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Plea Agreement Waiver of Right to File ?Any Appeal? Bars Appeal of Restitution Order

By Candace Hom, Melinda Ghilardi, Nancy Rimmer, Sarah Gannett, Renee Pietropaolo and Tieffa Harper

At issue in United States v. Perez, No. 06-2036, is whether an appeal of a restitution order is barred by an appellate waiver.The plea agreement contained a broad waiver of the right "to file any appeal, any collateral attack, or any other writ or motion" as well as a stipulation that loss amount was between $70,000 and $120,000. During sentencing, the defendant further stipulated to the loss amount of $73,476.On appeal, the defendant argued that restitution is not technically a component of his sentence such that an appeal of restitution is not barred by the waiver. The waiver, he continued, only applies to challenges to the conviction and duration of confinement.The Court rejected this argument, relying on prior cases law that restitution, ordered as part of a criminal sentence, is a criminal penalty...continue to full post

Full post as published by Third Circuit Blog on February 07, 2008 (boomark / email).