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Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev received a COVID-19 relief payment of $ 1,400 last June, and the government is asking a federal judge to order that payment and all other funds in his inmate trust account to be used to pay criminal penalties, including restitution for his victims, according to court documents filed Wednesday.
Nathaniel Mendell, the acting American attorney from Massachusetts, has documented thousands of dollars in deposits made to Tsarnaev’s account in the years following his conviction for his role in the 2013 attack that killed three and more than 260 injured.
The dossier did not explain how Tsarnaev became eligible to receive a COVID-19 relief payment. The CARES 2020 law, which allowed payments of up to $ 1,200 per person during the pandemic, did not exclude inmates in jail or jail, the Associated Press reported.
But the Internal Revenue Service withheld the payments, citing Social Security law, which does not allow payments for incarcerated people. But a federal judge, in a lawsuit brought by prison lawyers, ruled in September 2020 that inmates were eligible for COVID relief funds, according to the AP.
Tsarnaev remains in federal custody at a supermax prison in Florence, Colorado.
Mendell is asking the court to order the Bureau of Prisons to return the money to the court clerk, including any funds subject to administrative hold by the office, according to the documents.
In 2016, the court ordered Tsarnaev to pay a special assessment of $ 3,000 and $ 101,126,627 in criminal restitution. So far, Tsarnaev has paid $ 2,202.03, all of which has gone towards the special assessment, according to the documents.
Although he did not pay any money to the victims of the attack, Tsarnaev sent money to other third parties, including his siblings for “gifts”, “support” and “books” , according to the documents. These payments amounted to $ 2,000, according to the documents.
Tsarnaev had $ 3,885.06 in his inmate trust account as of December 22, the documents show.
“After the defendant’s conviction, deposits in the defendant’s inmate trust account became more frequent,” Mendell wrote in the court record.
According to court documents, an inmate may have a trust account for all money he earns through prison employment or funds deposited by outside sources, such as family or friends. The account is kept by the Bureau of Prisons.
In addition to the COVID relief payment he received on June 22, Tsarnaev also received $ 11,230 in donations from the New York Office of Federal Defenders between May 2016 and June 2021.
A person living in Indianapolis made monthly payments from August 2015 to August of last year, totaling $ 2,555 in deposits.
From August 2015 to December 2017, a person living in Bloomfield, NJ made monthly payments of $ 50 for a total of $ 1,450.
And from September 2013 to December 2018, a person living in Frederick, Md., Made periodic deposits totaling $ 950, according to court documents.
Tsarnaev also received a total of $ 3,486.60 from 32 people, prosecutors said.
Tsarnaev did not inform the court that he had received these payments, which is required under the law on compulsory restitution of victims, Mendell wrote in the file.
“The United States contends that the relief sought 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,” Mendell wrote. .
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