PUBLISHED

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

No. 22-2252

DEDRE V. FEYIJINMI,

Plaintiff − Appellant,

v.

STATE OF MARYLAND CENTRAL COLLECTION UNIT,

Defendant – Appellee.

------------------------------

NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF CONSUMER BANKRUPTCY ATTORNEYS,

Amicus Supporting Appellant.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Maryland, at Baltimore. Richard D. Bennett, Senior District Judge. (1:22−cv−00904−RDB)

Argued: December 5, 2023 Decided: June 28, 2024

Before DIAZ, Chief Judge, HARRIS and HEYTENS, Circuit Judges.

Affirmed by published opinion. Chief Judge Diaz wrote the opinion, in which Judge Harris and Judge Heytens joined.

ARGUED: Marie Lott Pharaoh, Greenwood, Mississippi, for Appellant. Susan Christine Scanlon, OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF MARYLAND, Baltimore, Maryland, for Appellee. ON BRIEF: Anthony G. Brown, Attorney General, OFFICE OF USCA4 Appeal: 22-2252 Doc: 47 Filed: 06/28/2024 Pg: 2 of 17

THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF MARYLAND, Baltimore, Maryland, for Appellee. Peter Goldberger, Ardmore, Pennsylvania, for Amici Curiae.

2 USCA4 Appeal: 22-2252 Doc: 47 Filed: 06/28/2024 Pg: 3 of 17

DIAZ, Chief Judge:

Dedre Feyijinmi filed an adversary proceeding in her Chapter 13 bankruptcy case

seeking to discharge a restitution debt. But under the Bankruptcy Code, a debt “for

restitution . . . included in a sentence on the debtor’s conviction of a crime” isn’t

dischargeable. 11 U.S.C. § 1328(a)(3).

Feyijinmi insists, however, that this provision doesn’t apply to her because she

wasn’t convicted under Maryland law. Alternatively, she argues that the debt was

discharged because the state of Maryland identified the debt as dischargeable court fees on

its proof of claim.

The bankruptcy court rejected these arguments, and the district court affirmed. For

the reasons below, we do too.

I.

A.

In 2006, Feyijinmi was found guilty in Maryland state court of welfare fraud and

sentenced to three years’ imprisonment. As allowed under state law, the court deferred the

entry of conviction and placed her on three years’ supervised probation. The court also

ordered $14,487 in restitution, plus the statutory collection fee. It recorded and indexed

the restitution as a civil judgment.

Feyijinmi paid $890 before the court discharged her from probation. The State then

transferred her outstanding balance to its Central Collection Unit.

3 USCA4 Appeal: 22-2252 Doc: 47 Filed: 06/28/2024 Pg: 4 of 17

A Maryland state court subsequently expunged Feyijinmi’s criminal records. 1 But

Feyijinmi’s restitution obligation survived. So the court converted the judgment of

restitution into a civil matter and granted the State’s motion to garnish Feyijinmi’s wages

to pay down her balance.

B.

A year later, Feyijinmi petitioned for Chapter 13 bankruptcy. She scheduled the

Central Collection Unit as a creditor. The State filed a proof of claim for $16,008.80. In

the “Basis for Claim” section of t

Click Here to Read the rest of this document