Former Chattanooga businessman John J. Woods, sentenced in February to nearly eight years in prison for running a Ponzi scheme, has consented to a restitution judgment of $31.2 million, court papers show.
But his lawyer said in a filing the amount is “an astronomical figure” Woods can’t ever repay in light of his financial condition, incarceration, age and earning prospects after his release.
(READ MORE: Woods sentenced in Ponzi scheme)
Still, government prosecutors at a hearing Tuesday in Atlanta were expected to ask a federal judge that Woods, 59, pay another $2.9 million in interest and push the total restitution figure to $34.1 million.
Prosecutors said in a court filing the former Chattanooga Lookouts investor cannot establish that he will be unable to pay interest in the future on the criminal restitution judgment.