United States v. Smith

MEMORANDUM **

Appellant Terry William Smith pled guilty to possession of a firearm by a prohibited person in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922 (g)(3). Following remand for re-sentencing, the district court imposed a $5,000 fine which Smith appeals. The facts and procedural history are familiar to the parties, and we do not repeat them here.

The district court imposed a $5,000 fine on Smith pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3571 . Smith contends that the district court erred when, in determining whether he had sufficient resources to pay a fine, it considered his $10,946.15 Individual Retirement Account (“IRA”). We note that although the district court considered the IRA funds as part of Smith’s income, it did not conclusively determine that the funds were subject to garnishment. Smith also argues that the district court erred in finding he could pay a $5,000 fine and contends that it was unreasonable to impose such a fine in this case.

We decline to consider whether the IRA can properly be considered as a finan *799 cial resource in determining whether Smith had sufficient resources to pay the fine. The Government represented at oral argument that it did not believe it had the authority to…