Shoplifting, Larceny, Robbery, Theft Restitution in a Felony Case

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This is a very specific question. I have searched the Internet but haven't found another case like it. I will state my question and then give the situation.

If I were to accelerate restituiton in a criminal felony case (making the full unpaid balance due immediately, and if not paid, charge the highest rate of interest allowed on loans to individuals) how would the criminal courts view that, or deal with it?

The situation:

My dad's broker stole money from him. The broker pleaded guilty to first degree theft and received a suspended prison sentence, probation, community service, and restitution. The restitution agreement bears no interest, but allows the holder of it to accelerate the unpaid balance and charge the highest rate of consumer interest if a payment is late or not paid.

The convicted felon missed three payments. At the probation revocation hearing the judge increased the payment amount and told the felon that for every payment he misses he will serve 6 months in the County jail, even after his probation period is over.

My Dad's estate holds the restitution agreement. The estate is being closed and I will be the beneficiary of the restitution.

If I now accelerate it, how do you think the criminal court will respond?

(I'll leave it open-ended)

Thanks in advance.
 
Ps

I notice I registered on this forum four years ago, two months after my Dad died, as I was just getting started at unraveling this mess.

I'm still working on it.
 
Since I'm here I might as well update this.

The felon defaulted on restitution twice, had hearings, served ten days in jail, but the State never chose to accelerate restitution.

Since probation was to end 8/23/08, I called a Hearing June 11. The judge said we had the right to accelerate, and he would not make a ruling since we already had that right. He told us to hire an attorney, make demand, and try to collect.

Our only hope for full payment was the threat of prison for not paying.

The PO was going to report a violation of probation because restitution was not paid (I have a copy of her FAX to the County Attorney saying that).

Our attorney was just ready to make demand when I checked the docket online and saw that felon was discharged from probation July 28. It was on a new program the PO didn't tell anyone about.

Felon was released from probation despite the non-payment of restitution, his wages will be garnished (the new program) and he will have to appear in court every six months to show that he is making payments. In a previous Hearing the Court told him that if he misses a payment after probation, he will spend 6 months in the County Jail for every missed payment.
 
JLB said:
I notice I registered on this forum four years ago, two months after my Dad died, as I was just getting started at unraveling this mess.

I'm still working on it.
Click to expand...

As long as I'm in the neighborhood, I thought I'd report that I'm still working on this . . . 7 1/2 years now.
 
I'm sorry no one has ever had anything to offer you here, but I think this is a very unique situation. I have never heard of interest bearing restitution ... I suspect few of us have.

Interesting.

I take it that you have not been paid the restitution? Or, are you still working on some sort of interest payment scheme?

- Carl
 
Good news first . . . the felon is making the payments. As of now he has paid around $90000. Yeah, I know that is more than one can hope for. ;)

As part of the guilty plea, the felon's father, a wealthy businessman, negotiated the restitution agreement with the attorney for my father's estate. First, he (the father) was going to pay the entire amount. Then, figuring he had the upper hand, he decided he wasn't going to pay anything.

The attorney for the Estate drew up a restitution agreement with interest. The father objected. A compromise was for a non-interest agreement, with an acceleration clause allowing for interest at the highest rate allowable should the felon default, being late on a payment.

He defaulted, twice, in 2006 and 2007. He had probation violation hearings and got his knuckles slapped with a ruler. And a few days in jail.

Despite all the haranguing by all the judges at all the violation and review hearings, the felon was allowed to complete probation without having all of the restitution paid. We, the beneficiaries (brothers and sisters), were in the process of serving notice of acceleration when the felon was released from probation early, on a new program that the prosecuting attorney didn't even know about.

That was June, 2008, and we (me) are still trying to get it done. Notice has been served by sheriff's deputy and I am in the process of preparing a statement of the current balance.

Interest alone is $1200/month. My motivation is to have him seek a settlement with us.
 
Do you think he has the money to make a settlement? I'm surprised he can even pay restitution.
 
Yes, his family has the means to pay.

