Convicted murderers, sex traffickers received COVID stimulus checks while in prison, court docs show

The federal government is suing convicted murderers and sex traffickers who received COVID-19 stimulus checks, ordering them to use the funds to pay restitution to their victims’ families, according to court documents reviewed by Fox News Digital. 

Senate Republicans cried foul last week after it was revealed that Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev received a $1,400 stimulus check under the $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief bill known as the American Rescue Plan of 2021, which was signed by President Biden last March.

Sens. Bill Cassidy, R-La., Tom Cotton, R-Ark., and Ted Cruz, R-Texas, offered an amendment on the floor at the time to block checks from prisoners, but it failed on a party-line vote, 49-50. The previous coronavirus relief bills also lacked any language barring imprisoned felons from receiving stimulus payments. 

"Senate Democrats blocked my amendment to prevent prisoners, like the Boston Marathon bomber, from receiving government stimulus checks," Cassidy said in a statement last week to Fox News Digital. "It is an insult to victims."