The following excerpt is from United States v. Hurtado, No. 16-3982-cr (2nd Cir. 2018):
3. We note that imprisonment for failure to pay restitution is permitted only if a defendant "willfully refused" or "failed to make sufficient bona fide efforts to pay," or else "alternatives to imprisonment [would not be] adequate to serve the purposes of punishment and deterrence." 18 U.S.C. 3614(b); see, e.g., United States v. Colasuonno, 697 F.3d 164, 180 (2d Cir. 2012) (upholding district court's decision to revoke probation for a "willful violation" of defendant's restitution obligations). There is no suggestion here that the district court punished Hurtado for his inability to pay restitutionindeed, the court's references to Hurtado's "outrageous" spending demonstrates that it found, reasonably, that Hurtado was prioritizing personal expenses over restitution.
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