Opinion ID: 794286
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: facts

Text: 2 Brigham and others bought a successful restaurant in Portland. He looted it, and it failed. He also applied for a number of loans totaling more than $1 million dollars, lied on his loan applications, and got some of them. Hundreds of thousands of dollars went into the restaurant and out to Brigham for various improper purposes, including $88,520 for vehicle expenses and $162,342 for personal expenses. Brigham even delayed turning over tips to the restaurant employees for weeks after they had earned them. Eventually, the restaurant went into bankruptcy and the United States Trustee discovered what had been going on. 3 Brigham's indictment included three counts of making false statements on a loan application, 1 one count of making false statements to the Small Business Administration, 2 and two counts of misusing a Social Security number. 3 He had lied in his loan applications about what his Social Security number was, whether he had ever been charged with a crime, whether he had been involved in bankruptcies, and what his liabilities were. The loan applications in the indictment added up to $1,232,570. The presentence report says he was refused a $697,000 loan, but that he and his associates got $168,995 to purchase and $30,000 to capitalize the restaurant, then another $169,500 for the restaurant, and then Brigham got $196,875 to buy a house. He and his associates pledged stock to get the $168,995 loan. The lenders got some payments, but wound up losing $308,732 on the fraudulently obtained loans. 4 He entered into a plea agreement and pleaded guilty to a six count indictment, largely in return for the three-point early acceptance of responsibility deduction 4 and the government's agreement not to charge his wife. Brigham's sentence was higher than he or the government expected — 37 months instead of 24 months — because his criminal history turned out to be at level III instead of level I on the guidelines table. 5 Brigham had previously been jailed for 60 days for criminal contempt in state court. The contempt was for violating an injunction against selling securities and was imposed after Brigham fraudulently sold unregistered securities. He was still on probation for that offense when he misused a Social Security number in his indictment on the $196,875 loan application. His total sentence in this case was 37 months in custody, 5 years of supervised release, $308,732 in restitution, and $600 in special assessments.