Court Opinion

ID: 9495192
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 15:56:59.671628+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:56:52.750002
License: Public Domain

COLE, Circuit Judge,
concurring.
I concur in the majority’s opinion. I write separately to note that the record does not reveal why the district court chose to delegate the restitution amount to the IRS or tax court. Certainly, parties to a plea agreement may specify that the final restitution amount will be negotiated between the IRS and the defendant. See United States v. Gottesman, 122 F.3d 150, 151-52 (2d Cir.1997); United States v. Stout, 32 F.3d 901, 904 (5th Cir.1994). However, there is no clear indication that delegation was contemplated as part of the plea agreement in this case. Alternatively, the district court could simply have been unaware that delegation was impermissible. The parties registered no objection to delegation, and only after Butler had been sentenced did this Circuit suggest in binding precedent that delegation of the restitution amount could be plain error. See Weinberger v. United States, 268 F.3d 346, 359 (6th Cir.2001).
If there were evidence that the parties had agreed to delegate restitution, or evidence that the defendant had affirmatively waived his right to have the restitution amount set by the court, I would be more hesitant to vacate the sentence. However, as this record does not present such evidence, I join the majority.