Bismarck, ND - Bruce Hager, a former securities and insurance agent from Fargo, North Dakota, was sent to prison for violating his probation in a securities case earlier this year. In a decision announced yesterday, the North Dakota Supreme Court unanimously rejected Hager's arguments on appeal and affirmed the decision of Cass County District Court Judge Wickham Corwin, who sentenced Hager to serve thirty months in prison for additional securities violations committed while he was on probation for other securities related, felony convictions.
Cass County prosecutor Cherie Clark, with the assistance of Deputy Securities Commissioner and Department counsel Mike Daley, established that Hager violated conditions of his probation by continuing to act as an unregistered securities agent, selling private placements to North Dakota investors, as well as possessing guns and ammunition at his Fargo office.
North Dakota Securities Commissioner Karen Tyler announced that she was pleased with the Court's decision, which affirmed the protections the securities laws provide for North Dakota investors.
The State's position on appeal was also supported by an amicus brief filed by the North American Securities Administrators Association, an international organization of state and provincial securities regulators devoted to protecting investors from fraud and abuse in connection with the offer and sale of securities.