A judge has ordered the U.S. government to seize money from the prison trust account of former USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar, who owes approximately $58,000 to the victims of his crimes according to a report by the Associated Press. Nassar, whose crimes included possession of child pornography and sexual assault of U.S. gymnasts, is serving a decades-long prison sentence.
Nassar, who was sentenced to prison in 2017, has allegedly received approximately $13,000 in deposits to his account since 2018, but has only paid $300 towards court-ordered financial penalties, none of which have gone to his victims. Nassar's prison account balance was approximately $2,041 in July, and the $13k he had received in deposits included $2,000 in federal stimulus checks.
"Because (Nassar) has received substantial non-exempt funds in his inmate trust account since incarceration, he was required by law to notify the court and the United States attorney and to apply those funds to the restitution that he still owed," U.S. District Judge Janet Neff said Thursday.
Nassar, a physician at Michigan State University and USA Gymnastics, was sentenced to 40 to 175 years in prison after pleading guilty to molesting young women and girls -- including some of the United States' top gymnasts -- under the guise of medical treatment for injuries. In addition, Nassar also received a 60-year prison sentence for possession of thousands of images of child pornography.
In a court filing, Nassar claimed that he had received "gifts" from third parties, while also arguing that inmates should be paid a living wage for jobs in prison in order to "make reasonable payments towards restitution."
Nassar, who will likely never be a free man again, is currently serving his prison sentence at the U.S. Penitentiary in Sumterville, Florida.
