Brigham

I.

FACTS

Brigham and others bought a successful restaurant in Port- land. 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.

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…