The former director of the Centennial Ice Arena in Billings, Mont., Sean Michael Gilmore, has pleaded guilty to embezzling more than $15,000.
According to NonStop Local Billings, Gilmore was first charged in 2025 and the penalty could include 10 years in prison as well as a $50,000 fine. At the time of his arrest, Gilmore had confessed to officers, but later pleaded not guilty.
At Tuesday’s hearing, Gilmore admitted to the embezzlement, claiming he took the money for personal use and used some of it at a strip club.
Centennial Ice Arena’s board of directors fired Gilmore in 2025 after discovering “multiple unauthorized transactions on the company’s bank account and debit cards.” When Gilmore was arrested, the board provided law enforcement with bank statements, documenting the transactions, and copies of digital communication between Gilmore and a woman employed at Teasers Strip Club in Three Forks, Mont.
According to KTVQ, when investigators contacted Teasers Strip Club to enquire about Gilmore’s activities at the business, employees said he “was a regular who spent a lot of money there.”
Centennial Ice Arena opened in 1981. The Billings Amateur Hockey League incorporated as a nonprofit in the 1970s to introduce more local youth to the sport, and later built the arena.
Today, the facility is home to Billings’ amateur hockey league, as well as ice skating lessons, youth hockey and figure skating. Centennial hosts tournaments too, including the 2026 Montana Coal Classic and the 2027 Magic City Melt Down.
In 2026, after Gilmore’s embezzlement and subsequent arrest, Centennial Ice Arena transitioned from management by the BAHL to the Signal Peak Energy Arena Group.
