United States v. Richard I. Berger, United States of America v. Richard I. Berger

Defendant Richard I. Berger appeals his conviction of twelve counts of conspiracy, loan fraud, falsifying corporate books, and various securities fraud violations. Berger argues that: (1) the district court improperly coerced the jury into reaching a verdict, (2) the district court violated his constitutional right to be present during trial when the district court — with counsel’s consent — made certain comments at an informal meeting with the jury outside of Berger’s presence, (3) the district court used the wrong materiality standard for securities fraud violations, (4) the indictment did not charge with sufficient particularity the materiality element for securities fraud violations, and (5) the district court erred when it ordered Berger to pay restitution. The government crossappeals the sentence imposed by the district court, arguing that the district court erred when it refused to increase Berger’s sentence based on judicially-found facts. We have jurisdiction over Berger’s appeal pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291 and the government’s cross-appeal pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3742 (b). For the reasons given below, we affirm the conviction, affirm the restitution order, vacate the…