GREAT FALLS — Abbey Lee Cook, a political consultant from Helena accused of defrauding several clients, admitted to charges in federal court this week, according to U.S. Attorney Kurt Alme. Cook, 35 years old, pleaded guilty to three counts of wire fraud.
A news release from the U.S. Attorney's Office says that in January 2021, Cook registered the business Abbey Lee Cook and Associates, LLC with the State of Montana. Cook, through her business, provided political campaign compliance services for multiple candidates and political action committees (PACs) in Montana. Her services included, but were not limited to, establishing bank accounts, depositing political donations, and filing campaign financial reports with the Montana Commissioner of Political Practice (COPP) on behalf of her clients.
In and around 2021 Cook starting volunteering for Victim 2, an issue advocacy PAC in Montana. Her primary duty was to file reports with the Montana Commissioner of Political Practices (COPP). Cook obtained signature card authority for Victim 2’s bank account and, commencing in September 2021, began to issue checks from Victim 2’s account to her business account without authorization. These fraudulent transfers and checks, which ranged in value from $800 to $15,000, resulted in a loss to Victim 2 of roughly $82,000. One such fraudulent transfer occurred on March 20, 2023, when Cook wrote a check from Victim 2’s account to her business account, without authorization, in the amount of $3,000.00. Another occurred on August 23, 2023, when Cook wrote a check from Victim 2’s account to her business account, without authorization, in the amount of $15,000.
During this period, Cook filed false reports with the Montana Commissioner of Political Practices (COPP), materially underreporting the amount of money she was taking from Victim 2.
Victim 1 hired Cook in connection with a 2024 campaign for statewide office. Cook’s duties included, among other activities, monitoring and paying bills on behalf of the campaign and preparing internal financial reporting documents. In her job, Cook had access to Victim 1’s campaign account. Commencing in March 2024, Cook began to wire money from Victim 1’s campaign account to her own account without authorization. These fraudulent transfers occurred through October 2024 when Victim 1’s campaign noticed an issue and Cook’s access to the bank account was terminated. During this period, Cook filed false reports with the Montana Commissioner of Political Practices (COPP), materially underreporting the amount of money she was taking from Victim 1.
Victim 5, a Montana State representative, hired Cook in approximately in June 2023 for campaign-compliance work. Cook was provided signatory authority for Victim 5’s campaign bank account and, commencing in approximately June 2023, began to fraudulently write checks or transfer money to her business without authorization. The total loss to Victim 5 was roughly $53,100 and included a check issued on or about November 8, 2023, for $3,000.
During the period of the alleged fraud Cook took active steps to conceal her activity. In addition to the multiple false filings with the COPP, she also ignored inquiries from her victims concerning certain financial transactions and transferred money between victims’ accounts without their knowledge and authorization. One such transfer occurred on or about July 2, 2024, when Cook transferred approximately $26,000 from Victim 2’s account to Victim 4’s campaign account. Victim 4, a candidate for statewide office, had also retained Cook’s services at the time. When flagged by representatives for Victims 2 and 4, Cook falsely said she was redirecting payments that were misdirected. When told to put that representation in writing, she never did. In a subsequent interview with law enforcement, Cook admitted she transferred the money without authorization or knowledge of Victims 2 and 4, for the purpose of covering financial obligations on behalf of Victim 4.
During the period of the scheme a significant percentage of the money fraudulently transferred to her account was used by Cook to pay her personal credit card, loan payments for vehicles, and payments for commercial property. In June 2025, Cook admitted much of this conduct to law enforcement. The total loss to her victims because of Cook’s fraudulent conduct, as reflected in the Information, exceeded $250,000.
Cook faces maximum penalties on each count of 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, and three years of supervised release.
Chief U.S. District Judge Brian Morris presided and will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
Sentencing is scheduled for January 12, 2026.
Cook was released with conditions pending further proceedings.
(AUGUST 21, 2025) 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.