A judge in the first probation violation hearing told him that he would spend six months in the County Jail for any payment he misses after probation.

Yeah, I know judges say things . . .

The new program that got him off probation despite not having all the restitution paid is one where the court automatically garnishes his wages, so, supposedly, it is not up to him to send the money to the Court. (See Post #3)

The way the RA was set up, the full amount would not be paid during probation.

The acceleration clause states without notice and without demand, at the option of the holder of the RA.

All that said, the reality of the situation is the risk that acceleration may just prompt him to say, "Screw it, I'll be paying this the rest of my life, and never get it paid off," and hit the road.
 
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Since there is no gag rule on any of the settlements, the felon was my Dad's broker with Wachovia/formerly First Union Securities. He churned my Dad's account with inappropriate investments which turned worthless and then just wrote himself checks from both my Dad's checking and brokerage accounts when churning wasn't enough.

My Dad had had his money in FDIC-insured CD's, providing more income than he could spend, until the broker drove him around town and redeemed them, early and with penalties.

My Dad was 82 and within 60 days after finding out most of his money was gone, my Dad died . . .essentially by refusing to eat and take his medicines. He was a broken man. We (his kids) found out toward the end, too late.
- - - - - -
My Dad had a rough life, lived through the depression, fought a war, went to work every day, raised a family, saved his money, and then a punk kid came along and stole it.
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No one cared to do the forensic accounting, so I did, tracking every penny from 1989 until 2002. I came up with $400,000 unaccounted for. I matched missing funds with deposits in the felon's checking account, and was certain there were other accounts, but no one cared to look.

All the settlement amounts were negotiated.

Wachovia promised to do the right thing, but then the guy who made that promise disappeared. They offered $27000 and fought almost to NASD arbitration. Just before the arbitration date, they mediated a settlement of $140,000, but by that time 30% plus costs went to our NASD attorney.

The restitution agreement with the broker/felon is separate, for $150,000, and Wachovia would not take that in mediation, even at a present value figure.

I attended the mediation. What prompted the Wachovia attorneys to settle is that they did not want to miss their plane flight.

The broker's managers got no punishment at all. They claimed it was my Dad's fault.
- - - - - -
During the time I was going through my Dad's records, which he was a copious record-keeper, I found an analysis of his finances before the money disappeared, including the amounts he intended to leave to his four children and a grandchild. I have kept what I have received segregated from our other money, and it has now earned up to what he intended to leave me.
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As far as accelerating the RA goes, we asked the attorney for the Estate to do it at the time of the first default. He said he would and then deferred to the prosecuting attorney without telling us he had not done it.

We had asked the prosecuting attorney to do it also, and that is in the Court record, but he did not.

We asked the next prosecuting attorney to do it a year later, at the second default, and he did not.

I called the hearing in June, 2008, to do it, and that judge would not. He said we had the right to do it without him saying so.

So it has just never gotten done.
 
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Well, thanks for letting me vent. I don't go there very often any more, and probably should have given up a long time ago.

But, it keeps my Dad alive for me, to be able to still be doing something on his behalf, and I think he would want me to keep trying.

I also like to think that others can learn from my experience, as many of my Internet friends are in the same situation . . . older parents and having to take care of them and plan for the inevitable.

It is important to find a way to talk with your parents about stuff like this.
- - - - - -
I know this sounds like something from a movie or a novel, but a year after this happened to my Dad, my mother (divorced) got a bunch of money stolen from her and I had to do the same thing for her, track the missing money and recover it through the bank. She died before they got it back to her and it really got messy.

I had the bank VP appointed Co-Executor, and then things got straightened out pretty fast.

Any way, I'm going to bed and hope it's not too rainy for golf tomorrow, my day of fun.
 
Yeah, this still going on, and likely will be as long as I or another of the beneficiaries, or the felon jerk, are still alive.

If you have advice and need to familiarize yourself with this matter, my last half-dozen posts should do that.
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Here is my new question:

Felon jerk's dad has been involved from the beginning of the restitution matter, to try to limit, or avoid altogether, the amount son has to pay. Son is still paying pretty much because of the threats the Court has made if he does not (6 months in the County jail for every missed payment).

