United States v. Hickman
United States v. Hickman
Opinion of the Court
Presently before the Court is the Government's motion to authorize payment *922from defendant Harris Hickman's ("Defendant") inmate trust account in order to satisfy the criminal monetary obligations imposed by the judgment against Defendant in this case. (Dkt. 66). Defendant, proceeding pro se , opposes the motion. (Dkt. 67). Because the Government has failed to present sufficient proof of Defendant's alleged default in his payment obligations, the Court denies the Government's motion without prejudice. (Dkt. 66).
BACKGROUND
Following a guilty plea, Defendant was convicted of sex trafficking of a minor in violation of
While incarcerated, if the defendant is non-UNICOR or UNICOR grade 5, the defendant shall pay installments of $25 per quarter. If assigned grades 1 through 4 in UNICOR, the defendant shall pay installments of 50% of the inmate's monthly pay. While on supervision, the defendant shall make monthly payments at the rate of 10% of monthly gross income.
(Id. at 6). Defendant's special assessment was "due immediately," with payment to begin under the Bureau of Prison's ("BOP") Inmate Financial Responsibility Program. (Id. ). No restitution was requested or ordered as part of Defendant's sentence. Defendant did not appeal his conviction or sentence.
On April 4, 2018, the Government moved for an order authorizing the BOP to turn over $3,100.00 of the funds held in Defendant's inmate trust account to the Clerk of Court as payment of Defendant's outstanding criminal monetary penalties (the fine and special assessment). (Dkt. 66). According to the Government, as of the date of the motion, Defendant had not made any payments toward either the fine or the special assessment, but he had $3,467.32 in an inmate trust account maintained by the BOP. (Id. at ¶¶ 3, 5). The Government submitted no evidentiary proof in support of its motion, which was unsworn. (See
On April 19, 2018, Defendant responded in opposition to the Government's motion. (Dkt. 67). In a similarly unsworn filing lacking any evidentiary support, Defendant represents that "on April 8, 2018, the BOP 'disbursed' $25.00 from [his] Inmate Trust Fund Account, 'finally' complying with this Honorable Court's original [judgment]." (Id. at 3). He represents that the funds in the account have come from his mother's estate and asks the Court to take $1,600.00 from his account, and, of that amount, apply $100.00 toward the special assessment and $1,500.00 to the fine. (Id. at 2). He asks that the Court not seize the remaining $1,500.00 that would be owed on the fine, arguing that he is incarcerated until 2028, "which is ample time to pay for the balance that is or would be due." (Id. at 3). He proposes that the balance of $1,500.00 be paid quarterly. (Id. at 4).
DISCUSSION
"A defendant who has been found guilty of an offense may be sentenced to pay a fine."
When a defendant does not make payment of a fine,
Under 18 U.S.C. § 3613A, entitled "Effect of default," a court is authorized to "take any other action necessary to obtain compliance with the order of a fine or restitution" if it finds that a defendant is in default on a payment of a fine.
A fine or payment of restitution is in default if a payment is delinquent for more than 90 days. Notwithstanding any installment schedule, when a fine or payment of restitution is in default, the entire amount of the fine or restitution is due within 30 days after notification of the default.
In addition, the Mandatory Victims Restitution Act, 18 U.S.C. § 3663A et seq. , in a provision entitled "Procedure for issuance and enforcement of order of restitution," states as follows:
If a person obligated to provide restitution, or pay a fine , receives substantial resources from any source , including inheritance, settlement, or other judgment, during a period of incarceration, such person shall be required to apply the value of such resources to any restitution or fine still owed.
District courts have reviewed the provisions of § 3613 and § 3664(n) and issued an order authorizing payment from a defendant's inmate trust account where the defendant had not paid an order of restitution either at all or in full. See, e.g., United States v. Howell , No. 5:10-CR-00011-RLV-DCK-1,
At least one district court has also applied those two statutes to an unpaid fine and issued an order authorizing the BOP to turn over funds from an inmate trust account to satisfy an unpaid fine. See United States v. Brown , No. 01-cr-30123-MJR,
Another district court has reached a conclusion contrary to that of the Brown court. In United States v. Woodard , No. 1:08-cr-191,
Of the two cases concerning fines that are summarized above- Brown and Woodard -the Court finds the Woodard court's analysis more persuasive. The court in Brown relied on cases dealing with restitution in order to reach its conclusion, without consideration of § 3572(i) (governing default on payment of a fine) or § 3612(c) - (e) (providing notice requirements in the event of delinquency or default). Moreover, this Court agrees with the Woodard court that the purpose of ordering a defendant to pay a fine is different than the purpose of ordering him to pay restitution.
The Government's motion lacks any evidentiary proof of the contents of Defendant's inmate trust account or proof that Defendant has defaulted on the payment of his fine.
*925(See Dkt. 67 at 3).
CONCLUSION
For the reasons set forth above, the Court denies the Government's motion to authorize payment from Defendant's inmate trust account (Dkt. 66) without prejudice.
SO ORDERED.
It is not clear whether Defendant is obligated to disclose changes in his economic circumstances as the Government insists he is. (See Dkt. 66 at ¶ 10). The judgment includes the following instruction: "If ordered to pay restitution , the defendant must notify the court and United States attorney of material changes in economic circumstances." (Dkt. 63 at 1 (emphasis added) ). However, Defendant was not ordered to pay restitution, and the judgment contains no similar instruction for Defendant if ordered to pay a fine, as is the case here. (See
The Court notes that the Government, in its motion, has erroneously referred to Defendant's criminal monetary obligation as restitution. (See Dkt. 66 at ¶ 7 (arguing that the MVRA "requires that the defendant's resources received from any source during his term of incarceration must be applied to his outstanding restitution obligation" (emphasis added) ). However, Defendant owes no restitution. (See Dkt. 63 at 5).
Although Defendant proposes surrendering some portion of the funds in his inmate trust account to satisfy his financial obligations, the Court declines to require Defendant to do so because the Government has failed to meet its burden to establish Defendant's default.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- United States v. Harris HICKMAN
- Status
- Published