How Can Paying Restitution Help in a Criminal Case?

Paying restitution can reduce the harm caused by an offense and, in many cases, positively influence plea negotiations, sentencing outcomes, and a judge’s view of accountability. It shows the court you are taking responsibility and working to make the victim whole, which may support arguments for leniency depending on the charges and local law. This article explains how restitution works, when and how to pay it, and how it can affect pleas, sentencing, probation, and future consequences.

Regina Tsombanakis– Criminal Defense Attorney – Fort Lauderdale, FL

“Whether people actually want to prosecute. Sometimes the State files the case and people don’t want to prosecute, but people say, look… let them pay me back my money. I don’t care if they go to jail. This is what’s important to me.

So, then you kind of get to work towards that end and say, hey, we’re trying to make the victim whole, the victim agrees with no jail, the victim agrees with no incarceration. We have XX amount for them. So let’s see how we can make this case… we can make everybody whole, everybody kind of happy, like, put them back in the place they need to be. And a lot of times you may not hear that in a police report.”

Ray Hrdlicka – Host – Attorneys.Media

“Of course. So, restitution, rather than criminal prosecutions, sound like…”

Regina Tsombanakis– Criminal Defense Attorney – Fort Lauderdale, FL

“Many times. Many times. Many times…listen you’re caught. Fighting it… it is ridiculous. You’re probably not going to win, nine times out at 10, and you’re going to lose. You’re going to lose bad. So, in cases of theft or economic crimes, people want their money back. That’s key. So, if you enable that to happen, then they’re happy. They’re put in the spot they were before.

Your client… because you’ve come up with the money is able to be on a probationary term, or house arrest. Something other than… it means they don’t go free. They have something other than prison.

So, and that’s not something you find in Lawyers-Are-Us 101. It’s just something you feel out with the people and reading the cases. And I’ve been doing it since 1996, so I kind of get it. Kind of know when I look at the case about… if it’s going to be something where we need to do restitution off of…”