United States v. Rosenstreich

FRANK, Circuit Judge.

It is well settled that, thanks to the double-jeopardy provision of the Fifth Amendment, a federal court may not increase (a) a sentence of imprisonment, once execution of the sentence has begun, or (b) a sentence to pay a fine, after the fine *322first imposed has been paid.1 We think that, for this purpose at least, probation— which has been called an “authorized mode of mild and ambulatory punishment”2— should be deemed the equivalent of imprisonment. A probationary period starts when the judge imposes sentence.3 It is suggested that here it did not commence until the…