John C. Wagner, Peter C. Unger, Robert L. Wagner v. United States

The indictment in the above case was returned December 7, 1966, charging a California corporation, an Oregon corporation, a Nevada corporation, and eight individuals in Count I with a conspiracy to violate what are sometimes referred to as the “private” fraud provisions of the statutes, viz., the Securities Act, 15 U.S.C. 77q(a), and the Mail Fraud Statute, 18 U.S.C. § 1341 . Among the individuals were there separate appellants, John C. Wagner, Peter C. Unger and Robert L. Wagner, whose appeals were consolidated for hearing.

The California corporation and the Oregon corporation appeared at arraignment and pleaded not guilty, but the case was dismissed as to them sometime during trial, as well as to the Nevada corporation and the individuals Shubin and Kosieris. The individual defendants Stewart, Christensen and Jongward entered nolo pleas so that verdicts on Count I were returned as to the only remaining defendants, appellants here, John Wagner, Peter Unger and Robert Wagner.

Counts II to XIII, inclusive, charged substantive offenses in violation of either the Securities Act or the Mail Fraud Statute. John Wagner, but not Unger or Robert Wagner, was named in each of them. Count…