Conviction, $15.1 Million Restitution Stand in Manipulation Case

Ryan Randall Gilbertson, who appointed his dad to Dakota Plains’s board to hide his own involvement with the company, is stuck with a securities fraud conviction and $15.1 million restitution order after the Eighth Circuit affirmed his lower court loss Thursday.

Gilbertson, who effectively controlled the oil-transporting firm’s finances, argued that his market manipulation conviction should be tossed because he made legitimate trades at the prevailing market price and didn’t inject any inaccurate information into the marketplace.

But there was sufficient evidence “for a reasonable jury to find that Gilbertson’s conduct was fraudulent and manipulative within the meaning of the ...