United States v. Bongiorno

106 F.3d 1027 (1st Cir. 1997)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

Sandra Taylor (W) got divorced from Frank Bongiorno (H) in 1990 in Georgia. W got custody of their daughter and H was ordered to pay $5,000 per month in child support. H was a physician specializing in bariatric surgery. W left for Massachusetts, and H sought to modify the child custody award. H was found in contempt for failure to make the payments due of at that time $75,000. H was directed to be incarcerated until he purged his contempt. H avoided jail by accepting a position in Michigan. H made sporadic payments on his $200,000 per year salary. Garnishment of H's wages was effected, and H decided to quit his job and paid only $500 per month in child support. A Michigan state court ordered a support award to the extent of $300 per week when H took a new job for the State of Michigan. The U.S. charged H with violating CSRA. The court found H guilty of a willful failure to pay child support and sentenced him to five years of probation on condition of a work release with 12 hours per day in the custody of the Bureau of Prisons and restitution of $220,000. The government then commenced a civil proceeding against H under FDCPA as a means of collecting the restitution. The attachment was granted, and H appealed.