This question was inspired by a news story I saw in which a woman is facing a 20-year prison sentence and $250 million in fines for punching a flight attendant who asked her to wear a mask.
Most people don’t have $250 million lying around, and I’m certain she doesn’t.
How does it ever get paid? Does it ever get paid? Does the debt go to her descendants when she dies? Does she have to forswear all money for the rest of her life?
If you’re going to post something completely unbelievable, maybe link to where you saw it?
They’ll get what they can via asset forfeiture and garnishing of pay checks subject to local laws. In some places a primary residence can’t be seized and pensions can’t be garnished. Obviously her descendants aren’t liable for any of it. Anything outstanding when she dies doesn’t get paid.
OJ Simpson famously lost a huge settlement. He’s still officially owes most of it.
It’s a bit short of that $250,000,000 figure:
Vyvianna Quinonez, 28, of Sacramento, entered a plea to interfering with a flight attendant face up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine., the US attorney’s office said.
We’ve seen this kind of sloppy reporting before. It’s presumably a category of offense where the range of possible sentences is very wide, so the journalist quotes the top of the range, when in fact there’s no way the actual sentence will be that high.
If the possible range for this type of offense is no incarceration to 20 years, you could equally well write a clickbait headline that she “may escape prison time after assault that left flight attendant with broken teeth”.
By the way, this is why someone with at least moderate assets should have an umbrella policy. It’s not very expensive and will protect you against stuff like this.
The short answer is, typically they are put on a payment plan based on their income and possibly assets. In my state, I believe a person is not required to pay while incarcerated unless it has been shown that they have income or assets to make that possible.
Yes, I noted the magic words “up to”. But in addition, someone somewhere apparently threw in an extra three zeroes … $250K, $250 mil – what’s the difference, really? 
An umbrella policy protects against liability - but does it also protect against a fine imposed for a crime? I think criminal acts are excluded, not sure though.
Nah:
[quote]Here’s what umbrella insurance does not include:
Basically, umbrella insurance never covers your own costs. It only helps cover expenses if you are sued for damages and are found at-fault.[/quote]
On the remote chance that this wasn’t rhetorical …
$249,750,000
Bitch needs to pay.
Some countries, notably Finland, impose fines based on your income.
Under a system like this, I guess Elon Musk could get fined $250 million for punching a Finnish flight attendant. That’s why he needs to be careful to keep his wealth as unrealized gains rather than income. And, to be on the safe side, avoid punching Finnish flight attendants.
So the way I read that, with a criminal conviction not only would the fine not be covered, but if the flight attendant were seriously injured and brought a civil suit for $ millions, that would not be covered either.
I stand corrected. But still get an umbrella policy.
Get an umbrella policy and don’t punch flight attendants seems to be the take-away from this thread.
That’s an interesting question.
I found another umbrella web page that phrases that exception differently:
Liabilities that result from a criminal act or other intentional actions
Which would support my assumption (and yours): that a civil suit for damages that arose from a criminal act would not be covered.
How does someone pay a fine of a huge amount of money that they’ll never be able to repay?
If it’s anything like the American system of justice, the alternative is 150 years in jail.
But then, after they finish their sentence, they don’t have to pay at all?
No, then they’d pay out of their pocket change.