I was sentenced today and the judge did order restitution as well as 3 years supervised release. I had a brief meeting with a PO after the hearing, he went over the terms of my release very briefly. After reading many post here I had a pretty good idea of what to expect. He stated that since I had no drug problems or past criminal history that their focus would be primarily financial. He urged me that if I had any way of paying the restitution before my release date that I should do so. He basically told me that they would be in complete control of my finances until the end of my probation period or until full restitution had been made. Some of the examples he gave were that they would approve every dollar I spent, they would determine where I could live and how much rent I would pay, they would determine whether I had cable tv, they would decide if I could buy a new washer and dryer, they would tell me how much I could spend on a new car and no travel to visit friends or relatives healthy, sick or dying, he also suggested that they would simply set a monthly amount to be paid and would make adjustments as they saw fit. I know that I must disclose all of my finances but my question is, to what extent can they control my spending and aren't there guidelines to determine what percentage of your income can be collected for restitution? The paperwork given to me only mentions that I must disclose financial information and that I can't have new credit lines and charges.

Yes there are guidelines. I hope someone comes along who can be more specific. From what I have read, your payment amount will be a percentage of your income. How you spend the remaining portion which is yours - I thought was up to you. I seriously doubt they have the authority or the manpower to review your expenditures on a monthly basis. This sounds like intimidation.

Were the other parts of sentencing as you expected? Wishing you the best of luck.

Sheryl

Yes, much of this seemed like intimidation to me also, that is why I am interested to know exactly what they are able to do and not.

Yes, everything else was just as expected, I received the minimal according to the guidelines, no fines, no interest on the restitution, not that I am happy about any of it but it could have been much worse so I am thankful for small blessings.

there are other threads out there that discuss this topic. If married, always keep your spouses financial information undisclosed. They are not entitled to it, but ask anyway. Mostly what I've read is that some officers are more intimidating than others, they want the most they can get. But what I've been told is the amount is about 10-15% of your gross income. I hope you find more solid answers.

Sheryl

Basically it is based on what you can afford to pay, there is no SET amount. Hubby had to submit all bills and proof of his income. He pays $50.00/month. I DID NOT and refuse to disclose my income and that was made clear to his P.O. who agreed that I did not have to disclose it as I was not a part of his crime and am not responsible for his restitution. The only restrictions on spending hubby has is that any and all payments made out of his account over $500 need to be approved by his P.O.

Obviously, your bills (expenses) must be legitimate and vacations and such would not be allowed in your budget. The amount that they set must be a realistic amount so that you can actually make the payment and still afford to live.

You will also find that during your prison stay that you will be "intimidated" to pay more than what is required of you ($25.00/quarter). Do NOT have anyone send in more money than you absolutly need. The more money sent in the more intimidation you will get to pay more. You could be promised things such as better jobs and such, we fell for that one and it never ever happened. Just all lies to get more money out of the family, and we were struggling as it was.