Hale

MEMORANDUM **

Defendant Ralph Hale appeals from the district court’s order revoking his supervised release and sentencing him to a 57-month term of incarceration. We reverse and remand.

Defendant argues that because the court never made payment of the $100,000 forfeiture judgment a condition of supervised release, the court abused its discretion by revoking release on that ground. We agree.

The court’s belief that payment of the forfeiture obligation was a condition of release is understandable, in view of the U.S. Probation Office’s mistaken representation that it was. However, the court’s order sentencing Defendant at the time of his conviction did not make payment of the forfeiture obligation a condition of supervised release. 1 The court therefore erred by revoking release on that basis.

In its written order revoking release, the court stated that it found that Defendant had violated two other conditions of release: Standard Conditions Two and Three. Although Defendant’s violations of those conditions could provide valid bases for the court to revoke release, because the court’s main reason for revoking release was Defendant’s failure to pay the forfeiture obligation, it…