A U.S. District Court judge agreed to let federal prosecutors use convicted Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's $1,400 COVID-19 stimulus payment, as well as other money held in his inmate trust account, to help pay the millions of dollars he was ordered to pay his victims, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday.
In a filing Wednesday, the U.S. attorney's office in Boston asked a judge to order the federal Bureau of Prisons to turn the money over to the Clerk of the Court “as payment towards his outstanding criminal monetary penalties, including unpaid special assessment and restitution."
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.
As of Dec. 22, Tsarnaev had $3,885 and change in his account.
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 others. 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 the filing.
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 filing.
“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.
An email seeking comment was left with Tsarnaev's attorneys.
Tsarnaev was originally sentenced to death, but the federal appeals court in Boston threw out the death sentence in July 2020 because, it said, the judge at his trial did not do enough to ensure the jury would not be biased against him. He is currently serving a life sentence.
The Biden administration has asked the Supreme Court to reinstate Tsarnaev's death sentence. The high court heard arguments in October but has yet to rule.
Low-code app development platform Crowdbotics raised $22 million in a Series A funding round led by Jackson Square Ventures. Crowdbotics has helped more than 14,000 customers launch apps without having to learn how to code. The company can offer a team of expert developers to help companies launch custom apps, or provide the means for companies to develop apps themselves. Crowdbotics CEO Anand Kulkarni joined Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
Dr. Celeste González de Bustamante, professor and director of the Center for Border and Global Journalism at the Univerity of Arizona, and Dr. Jeannine E. Relly, professor and director of Global Initiatives at the Center for Border and Global Journalism at the University of Arizona, join Cheddar News to discuss the recent journalist killings in Mexico.
Kim Kardashian’s shapewear brand Skims has doubled its valuation to $3.2 billion. Investors have taken a bet on the success of this brand in the form of fresh funds for the two-year-old company.
Nathan Harding, CEO of Luum, joins Cheddar Innovates to discuss the process of having a robot put on eyelash extensions, and how automation is making its way into the beauty industry
Kevin Yu, Founder and CEO of Sidechef, joins Cheddar Innovates to discuss how it's building a platform to make recipe shopping easy, and how its features help you discover new recipes with the same ingredients to fight the massive problem of food waste.
On this episode of Cheddar Innovates: Sidechef CEO breaks down how it's building a platform to make recipe shopping easy; Luum CEO explains the process of having a robot put on eyelash extensions; A look at Curiosity Stream's new original series, 'Evolve.'
Wednesday marked two years since the basketball legend Kobe Bryant, his daughter Gianna, and seven others died in a tragic helicopter crash. In remembrance, a bronze statue has been temporarily placed at the site with all of the passenger's names included on the memorial.
McDonald's missed on both the top and bottom lines in its Q4 earnings, marking the fourth loss for the fast-food giant in the past eight quarters. It comes as higher costs from food to wages ate into the blue-chip company's profits. George Seay, CEO of investment advisor Annandale Capital, joined Wake Up with Cheddar to discuss the recent numbers and the better-than-expected success of the McPlant burger made with plant-based Beyond Meat. "They're changing with the times, and they have to," Seay noted. "You can just sell a Big Mac to everybody. There's a lot of people who don't want to eat a Big Mac anymore."
