TERRY MICHAEL HONEYCUTT v. UNITED STATES
Supreme Court of the United States, Sotomayor, June 5, 2017,
Forfeiture- 21 USC 853 – “Joint and several” liability is inappropriate with regard to forfeiture of money that was never acquired by the defendant.
Facts:
Honeycutt’s brother owned a store that sold, among other items, a product used to make methamphetamine. The profits from these sales were in excess of $250,000. Honeycutt worked at the store and assisted his brother in selling the product.
Both were convicted. Honeycutt’s brother agreed to pay $200,000 and the government sought the remainder of the profits from Honeycutt.
Honeycutt appealed, arguing that he never had that money and therefore could not forfeit it to the government.
Held: The Supreme Court agreed. If a defendant doesn’t personally benefit, they can’t forfeit those benefits to the government.