Based on the info the DCI investigations bureau received from the Legislative Audit Division, Strandell said it opened up a joint investigation with the DOC's Investigations Bureau and assigned a DCI agent to the case.

According to the affidavit, the DCI agent interviewed Wagner about both purchase orders flagged as suspicious. Wagner told the agent he did not recognize the first purchase order and denied that the pumps went into his personal vehicles. When asked about the second purchase order, Wagner told the agent he bought the third pump with his own money but admitted to using inmate labor to install it on his personal vehicle, the affidavit says.

Strandell confirmed that the DCI and DOC joint investigation into the suspicious MCE purchases is closed and that they recently submitted their investigative report to the Powell County Attorney’s office.

Patrick Moody, Powell County deputy attorney, used the facts from these reports to file the misdemeanor charges against Wagner, the affidavit says.

Moody oversees all crimes that occur at the Montana State Prison. He said in the four years he’s served as deputy county attorney, this is the first theft by embezzlement case involving the prison and its employees that has ever come across his desk.