Criminal Restitution — Mandatory Victims Restitution Act
Federal criminal restitution (18 U.S.C. §§ 3663–3664) requires convicted defendants to pay back the victims of their crimes — restoring the financial losses caused by the criminal conduct. The Mandatory Victims Restitution Act of 1996 (MVRA) (18 U.S.C. § 3663A) made restitution mandatory for virtually all federal crimes of violence, property offenses, and fraud — the court must order restitution regardless of the defendant's ability to pay. For other offenses, restitution is discretionary under 18 U.S.C. § 3663. Restitution orders cover actual losses: medical expenses, therapy costs, lost income, property damage or loss, funeral expenses (in homicide cases), and other out-of-pocket costs directly caused by the offense. Restitution is a criminal penalty — not a civil judgment — and it survives bankruptcy, bears interest, and can be enforced through the same mechanisms as a fine (wage garnishment, asset seizure, tax refund intercept). See Federal Sentencing Guidelines for how restitution fits within the broader sentencing framework and Crime Victims' Rights for related victim protections. Federal courts order approximately $30–40 billion in restitution annually, though collection rates are low — outstanding federal criminal restitution debt exceeds $100 billion, much of it owed by defendants who are incarcerated or have minimal assets.
Current Law (2026)
| Parameter | Value |
|---|---|
| Governing law | 18 U.S.C. § 3663 (discretionary restitution); 18 U.S.C. § 3663A (mandatory restitution / MVRA); 18 U.S.C. § 3664 (procedures) |
| Mandatory for | Crimes of violence, property offenses (Title 18), fraud, sexual exploitation, domestic violence, telemarketing fraud |
| Discretionary for | Other federal offenses where an identifiable victim suffered a loss |
| Covered losses | Medical expenses, lost income, property damage/loss, funeral costs, therapy, and other direct out-of-pocket losses |
| Ability to pay | Court must order full restitution regardless of defendant's ability to pay (under MVRA); payment schedule considers ability |
| Payment schedule | Court sets schedule considering defendant's financial resources; obligation continues after release from prison |
| Interest | Restitution bears interest at the federal judgment rate |
| Collection | DOJ, BOP, and probation officers enforce through wage garnishment, asset seizure, tax refund intercept |
| Outstanding debt | $100+ billion in uncollected federal restitution |
Legal Authority
- 18 U.S.C. § 3663 — Order of restitution (discretionary restitution for federal offenses; court may order defendant to pay victims for actual losses including property damage, medical expenses, lost income, and funeral costs)
- 18 U.S.C. § 3663A — Mandatory restitution to victims of certain crimes (restitution is mandatory for all Title 18 crimes of violence, property offenses, and specified fraud and exploitation offenses; court must order full amount of victim's losses regardless of defendant's ability to pay)
- 18 U.S.C. § 3664 — Procedure for issuance and enforcement (probation officer investigates losses; court determines amount at sentencing or within 90 days; defendant's financial resources considered for payment schedule; victims notified of right to submit loss documentation; enforcement through garnishment, asset seizure, and other mechanisms)
- 18 U.S.C. § 3771 — Crime Victims' Rights Act (gives victims in federal criminal cases eight enumerated rights: to be reasonably protected from the accused; to reasonable, accurate, and timely notice of proceedings; to not be excluded from public proceedings; to be reasonably heard at release, plea, sentencing, and parole hearings; to confer with prosecutors; to full and timely restitution; to proceedings free from unreasonable delay; and to be treated with fairness and respect; victims or prosecutors may assert these rights in federal court)
How It Works
The MVRA makes restitution mandatory for: all federal crimes of violence (assault, robbery, murder, kidnapping, sexual abuse), all property offenses under Title 18 (theft, fraud, embezzlement, counterfeiting), consumer fraud, sexual exploitation of children, domestic violence, telemarketing fraud, and identity theft. For these offenses the court must order full restitution and cannot reduce the amount based on the defendant's inability to pay. For other federal offenses, restitution is discretionary under § 3663 — the court may order it but isn't required to. The probation officer investigates victim losses; victims submit documentation; and the court determines restitution based on actual losses directly caused by the criminal conduct. In fraud cases this can range from simple (money stolen equals restitution) to complex (calculating lost investment returns, business disruption, counseling costs). In large-scale fraud schemes with thousands of victims, courts may use statistical sampling to determine aggregate losses.
Federal criminal restitution suffers from a massive collection gap — courts order $30–40 billion per year in restitution, but outstanding uncollected restitution exceeds $100 billion. Most federal defendants have minimal assets; a defendant sentenced to 15 years and ordered to pay $500,000 may earn $0.23/hour through prison work assignments. After release, restitution obligations compete with housing and basic survival, and recovery rates remain low even though the government can enforce through wage garnishment, tax refund interception, and asset seizure. Restitution obligations continue indefinitely — they don't expire. Critically, criminal restitution is not dischargeable in bankruptcy — unlike most debts, Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 cannot eliminate a restitution obligation, reflecting the public policy that crime victims' losses should not be wiped out by the offender's financial difficulties.
