S&L FIGURES REPAYING VERY LITTLE

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, February 25, 1993                   TAG: 9302250096
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Short
S&L FIGURES REPAYING VERY LITTLE
More than 100 savings and loan defendants who escaped long prison terms in exchange for making penalty payments have repaid less than a half-penny per dollar of the $133.8 million they owe, according to an Associated Press review of federal court records.
Some defendants - and some government officials, too - readily acknowledge there is little chance the 109 convicted S&L figures who received plea bargains will ever repay the huge fines and restitutions.
"The restitution orders in these cases are thrown around like there are nickels and dimes involved," said Woodrow Brownlee, former president of Dallas-based Commodore Savings Association. He has repaid just $3,000 of the $1 million in restitution ordered in a plea bargain that spared him prison time.
Asked about his slow repayment, Brownlee, who earns about $15,000 per year from a sales job, pounded on his calculator.
"Let's see - I'm 53, and let's say I have a life expectancy of 75 years. That works out to $47,500 per year," he said.
Though prosecutors can try to revoke probation, the Justice Department has forgone a get-tough approach and left it to overburdened probation and parole officers to collect the money.
George Calhoun, a senior Justice Department prosecutor, said an aggressive approach would do little because many have "pretty well been stripped clean by the time they get to court."

by Archana Subramaniam by CNB