High Court to Consider Timing Provisions of Forfeiture Rule

The US Supreme Court agreed Friday to consider whether a federal trial court may enter a forfeiture in a criminal case outside the time limits of the federal forfeiture statute.

Petitioner Louis McIntosh says the forfeiture order in his case should be vacated because the district court failed to enter a preliminary forfeiture order before sentencing, and waited two-and-a-half years after sentencing to submit a final order of forfeiture, in violation of Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 32.2(b)(2)(B).

The US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit denied McIntosh’s argument, finding the requirements of 32.2(b) are “time-related directives” that didn’t ...