United States v. Peterson

Peterson, a Madison Wisconsin entrepreneur, owned a polyurethane scrap-foam material company and a development company, with Shapiro and Spahr. Peterson made unauthorized intercompany loans and used corporate funds to pay off his personal gambling debts. Eventually all of his businesses failed, the companies defaulted, and federal agents investigated. Peterson was indicted on 13 counts: bank fraud, making false statements to banks, money laundering, and pension theft. The judge entered judgment of acquittal on two counts and at sentencing imposed a within-guidelines prison term of 84 months on the remaining six. The Seventh Circuit rejected claims of evidentiary and instructional error and his arguments for judgment of acquittal or a new trial as having no merit; the evidence was easily sufficient to support the jury’s verdict. The court also upheld the joinder of the pension-theft count for trial with the others. The court vacated the sentence. The judge correctly calculated the gross receipts Peterson derived from his fraud; because he was the sole perpetrator, all proceeds of the fraud were properly attributed to him. But Peterson repaid in full a $300,000 wire transfer before detection of his fraud, so that sum should not have been included in the total loss amount. View "United States v. Peterson" on Justia Law