U.S. v. Chapdelaine, 93-1792

• Decision Date: 02 May 1994
• Docket Number: No. 93-1792,93-1792
• Citation: 23 F.3d 11
• Parties: UNITED STATES, Appellee, v. George CHAPDELAINE, Defendant, Appellant.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — First Circuit

Page 11

23 F.3d 11

UNITED STATES, Appellee, v. George CHAPDELAINE, Defendant, Appellant.

No. 93-1792.

United States Court of Appeals First Circuit.

Submitted Feb. 15, 1994.

Decided May 2, 1994.

George Chapdelaine, on brief pro se.

Edwin J. Gale, U.S. Atty. and Michael P. Iannotti, Asst. U.S. Atty., Providence, RI, on brief for appellee.

Before BREYER, Chief Judge, BOUDIN and STAHL, Circuit Judges.

PER CURIAM.

George Chapdelaine is appealing the district court's order applying $22,300.46, which was seized from his room during a search in 1991, toward Chapdelaine's outstanding criminal fine. We affirm.

In 1985, Chapdelaine was convicted of a drug offense, and the district court imposed imprisonment and a $10,000 fine on him. In 1993, the government moved to apply the proceeds of the cash it had seized to the fine and the interest that had accumulated thereon. As of May 1993, Chapdelaine owed a balance of $9,571.75 on the fine, and the government claimed interest of $13,338.59, for a total of $22,910.34. At a hearing, the government claimed that the Criminal Fine Enforcement Act of 1984, formerly codified at 18 U.S.C. Sec. 3565(c)(1), required interest to be assessed on Chapdelaine's outstanding criminal fine, and submitted a copy of the statute to the court.

Chapdelaine denied that any statute authorized interest on criminal fines prior to 1987. He told the court that some of the money seized by the government had come either from his pension or from work he had performed after being released from prison; he also acknowledged that some of the money represented gambling proceeds. He argued that it would be unfair for the government to apply funds he had earned toward his fine. Finally, he said that the fine should never have been imposed in 1985 since he was indigent at that time.

In response to Chapdelaine's arguments, the court stated that the question of Chapdelaine's ability to pay the fine when imposed had been "resolved long since." It sought to ascertain how Chapdelaine could have acquired such a large sum of money by 1991 when he had told the court in 1990 that he was indigent. It expressed its doubt that the money found in Chapdelaine's room represented his savings since 1990, ¹ and noted that Chapdelaine had had many opportunities to contest the fine and to seek its remission in court. The court said that in fairness Chapdelaine should pay the fine, particularly in view of the fact that Chapdelaine's challenges to his fine had been underwritten by taxpayers whose taxes fund the court system. Accordingly, the court ordered the seized money applied to satisfy both Chapdelaine's fine and the interest thereon.

Chapdelaine makes several arguments on appeal, none of which have merit. First, he says that the court did not rule on the question whether interest could be assessed on a criminal fine imposed in 1985, and that the court had no authority to assess interest on the original fine. Although the court did not specifically hold that statutory authority existed for assessing interest, by granting the government's motion it clearly indicated that it had accepted the government's argument that interest was authorized under the Criminal Fine Enforcement Act of 1984 ("Act"). Moreover, as Chapdelaine acknowledges, in United States v. Atlantic Disposal Service, Inc., 887 F.2d 1208, 1209-11 (3d Cir.1989), the Third Circuit analyzed the criminal fine statutes in existence for the 1984-87 time period and concluded that the interest provision of the Act applied to crimes committed between December 31, 1984 and November 1, 1987. See also United States v. Finley, 783 F.Supp. 1123, 1126 (N.D.Ill.1991) (applying that provision to a fine imposed for a crime committed before November 1, 1987).

Although Chapdelaine appears to question the court's analysis of Congressional intent, his argument apparently relates to a different statute, section 238 of the Sentencing Reform Act, which had also provided for interest on fines, but which had been repealed by the Act. See Atlantic Disposal Service, supra, 887 F.2d at 1210 & n. 6. We accept the Third Circuit's analysis in this case and agree that the interest provision of the Act, which applied to offenses committed after December 31, 1984, see P.L. No. 98-596, Sec. 10, 1984 U.S.C.C.A.N. (98 Stat.) 3138, and was not repealed until November 1, 1987, see 18 U.S.C. Secs. 3561-3580 (Supp. V 1988) (note on repeal of Chapter 227), applied to the criminal fine imposed on Chapdelaine for his 1985 drug offense.

Second, Chapdelaine argues that the district court erred by failing to consider his claim that the fine was illegal when imposed because he was indigent. The court did consider that claim, but rejected it, because that question had already been decided against Chapdelaine in previous proceedings. Chapdelaine does not dispute that prior court proceedings had determined that he...