I have made several offers to negotiate a settlement and have never received a reply.

When his Dad dies, he likely will not leave any assets directly to his son, but . . .

Is there a way I can be on record, for lack of a better term, to be notified when felon jerk's dad dies? Is there a way I can find out what he does with his assets?

And if it is determined that he does something such that his son has access to them, can I object, or make a claim against the Dad's estate, such that felon jerk son's legal obligations are satisfied first, before he can access the remaining assets?
 
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The convicted felon's father has no legal duty to pay his convicted felon son's debts.

That said, why not try to reach a settlement with the felon?

When the felon's dad dies, you'll be SOL!

I suspect these crooks will shelter any inheritance that the felon might receive.

The court has done more than most courts I've seen do in similar situations.

What the court is doing is actually punishing the thug for owing a private debt.

Sure, it's restitution, but a darn good argument could be made that we've brought back debtors' prisons.

Like I suggested, think about what amount you'd take as a full settlement.

See if Daddy Gotbucks would be willing to pay up in full for Sonny Brokebucks to extinguish all claims.

Otherwise, at some point you'll still be trying to collect money from a convicted crook!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I realize I gave a pretty hefty reading assignment, and it is probably hard to do from an iphone, so I don't blame you for not doing it.

It's hard to communicate the seriousness of a crime in an Internet forum, but as an example, the County Prosecutor said it was the most egregious case of elder financial abuse he had ever seen. I assume that means his entire life, and his Dad was the very respected County Prosecutor when I was growing up.

Within two months after I, and dad, found out about it, dad was dead. This guy took the will to live away from him.

It is not just the repayment of a bad debt, a civil judgement, it is part of his sentence for first degree theft, an order of the Court in a criminal case, which is why the Court said that any month he fails to pay he will be held in contempt. Who would bring him to Court is a good question, but . . .

As I said, I have offered to entertain a settlement a few times, and have never received a reply.

Well, that's not quite correct. The attorney for the Estate made the offer to settle, too, and jerk's dad offered $21000, when the balance was about $90,000 (before interest starting running because of default).

The crook is paying the monthly amount the (criminal) Court mandated, which was increased when he defaulted, but hedoes not seem disposed to do more than that. Of course, it would take a lot of months at $600 to add to $130K, and the $600 does not begin to pay the monthly interest.

So, I guess he will just pay $600 until he doesn't, or dies.

& yes, we are lucky to have received what we have.
 
JLB, I read all of your copious posts.

You said this:
So, I guess he will just pay $600 until he doesn't, or dies.
Click to expand...

You summarized it succinctly.

That is why I was attempting to intimate that a settlement might be better than prolonging this agonizing and painful tragedy.

Unfortunately, I know you'd rather have your dad alive, than every dime of the stolen lucre.

The lout did not take your dad's life, just his money.

Your dad, was no doubt a wonderful man.

Most of that generation, including my dad, freed the planet.

God needed him.

He's with the angels now, still building and serving.

God bless!
 
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army judge said:
I suspect these crooks will shelter any inheritance that the felon might receive.
Click to expand...

Anyone else on this topic?

1. How would one go about hiding assets from creditors, and judgement-proofing them? Their own, or, in this case, a beneficiary's creditors and legal judgements?

2. If it could be demonstrated that that is what was being done, and the son still had access to the assets, might a probate court take a hard look at it?

It would likely be the same county in the same state, so the same courthouse and cast of characters that the son (& dad) is (are) familar with.
 
I'm still at this.

Although probation is over and although everyone involved in this has said that once that happened we would only have civil remedies to collect the judgement, after a bit of back and forth between me and the judge in charge of the criminal document and the Prosecutor, and a bit of back and forth between them, it has been decided that the payment of restitution will remain on the criminal side, and that any non-payment will be considered contempt.

Creep was warned of that in a Probation Violation Hearing and I submitted that transcript to get this ruling.

As the judge in the previous hearing told Creep, "6 months in County Jail for every missed payment."
 
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