Out of Hand? Biden Administration Sent Pandemic Stimulus Checks to Violent Criminals in Prison
The Biden administration sent COVID-19 stimulus checks to convicted murderers and sex offenders in prison as a part of the pandemic relief package passed by Senate Democrats last March.
Now federal prosecutors are suing the prisoners who received the stimulus payments, ordering the inmates to use the funds to pay restitution to their victims’ families, according to court documents reviewed by Fox News.
One prisoner in particular caught the attention of Senate Republicans last week after it was reported that convicted Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev also received a $1,400 stimulus check under President Biden’s $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan.
As of Dec. 22, Tsarnaev had $3,885 in his account, according to the Associated Press.
Last week, a U.S. District Court judge agreed to let federal prosecutors use Tsarnaev’s $1,400 COVID-19 stimulus payment, as well as other money held in his inmate trust account, to help pay some of the money he was ordered to pay his victims, The Wall Street Journal reported.
He was convicted in 2015 of 30 charges in connection with the 2013 bombing at the Boston Marathon finish line that killed three spectators and injured more than 260. In 2016, he was ordered to pay a $3,000 special assessment and more than $101 million in criminal restitution.
So far, Tsarnaev has paid a little more than $2,200 of that, all toward the assessment, according to court documents.
And although he has not paid a penny in restitution, Tsarnaev has used his inmate account to pay his siblings for items such as “gifts,” “support” and “books,” according to the prosecutor’s filing.
In addition to the stimulus payment, Tsarnaev, who’s being held at a maximum-security prison in Florence, Colorado, has received money from dozens of sources during his incarceration, including the federal public defender’s office and regular payments from individuals living in Indiana, New Jersey and Maryland, according to the filing by acting U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts Nathaniel Mendell.
“The United States submits that the requested relief is reasonable and appropriate in this instance, especially in light of the defendant prioritizing payments to his siblings over the victims of his crimes,” prosecutors wrote.
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