Judge affirms pretrial detainment of fraudster with history of evading court

SAN FRANCISCO (CN) — A former San Francisco real estate investor who successfully evaded a bench warrant for six months following his January arrest over shooting threats near Thornton State Beach will be held without bail pending trial, a federal judge ruled Tuesday.Senior U.S. District Judge Maxine M. Chesney said there was no combination of conditions Luke Brugnara could put forward that would assure his appearance in court.“There is enough evidence here that when things get less favorable for Mr. Brugnara, he does not make his appearances,” the Bill Clinton appointee said from the bench.The order affirms last week’s ruling from a magistrate judge revoking the bail. In that ruling, U.S. Magistrate Judge Lisa J. Cisneros said she was not confident Brugnara would abide by the conditions of his release and appear for future court dates.“I find it pretty hard at this stage to once again essentially overrule the magistrate judge and find that Mr. Brugnara should be given another chance for pretrial release,” Chesney said.Brugnara, 62, was on pretrial bond for charges stemming from a pandemic-era fraud scheme. Prosecutors say Brugnara submitted fraudulent loan applications for federal relief programs in 2021 on behalf of his real estate investment business, Brugnara Corporation and received over $400,000 in federal assistance.Brugnara was indicted in May 2024 on nine counts of wire fraud and three counts of money laundering.In August 2024, Chesney directed Brugnara to be released from custody with the conditions that he would not commit any crimes or possess a firearm.However, prosecutors moved to revoke his bail in February following a Jan. 21 altercation where Brugnara was arrested for possessing a firearm and threatening to shoot two people for trespassing at Thornton State Beach in Daly City, California.Brugnara never showed up for the February bond revocation hearing; however, he continued to file court documents demanding his bond conditions be reinstated, prosecutors say. He was apprehended by U.S. Marshals on July 30, fleeing from the officers before climbing on the roof of a nearby church, where he was caught, according to prosecutors.Brugnara returned to court last Monday, denying he knew about the February court date and claiming he made every effort to ensure he was in contact with pretrial services and his attorney.“I am zealously excited to go to trial,” he told the judge. “When this snafu happened, I wanted to get in to set the record straight … I wanted to come in to vindicate myself on this PPP claim.”When it came time for Cisneros to issue her ruling from the bench, she was interrupted several times by Brugnara, who insisted the judge was prejudiced against him and “seizing my liberty.”The hearing before Chesney played out similarly.Brugnara’s lawyer, Matthew Dirkes of Illovsky Gates & Calia, again proposed additional conditions of release, including an ankle monitor and a $50,000 cash bond, which he said would ensure Brugnara shows up to court.Dirkes also offered a custodian, Margarita Prikhodko, the landlord of the residence Brugnara was renting in the Sunset District for six months, who Dirkes described as having an “especially close, long relationship” with Brugnara.Dirkes further claimed Brugnara should not be incarcerated due to his failing health, telling the judge Brugnara experienced a medical emergency last week in custody at the San Francisco jail.“That is a compelling reason why he shouldn’t be in SF County [jail],” Dirkes said, adding, “A year and a half, he was in compliance; he showed up in court. He has no history of violence; he’s 63 years old. Sometimes he uses strong language. Sometimes people have a hard time being around him. But not a history of violence.”The government argued Brugnara should not be released because of his extensive history of evading the court.*“*Every time a trial is approaching, every time Mr. Brugnara is about to face consequences, that is when he runs,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Aseem Padukone said. “For the first year he was out, he made his appearances; trial was a long way out. By the time consequences approach, Mr. Brugnara runs.”Padukone also had concerns with the defense’s proposed custodian, telling the judge that the government was skeptical of the relationship between Brugnara and Prikhodko.“Mr. Brugnara refers to her as his landlord, but we have questions if the relationship goes beyond that,” Padukone said.Brugnara frequently interrupted Chesney, attempting to dispute the government’s claims and litigate the merits of his criminal cases. He told the judge that he was having a difficult meeting with his attorney at the San Francisco jail and that the facility did not have the proper medical treatment he needed for his high blood pressure.“I am at death’s door,” he said, adding later, “I am losing cognitive thought process because of no oxygen in the jail. I can’t breathe. I am having a stroke every day.”“You look pretty good for that,” Chesney responded.Brugnara further spoke at length about his history of loan transactions, bragging to the judge that “no one on the west coast had borrowed more and paid back more than me.” He asserted that he was “not 99%, but 100% certain” he would win at trial over the PPP claims, and stated he would be moving forward pro se, or representing himself, demanding the judge set a trial date next week.Chesney denied the request, prompting Brugnara to repeatedly speak over the judge, demanding that she immediately hold a Faretta hearing to determine whether he could represent himself.The judge then called for a five-minute break to get the hearing back on track.Upon return, Chesney attempted to set the next hearing date, offering the possibility of next week, to which Brugnara responded, “I won’t be available; I will be dead by then.”“You are having a cavalier attitude towards my liberty,” he said.Chesney was sympathetic to Brugnara’s medical concerns, telling Brugnara that if there was documentation that the appropriate medical treatment could not be provided to him in whatever facility he was in, she would “reconsider my reconsideration.”The judge set the next hearing date for next Wednesday, Aug. 19.Representatives for either party did not immediately respond to a request for comment.In February 2015, in a case stemming from his cheating an art dealer of $11 million in fine art, Brugnara escaped from the San Francisco federal building when he was taken from jail to meet with his former attorney Erik Babcock in a case. He was at large for approximately one week, according to prosecutors. A jury later convicted him on two counts of wire fraud, one count of mail fraud, one count of making false declarations to the court, escape and contempt.In 2023, former U.S. District Judge William Alsup sentenced Brugnara to more than a year in prison for violating the terms of his supervised release, including possessing a firearm that was registered to his girlfriend, Yitong Wen, according to prosecutors. Brugnara failed to appear at his March 2023 sentencing hearing and evaded a bench warrant for nearly two months before being arrested in May 2023.A year later, prosecutors say he was transferred to a halfway house to serve the remainder of his term, where he racked up two escape notices. Brugnara was arrested six days after the second escape notice in May 2024 in a hotel room near San Francisco Airport with his girlfriend, they say. He was sent to a halfway house to serve the remainder of his term, where he racked up two escape notices. Brugnara was arrested six days after the second escape notice in May 2024 in a hotel room near San Francisco Airport with his girlfriend, they say.Subscribe to our free newslettersOur weekly newsletter Closing Arguments offers the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world, while the monthly Under the Lights dishes the legal dirt from Hollywood, sports, Big Tech and the arts.Additional Reads