builder has been sentenced to five years and three months in prison for defrauding customers. Brett Mauri, 61, was convicted of wire fraud and money laundering by a federal jury in September 2024. U.S. District Judge Dana L. Christensen presided over the case.
U.S. Attorney Jesse Laslovich announced that Mauri is required to pay $1,855,025.25 in restitution and will undergo three years of supervised release following his prison term. The court has remanded him to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.
According to court documents and trial proceedings, Mauri owned Bitterroot Timber Frames (BTF) and Three Mile Creek Post & Beam, LLC., which purportedly built custom timber frame homes across the United States. Between 2018 and 2022, he defrauded nine individuals who had hired him for their construction projects.
The government alleged that Mauri misled these customers about his operations while using their payments for personal expenses instead of building homes as promised. His actions affected not only the families but also hourly employees whom he failed to pay.
Mauri's scheme involved inducing clients to send funds that were deposited into accounts belonging to him or his wife. The funds were used primarily for personal expenses such as shopping sprees and travel rather than construction work. This operation bore similarities to a Ponzi scheme where new funds covered past expenses from earlier projects with minimal materials or services provided in return.
Victims were left with substandard products requiring additional costs or forced sales of their land after realizing Mauri's promises would not be fulfilled. These cases occurred in Montana communities including Whitehall, Victor, Corvallis, Missoula as well as New York, Utah, and Louisiana.
The case was prosecuted by the U.S Attorney’s Office following an investigation conducted by the FBI.