Federal restitution requires defendants to repay victims' losses like medical expenses and property damage, but not taxes, interest, or pain and suffering. Judges must order the full amount owed regardless of the defendant's ability to pay, so a $3 million order stays $3 million even if someone earns $70,000 yearly. Willful non-payment can result in imprisonment.
Chapters
Hey, this is Elizabeth, and today is going to be kind of a longer video than normal. In fact, I think I'm going to end up sort of splitting this up into 3 sections, um, and that's because there's just kind of a lot to say. Um, today I want to talk about federal restitution. I get calls all the time about restitution obligations. It's one of the most significant post-conviction obligations that a convicted person is going to have, and in many white-collar crimes, a restitution amount will be due. So it's important to understand this aspect of the case. I think a number of people who are charged with these crimes don't think enough about restitution. They probably think that, just like probation or legal fees, it's something that can be kind of later negotiated with the government. But that's not necessarily true. So I want to talk a little bit about this aspect of a white-collar crime conviction. But first of all, what sorts of things can restitution be ordered for? So restitution may be ordered to reimburse victims for financial losses that were caused by an offender's crime. The court can order restitution for lost income, property damage, counseling, medical expenses, funeral costs, or other financial costs directly related to the crime. Now, there's some things that are not eligible for restitution, like state or federal taxes, interest, penalties or fines, expenses for private legal representation relating to personal or business legal issues, fees for tax advisers, accountants, or other professionals, and legal expenses for the civil recovery of financial losses. Also, no one is entitled to restitution for pain and suffering. So, what happens is that at the end of the case, if somebody is convicted, either by way of a trial or a plea, the U.S. Probation Office will gather information about the financial loss prior to sentencing. The Probation Office will have the victims complete a victim impact statement. They will get their information from the government. And this is an important point that we'll come back to. Then, at sentencing, the judge will enter an order for restitution that will direct you to reimburse the victims for some or all of the financial losses. Compliance with that order is a condition of the person's probation or supervised release. So, if you don't pay the restitution, if a judge finds that you're willfully not paying, then you can be sent to prison. And it's worth noting the federal statute requires that the district court judge order restitution in the full amount of each victim's loss without any consideration of the economic circumstances of the defendant. In other words, if the restitution amount is $3 million, it doesn't matter that as a salaried employee you're only bringing in $70,000 a year. The restitution amount will be $3 million even though that's likely to be a sum of money that most people probably would never be able to pay off. And this is going to be the end of sort of part 1. Please come back for part 2.
