Snowden's Second Motion to Continue Sentencing Granted

First Motion to Refinance Home Denied 

In an Order from the U.S. District Court, Northern District of Florida, Pensacola Division, Senior U.S. District Judge granted the Second Motion to Continue Sentencing in United States of America v. Roy P. Snowden. The motion, filed January 16, had requested that the sentencing scheduled for January 23, be continued due to a family medical crisis of Snowden’s counsel, preventing him to attend the sentencing.

Snowden’s first Motion to Continue Sentencing, filed January 10, had been denied by the court.  The motion was mainly on the grounds that Snowden had been in the process of refinancing his residential home, which had been approved in the amount of $1.4 million, which was less than 70% of the appraised value. 

The motion states that the defendant is in the process of seeking additional lenders that would loan up to approximately $1.7 or $1.8 million in the refinance. The refinance would eliminate a first and second mortgage and it states, “. . . it should leave sufficient funds to eliminate all of the back taxes, interest, and penalties.” The $1.4 million would eliminate the two mortgages and the balance of approximately $850,000 to $900,000 would be left to be payable to the I.R.S. against the taxes, penalties, and interest.

It explains that the IRS currently has a levy against monies payable to the Snowdens from the coffee business interest which was sold prior to indictment, and that the levy has obviously affected the lender credit score.  The Snowdens also have tens of thousands of dollars in outstanding credit card debt, which is essentially unmanageable.  But if the refinancing could be completed, all the available equity in the home would be put forward toward repayment of the IRS indebtedness. 

The motion also states that when the Snowdens sold their interest in the coffee business, they sold only the assets of the corporation and they maintained the corporate entity as well as corporate liability.  The only asset that the corporation has is the promissory note which produces the income that has been levied against by the IRS. The liabilities include continuing litigation between those who purchased coffee shop franchises and the defendant’s corporation. It states, “The promissory note is only as good as the solvency of the new corporation that is paying on it.” 

But if the IRS releases the levy, the question then becomes whether or not, even with money from the sale of assets of the coffee business, will there be sufficient income to cover the debt service on the refinance.  And, if Snowden is sentenced before the refinancing is complete, and if he is incarcerated, then it would be virtually impossible to consummate the refinance. According to the motion, Snowden would like to be in the position of demonstrating extraordinary restitution, so that the Court may consider this in formulating a sentence.