\u201cShe\u2019s in the best position to assess whether Mr. Brugnara will honor his commitment to return to court,\u201d Dirkes said.<\/p>\n
However, the substantial increase in bond funds was not enough to sway the judge into reconsidering her ruling, given Brugnara\u2019s extensive history of evading the court.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen things are looking good for Mr. Brugnara, he does appear, but when things are looking tough, he runs,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Dirkes repeatedly raised concerns about Brugnara\u2019s due process rights and the difficulties he encountered trying to meet with his attorney while in custody at the San Francisco County Jail.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have not had the opportunity to prepare for this with him; it\u2019s going to be virtually impossible for me to prepare for trial if he is locked up in SF County,\u201d Dirkes said.<\/p>\n
Chesney was receptive to Dirkes\u2019 worries, explaining she had tried to work with the U.S. Marshals Service to move Brugnara to a different facility that made it easier to meet with his attorney.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am concerned, but I am unsure about what other alternatives are,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
As has almost become a ritual during his hearings, Brugnara frequently spoke over the judge, voicing his belief that he should be released from pretrial custody, given he had not yet been convicted.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf I am presumed innocent, I am innocent, I am not on probation \u2026 and here I am being tortured, gasping for air, I have not eaten or slept for three weeks,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The interruptions finally hit a breaking point, with Chesney ordering Brugnara out of the courtroom twice when he got too disruptive.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou refuse to stop talking and conduct yourself under ordinary provisions on how parties conduct themselves in court,\u201d she told Brugnara. \u201cI have given you more leeway probably than any other defendants.\u201d<\/p>\n
When Chesney directed Brugnara\u2019s microphone to be muted to prevent further interruptions, Brugnara exclaimed, \u201cLet\u2019s just do a lynching right now!\u201d to which the judge responded, \u201cIf I had a gallows, I\u2019d consider it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Brugnara also repeated his demand from last week\u2019s hearing that he would move forward pro se, or represent himself, demanding the judge set a trial date next week.<\/p>\n
Chesney scheduled a hearing for Brugnara to formally waive his right to counsel for Aug. 26. However, she warned that if he continued to act out in the courtroom, he would not be allowed to represent himself.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you represent yourself and things don\u2019t go well, if you don\u2019t comport yourself properly, no self-representation, as soon as it goes awry,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Neither party responded to a request for comment.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
A federal grand jury indicted<\/a> Brugnara in May 2024 on nine counts of wire fraud and three counts of money laundering.<\/p>\n In August 2024, Chesney directed<\/a> Brugnara to be released from custody with the conditions that he would not commit any crimes or possess a firearm.<\/p>\n However, prosecutors moved<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n Brugnara never showed up for the February bond revocation hearing; however, prosecutors say<\/a> he kept filing court documents demanding his bond conditions be reinstated. 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.<\/p>\n Brugnara returned to federal court Aug. 3, denying<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n \u201cI am zealously excited to go to trial,\u201d he told U.S. Magistrate Judge Lisa J. Cisneros. \u201cWhen this snafu happened, I wanted to get in to set the record straight \u2026 I wanted to come in to vindicate myself on this PPP claim.\u201d<\/p>\n When it came time for Cisneros to issue her ruling from the bench revoking<\/a> the bail, she was interrupted several times by Brugnara, who insisted the judge was prejudiced against him and \u201cseizing my liberty.\u201d<\/p>\n Chesney affirmed<\/a> Cisneros\u2019 order last week, saying it would be difficult to \u201cessentially overrule the magistrate judge and find that Mr. Brugnara should be given another chance for pretrial release.\u201d<\/p>\n According to prosecutors, Brugnara owes more than $2.7 million in fines and restitution from prior convictions and has not reported any employment to his pretrial officer during this course of supervision.<\/p>\n In 2010, Brugnara pleaded guilty to filing false tax returns, resulting in a 30-month sentence, a $50,000 fine and nearly $1.9 million in restitution.<\/p>\n In 2015, a jury convicted<\/a> Brugnara on two counts of wire fraud, one count of mail fraud, one count of making false declarations to the court, escape and contempt stemming from his bilking<\/a> an art dealer of $11 million in fine art. He was eventually sentenced<\/a> to seven years in prison and ordered to pay $600,000 in restitution and $88,000 in attorney\u2019s fees.<\/p>\n