Legal Question in Civil Litigation in Massachusetts

It sounds, from the facts you present, like this guy probably does not actually have any money. He steals $800 - what kind of person risks jail time for such a relatively small sum? He spells his name wrong. Is that to obfuscate collections? Or because he can barely read?

The bottom line is that if a defendant has no money, there's no way to get any money out of him. I suppose you could attempt to garnish his wages - but to do that, he'd need to have a job.

The good news is that a Massachusetts judgment is good for many years (if you have a judgment). So if he makes anything of his life, you can collect then.

My suggestion is that you contact the probation office at the court where he was sentenced, and see what they expect will happen with this. Presumably, your defendant has been in communication with them about this, and they may have some information about your prospects of repayment by 4/22/10. I agree with Attorney Jacobsen, however, that you can't get blood from a stone. Accordingly, if your defendant can't repay you, your only immediate recourse is that he will likely be sent to jail for probation violation. After he has served the time and is out of jail, he will still owe you the money, but you're not likely to get any money from him during the time he's in jail. I know that's not what you want to hear, but maybe he can find a way to repay you if staying out of jail altogether is important to him. Good luck.