Ex-Sunwest CEO Loses Bid to Undo $74 Million Restitution Order

The former president and CEO of assisted living chain Sunwest Management Inc. lost his effort to overturn a $74 million restitution order after a federal appeals court said he wasn’t prejudiced by the district court’s years-long delay.

The Mandatory Victims Restitution Act requires district courts to impose restitution no more than 90 days after sentencing, but that requirement was designed to protect victims, not the perpetrators, the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit said Monday. Failure to comply with that deadline is harmless error unless a defendant can show actual prejudice, the court said in an unpublished decision, ...