Temporal Scope and Restitution
Viju Mathew pleaded guilty, without a plea agreement, to “knowingly possessing, with the intent to use unlawfully or transfer unlawfully, five or more authentication features”—health-insurance claim numbers—issued under the authority of the United States. The district court ordered that he pay restitution to Medicare. He appealed the order, and the Fifth Circuit reversed, holding that the district court erred by including amounts that Medicare paid prior to the temporal scope of the conviction. See 18 U.S.C. 3663A (Mandatory Victim Restitution Act). Because the offense of conviction didn’t involve a scheme, conspiracy, or pattern of criminal activity, and because Viju didn’t agree to enlarge the scope of restitution (such as in a plea agreement), the Act required the court to limit the restitution award to the actual loss directly and proximately caused by the offense of conviction.