Justice Department orders revamp of inmates’ federal accounts

The Justice Department this week directed federal prisons to toughen their monitoring of deposit accounts for inmates, The Associated Press reported.

The Bureau of Prisons issued a new guideline on Thursday requiring 122 federal prisons to report the total amount of income in prisoners’ accounts on a monthly basis and identify those who have balances of more than $2,500.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) also instructs wardens to investigate inmates who have received large sums money in their accounts, identify individuals outside the prison system who are making deposits and look into former prisoners who are depositing funds for current inmates, according to the AP.

“In administering this program, the Bureau must take appropriate steps to prevent inmates from using such accounts to engage in unlawful activity or to avoid obligations like paying court-ordered restitution to victims,” Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said in a directive obtained by the AP.

The guidelines come after federal prosecutors said disgraced former USA Gymnastics national team doctor Larry Nassar was allowed to pay just $100 a year to his victims — owing almost $58,000 — even though he had about $12,000 in his prison account, The Washington Post reported.

A DOJ official told the AP that the new policy is to help ensure inmates aren’t using their federal accounts to “avoid financial obligations or to break the law.” 

The Bureau of Prisons has identified that 20 out of 130,000 federal inmates have more than $10,000 in their accounts, the AP noted.