United States v. Lee
Opinion of the Court
ORDER
Kenneth Lee pleaded guilty in 2006 to mail fraud and failing to file tax returns. He was sentenced to 41 months’ imprisonment and 3 years’ supervised release, and he was ordered to pay roughly $586,000 in restitution to his victims. A condition of Lee’s supervised release (which commenced in 2009) was that he make restitution payments, but he failed to do so. He also attempted to commit identity theft and frequently traveled out of state without permission. As a result, the government sought revocation of his supervised release and, at the same time, petitioned for a writ of garnishment against a bank where Lee held two accounts. The district court granted both requests, imposing 18 months’ of reimprisonment and ordering Lee’s bank to turn over the money in his accounts for partial satisfaction of the outstanding restitution. Lee then filed a notice of appeal pertaining exclusively to the garnishment, but his appointed attorney has concluded that the appeal is frivolous and seeks to withdraw under Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738, 87 S.Ct. 1396, 18 L.Ed.2d 493 (1967). Lee has not responded to counsel’s submission. See Cir. R. 51(b).
As an initial matter, we note that appellate counsel was not required to comply with the Anders procedures in moving to withdraw. Garnishment proceedings are civil, not criminal, see United States v. Kollintzas, 501 F.3d 796, 800 (7th Cir.
We also conclude that Lee’s appeal is frivolous. In the district court, he contested the garnishment of a $48,000 bank account he had opened in the name “Corporate Enterprise Land Trust.” He said this account contained payments from unidentified customers for unspecified goods that he possessed but had not yet delivered; this money, he argued, must be refunded to those customers rather than distributed as restitution. But the Federal Debt Collection Procedures Act allows the government to garnish “property ... in which the debtor has a substantial nonexempt interest and which is in the possession, custody, or control of a person other than the debtor.”
The judgment of the district court is summarily AFFIRMED. The government’s pending motion to dismiss this appeal is DENIED as moot.
. As Lee was told in the notice of garnishment, a judgment debtor can elect to have certain property, such as a car, exempted. 28 U.S.C. § 3014; 11 U.S.C. § 522(d). Lee made no election, and in any case his bank account would not have qualified.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- United States v. Kenneth J. LEE
- Status
- Published