Opinion ID: 612563
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Restitution Ordered to the Red Cross and the BIA

Text: We first address Frazier's argument as to the district court awarding restitution to the Family in the total amount of their claimed losses when it also awarded restitution to the Red Cross and the BIA for the amounts those organizations provided to the Family in emergency funds. The Family claimed $18,493.99 of personal property losses, to which Frazier did not object. Frazier also did not challenge the fact the Red Cross and the BIA provided a total of $2,355.00 ($1,355.00 and $1,000.00, respectively) to the Family following the fire. However, Frazier contends the district court erred in requiring him to pay restitution not only to the Family for the full amount of their personal property losses, but also to the Red Cross and the BIA for aid they provided to the Family because, as a result, the total restitution exceeded the full amount of the victims' losses. The Family as well as the Red Cross and the BIA each claimed losses associated with Frazier's conduct; however, whether they qualify as victims depends on whether they were directly and proximately harmed by Frazier's arson. 18 U.S.C. § 3663A(a)(2). Putting SWA aside for the moment  we will discuss its loss separately below  the other victims of the arson are the Family because they were the only other ones directly and proximately harmed by the fire: their personal belongings were destroyed with the home. In contrast, the Red Cross and the BIA were not victims under the MVRA because neither demonstrated it suffered a direct or proximate harm from Frazier's burning down the home. Concluding the Family qualified as victims of Frazier's conduct, we look to their losses to determine the amount of restitution available. As detailed above, the amount of restitution a district court is permitted to award under the MVRA cannot exceed the actual, provable loss realized by the victims. Chalupnik, 514 F.3d at 754. Based on the record, the Family suffered an undisputed total loss of $18,493.99 based on personal property destroyed by the fire. The Red Cross and the BIA's combined claim of a loss of $2,355.00 is not included because it is not a loss suffered by a victim of the offense. See 18 U.S.C. § 3664(f)(1)(A). Consequently, we conclude the total amount of loss suffered by the victims is the claimed amount of $18,493.99, which reflects the total amount of restitution the district court is permitted to award. We next consider who is entitled to receive this restitution amount. Generally restitution is compensation for a loss and should be paid to the victims. Id. However, where a third party has already provided compensation to a victim, the third party is entitled to be paid for the amount it provided. See 18 U.S.C. § 3664(j)(1). In this case, the Red Cross and the BIA provided funds to the Family and thus they may qualify as third parties entitled to a portion of the restitution amount equal to their contribution so long as the funds they provided were compensation for the Family's losses caused by the fire. The record before us, however, does not establish the purpose behind the Red Cross's or the BIA's providing funds to the Family and thus it is unclear whether the money provided by the Red Cross and the BIA was intended to act as compensation under 18 U.S.C. § 3664(j)(1). Consequently, a remand to the district court is appropriate to determine whether the Red Cross and the BIA are entitled to their claimed amounts of $1,355 and $1,000. We note that to the extent the Red Cross and the BIA are found to have provided compensation for the Family's losses and are therefore entitled to a portion of the restitution, this amount does not increase the total amount of the restitution order. Instead, given the restitution amount is based on the actual loss suffered by the victims, here $18,493.99, the compensation provided by a third party merely shifts the payment of a portion of the restitution to that third party for reimbursement, and should result in a corresponding reduction in the amount of restitution ordered to be paid to the victims directly. The government attempts to defend the district court's decision to award a total of $20,848.99 in restitution  $18,493.00 to the Family and $2,355.00 to the Red Cross and the BIA  but relies on a circular argument. [1] The government initially suggests the district court correctly awarded restitution to the Red Cross and the BIA because they are third parties who provided compensation to the victims of Frazier's offense under 18 U.S.C. § 3664(j)(1). See Appellee's Br. at 21-24. But the government also contends the Family's restitution should not be reduced by the amount of funds received from the Red Cross and the BIA because the funds were not compensation for the Family's claimed losses but rather were provided to cover the victims for the costs associated with their emergency displacement. Id. at 24. We find this split position troubling because it characterizes the Red Cross's and the BIA's payments as compensation for the Family's losses in order to qualify the Red Cross and the BIA to receive restitution, but then immediately recharacterizes the payments as something other than compensation for the Family's losses in order to suggest the Family's restitution order should not be reduced by these received funds. We do not see how the funds provided by the Red Cross and the BIA could be both compensation entitling the organizations to restitution but then not be compensation for the losses relevant to the Family's claim for restitution. If nothing else, we find these competing positions taken by the government to reinforce our conclusion that the record is unclear as to the purpose of the Red Cross's and the BIA's payments and to further support the need to remand the case to the district court to resolve the fact-intensive questions as to whether the funds provided by the Red Cross and the BIA constituted compensation under 18 U.S.C. § 3664(j)(1).