United States v. Phillips, No. 20-1051 (6th Cir. 2021)
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Phillips, currently incarcerated for a 2001 armed bank robbery, filed a pro se motion seeking to waive the accumulated interest on his $51,086.10 restitution sentence. He had not challenged that order on appeal or when the court set up a payment plan in 2005. As of December 2019, Phillips’s outstanding principal balance was $13,191.04, with $25,550.51 owed in interest.
The district court held that it lacked subject-matter jurisdiction to modify a restitution order post-sentencing. Phillips argued that the district court had jurisdiction under 18 U.S.C. 3612(f)(3), which provides: If the court determines that the defendant does not have the ability to pay interest under this subsection, the court may-- (A) waive the requirement for interest; (B) limit the total of interest payable to a specific dollar amount; or (C) limit the length of the period during which interest accrues.
The Sixth Circuit reversed. Although the circuits are split on the issue, and the statutory language is not clear, the fairest reading of the statute is that the district court’s power to waive interest on restitution because of a defendant’s inability to pay can be exercised not only at initial sentencing but also at a point after initial sentencing in light of changed circumstances regarding the ability to pay.
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