Opinion ID: 562686
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: The District Court's Restitution Order

Text: 30 Farkas claims that the district court abused its discretion when it required him to make restitution to Riverside Community Bank after the jury acquitted him of committing wire fraud on the bank. In support of this claim, Farkas cites Hughey v. United States, --- U.S. ----, 110 S.Ct.1979, 109 L.Ed.2d 408 (1990), where the Court held that restitution is limited to losses caused by the offense of conviction. Id. 110 S.Ct. at 1983-84; see also United States v. Marsh, 932 F.2d 710, 712 (8th Cir.1991) (restitution is limited to the specific conduct underlying the convictions). 31 Farkas' reliance upon Hughey is unfounded. In Hughey, the defendant pleaded guilty to one count of credit card fraud. The district court then ordered the defendant to make restitution for other credit card frauds that the government alleged he had committed. The Supreme Court held that the defendant could only be held accountable for charges related to his conviction. Id. While Farkas was not convicted of wire fraud against Riverside, he was convicted of credit card fraud. While the direct victims of Farkas' credit card scheme were the consumers, Farkas also injured the bank. The consumers removed the unauthorized charges from their credit cards via chargebacks. These chargebacks came from Riverside Community Bank and cost the bank $76,545.44. Therefore, Riverside was one of the ultimate victims of Farkas' credit card scheme. Because the district court was authorized 3 to order Farkas to make restitution to Riverside as a victim of Farkas' credit card fraud convictions, we find no abuse of discretion in the court's restitution order.