The long-simmering Dunseith Debacle is now a federal case. This afternoon, Charles D. Hoefer Jr. and Hoefer Group, LLC filed a civil complaint in U.S. District Court seeking roughly $1.89 billion in damages from current and former North Dakota commerce officials in their personal capacities. The lawsuit alleges a campaign of retaliation and coercion after Hoefer reported sensitive aerospace materials at the former Benchmark/Chiptronics facility in Dunseith, which he purchased in 2022 to convert into an RV plant.
At the core of it, the filing claims civil-rights violations under 42 U.S.C. § 1983/§ 1985—First Amendment retaliation, deprivation of due process, and conspiracy under color of state law. It also advances an aggressive forced labor theory under the federal Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act, asserting that those state officials used threats of serious financial harm and abuse of process to compel Hoefer into labor and services. Specifically to secure, store, and remediate a facility that he says doubled as a concealed crime scene tied to aviation and defense parts. The complaint further details alleged financial leverage and speech restrictions, including multiple loan freezes, pressure to sign a sweeping gag/NDA, investor interference, and pressured to sign an alleged backdated mortgage.
The suit weaves those allegations into the confirmed timeline readers know: Benchmark’s 2015 shutdown, Chiptronics’ continued presence, years of state involved briefings about site activity, Hoefer's purchase and renovation, and multi-agency evidence collections in 2023 (IRS, FAA, Army CID) after Hoefer reported what he found.
Important to note, the complaint lands alongside a public paper trail already in view: Industrial Commission grants to Packet Digital in 2017 and 2019 naming Chiptronics as a manufacturing partner; a USDA-backed award for Chiptronics, Inc. at the Dunseith facility; and a 2025 legislative push to audit Commerce/NDDF performance. Separate from the lawsuit, prominent aviation safety whistleblowers Ed Pierson and Joe Jacobsen have urged federal scrutiny of potential ring-laser gyroscope risks connected to activities associated with the site, context the complaint cites to explain why Hoefer went public.
This filing shifts the Dunseith Debacle from dueling statements and allegations into federal court, making it much harder to be ignored at large. The question now is what happens next? Expect judicial delays and, likely, responses from the defendants and their representation of some form. It is not the end all be all, but this represents a massive step forward in finding out the conclusion of this epic story we have been following for nearly a year, and that has been unfolding for much longer.
*Article updated to amend total damages sought
