U.S. District Court judge agreed to let federal prosecutors use $ 1,400 COVID-19 bounty payment from Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, convicted of committing the Boston Marathon bombing, and others sums paid into his inmate trust account, to help pay off the millions of dollars he was ordered to pay to his victims, the Wall Street Journal.
In a motion filed Wednesday, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Boston asked a judge to order the Federal Bureau of Prisons to return the money to the clerk of the court “as payment for its administrative monetary penalties, including including special assessment and unpaid restitution ”.
In addition to the stimulus payment, Mr. Tsarnaev, who is being held in a maximum security prison in Florence, Colo., Received money from dozens of sources during his incarceration, including the Federal Office of Public Defense, as well as regular payments from people living in Indiana, New Jersey and Maryland, according to the petition of Acting US Attorney for Massachusetts Nathaniel Mendell.
As of December 22, Mr. Tsarnaev had $ 3,885 and dust in his account.
He was convicted in 2015 of 30 counts in connection with the 2013 bombing at the finish line of the Boston Marathon, which killed three spectators and injured more than 260 others. In 2016, he was ordered to pay a special appraisal of $ 3,000 and over $ 101 million in criminal restitution.
So far, Tsarnaev has paid just over $ 2,200 of that amount, or the entire special assessment, according to the petition.
And although he paid nothing in restitution, Mr Tsarnaev used his detainee account to pay his siblings for items such as “gifts”, “supports” and “books”, according to the petition.
“The United States contends that the assistance requested is reasonable and appropriate in this case, particularly in light of the fact that the defendant prioritizes payments to his siblings over the victims of his crimes,” said writes prosecutors.
Mr Tsarnaev’s lawyers have received an email requesting comment.
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was originally sentenced to death, but the Boston Federal Court of Appeal overturned his death sentence in July 2020 because, according to it, the judge at his trial did not make enough efforts to ensure that the jury is not biased towards him. Mr Tsarnaev is currently serving a life sentence.
The Biden administration has asked the Supreme Court to restore Mr Tsarnaev’s death sentence. The high court heard the arguments in October, but has yet to render its decision.