Victim Witness
Restitution Questions
Q: WHEN WILL I GET MY MONEY?
Probably not for a very long time. Typically there are hundreds of victims in fraud cases and payments have to be disbursed to all the victims at the same time. Restitution payments also are dependant on how much financial resources the defendant has at the time of sentencing and whether the defendant has any children or family who are dependant on him/her for income. If the defendant is in prison, the defendant will most likely not be able make any payments or make only small payments (this is because prisoners that are in prison's work program are paid very little, as low as 11 cents hour). For example, if the defendant makes a $25 payment, that payment then has to be spread among numerous victims, thus each victim may only get $1 payment towards restitution. Therefore, you may not receive any restitution or only partial restitution paid out over a very long time period.