How It Affects You
If you're a crime victim in a federal case: You have a legal right to restitution under the Mandatory Victims Restitution Act (18 U.S.C. § 3663A), and courts must order it regardless of the defendant's ability to pay for covered offenses — including violent crimes, identity theft, fraud, and property crimes. The key to getting what you're owed: document your losses fully and submit them to the probation officer during the presentence investigation, before sentencing. Covered losses include medical and therapy bills, lost wages, property damage repair costs, costs of credit monitoring and identity restoration, and in trafficking cases, lost income. Provide actual receipts and records — the court sets restitution based on documented amounts. The Crime Victims Rights Act (18 U.S.C. § 3771) gives you the right to confer with prosecutors before sentencing and be heard at sentencing; use these rights to advocate for complete restitution. After sentencing, enforcement is through the U.S. Attorney's Financial Litigation Unit — restitution orders remain collectible for 20 years from sentencing (or from release from prison, whichever is later), and the government can use tax refund offsets, garnishment, and asset liens to collect on your behalf. The DOJ Victim Notification System (notify.usdoj.gov) provides case status updates.
If you're a federal defendant facing restitution: Understand that restitution under MVRA is mandatory for covered offenses and the court cannot reduce it based on your ability to pay at sentencing (18 U.S.C. § 3664(f)(1)(A)). It cannot be discharged in bankruptcy — it follows you like a federal tax lien. The court will set a payment schedule based on your resources during supervised release, but the obligation doesn't end when supervision ends. After release, the government can collect through the Treasury Offset Program (intercepting tax refunds), wage garnishment, and liens on real and personal property. If your financial circumstances change dramatically — serious illness, disability, or destitution — you can petition the court to modify the payment schedule (not the amount) under § 3664(k). Legal strategies to mitigate restitution exposure: negotiate restitution scope carefully during plea negotiations, contest victim status and loss amounts with documented evidence during the presentence process, and challenge double-counting where multiple defendants are ordered to pay the same victim loss jointly and severally.
If you're a probation officer, pretrial services officer, or federal prosecutor: The restitution investigation is one of the highest-stakes elements of the presentence report — errors in loss calculation can be appealed and reversed, delaying finality and harming victims. Best practices for prosecutors: identify all potential victims as early as possible (for financial crimes, this can mean hundreds of victims), use victim coordinators, and file a restitution request with supporting documentation before or at sentencing. The 120-day post-sentencing window (§ 3664(d)(5)) allows courts to set restitution after sentencing for cases where victim losses aren't ascertainable at the sentencing date — use it for complex fraud cases, but make clear to the court that you're invoking it. For probation officers: monitor restitution payments during supervised release, use the victim portal to update victims on payment status, and refer non-compliant defendants for revocation or enforcement proceedings — consistent enforcement is essential to the program's deterrent effect.
If you're a policy advocate, victims' rights organization, or congressional staff working on criminal justice: The gap between restitution ordered and restitution actually collected is the central failure of the current system. GAO and DOJ OIG reports consistently document that the majority of restitution ordered in federal cases goes uncollected — particularly from defendants who are incarcerated for long periods and have few assets. Federal prisoners earn nominal wages ($0.12–$1.15/hour), and MVRA requires that 50% of IFRP earnings go toward restitution, but those sums are trivial relative to large fraud and theft judgments. Legislative proposals have focused on better asset forfeiture-to-restitution pipelines, expanded pre-trial restraint of assets to preserve restitution funds, and DNA matching to identify unknown crime victims entitled to restitution. The Amy, Vicky, and Andy Child Pornography Victim Assistance Act (AVAA, 2018) created a compensation fund for child sexual exploitation victims whose restitution orders are uncollectible — a model some advocates want extended to other victim categories.
State Variations
Federal restitution applies in federal cases only:
- All 50 states have their own restitution statutes for state criminal cases
- State approaches vary — some make restitution mandatory for all crimes; others leave it discretionary
- State collection and enforcement mechanisms differ significantly
- Some states cap restitution or allow courts to consider ability to pay in setting the amount (federal MVRA does not)
Implementing Regulations
Criminal restitution is governed directly by statute (18 U.S.C. §§ 3663–3664, Mandatory Victims Restitution Act) with no CFR implementing regulations — courts impose restitution as part of criminal sentencing. Key guidance comes from:
- U.S. Sentencing Guidelines Manual § 5E1.1 — Sentencing Commission guidance on restitution orders (mandatory restitution offenses, discretionary restitution, payment schedules)
- 28 CFR Part 9 — DOJ forfeited property restitution procedures (allocation of forfeited assets to crime victims)
Pending Legislation
Restitution reform provisions appear in broader criminal justice and victims' rights legislation — see Crime Victims' Rights and Federal Sentencing Guidelines.
Recent Developments
The Supreme Court addressed restitution in several important decisions — Lagos v. United States (2018) held that MVRA restitution covers only losses directly caused by the offense of conviction, not attorneys' fees for participating in criminal proceedings. The massive collection gap has prompted proposals for reform — including DOJ's use of financial litigation units, the Treasury Offset Program (intercepting tax refunds), and asset forfeiture-restitution coordination. The growing scale of federal fraud cases (cryptocurrency fraud, COVID-19 fraud schemes) has increased the volume and complexity of restitution orders. Courts continue to grapple with how to calculate losses in cases involving thousands of victims and complex financial schemes.