When a court issues you a fine or a surcharged for committing some sort of violation or crime, you are legally obligated to pay it. Depending on the situation, you may be able to pay it in intervals because court imposed financial penalties have a tendency to be very expensive. The more serious the crime, the higher the fine. Some crimes may result in fines that are tens of thousands of dollars, which many people don’t have the means to pay. In the event that you fail to pay the fine or surcharge, you will be facing serious penalties.
If the court imposes a monetary fine or restitution and you fail to pay, you may be imprisoned until you have made the necessary payment. If you have only made a partial payment, you may also be imprisoned until the rest of the payment has been made. Please note that you won’t be imprisoned forever if you don’t pay the fine.
If the fine or restitution payment that you didn’t pay was issued because you committed a felony, you can only be imprisoned for up to one year. If the fine was imposed because you were found guilty of a misdemeanor crime, you will only be imprisoned for up to one-third of the maximum period of time that the person would be imprisoned for committing the crime. So, if the period of imprisonment was for 3 years for committing the crime, you can only be jailed an additional 1 year for failure to pay. If it was a petty offense, you can only be imprisoned for up to 15 days.
If you need legal representation after being charged with a crime, contact our firm today.
If you are in need of experienced legal counsel in New York State, please contact Grunwald & Seman, P.C. and we would be happy to assist you.
