United States v. Garcia, No. 19-10465 (5th Cir. 2020)
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Defendant argued that the district court did not properly pronounce supervision conditions requiring him to participate in drug treatment and to pay at least $25 per month towards its costs. Defendant also argued that the payment condition is inconsistent with the district court's previous findings regarding his indigence and inability to pay a fine.
The Fifth Circuit affirmed, holding that defendant failed to assert a lack of notice and failed to support his contention that the ambiguity in the record indicates that the district court failed to pronounce the conditions at issue. Furthermore, the court was not persuaded that the district court's findings related to defendant's current indigence are inconsistent with a future payment condition. Rather, defendant may be able to pay $25 per month once he leaves prison and finds employment. Regardless, even if it turns out that defendant cannot afford to pay $25 per month upon release, the court explained that the district court could not automatically revoke his supervised release. Accordingly, the district court did not abuse its discretion by requiring defendant to pay for his own drug treatment during his term of supervised release.
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