Legal Question in Criminal Law in Michigan

Re: what should i do or expect to happen

Restitution never expires until it is paid in full. But, there are many cases where the total amount of restitution cannot be collected before the defendant's probation expires. In thoses cases, the amount still owed becomes a civil judgment upon which the victim or prosecutor can take action against the defendant (e.g., garnishment, seize/sell property).

On the criminal case side of this, though, it is hard to predict exactly what the court will do at the end of your 4th year of probation if the restitution has not been paid in full. The court has several options:

(i) it can let you off probation at that time even with the restitution arrearage surviving as a civil judgment; (ii) the court can extend probation for up to another full year because you can get up to 5 yrs probation; (iii) the court can decide if your failure to pay full restitution is willful (i.e., you had the abilty to pay and were not) and then consider that a probation violation and resentence you to a prison term.

There may be more options, but these are the biggies. Which will the judge choose? We cannot say here, but it will depend on your overall performance on probation, your prior record (including past probation violations), the gravity of your violation this time, and most importantly the judge's discretion. Do everything you can to diligently comply with probation, including making all scheduled restitution payments ... and maybe even a little more to show the court that yuo are paying as much as you can.