You can't be imprisoned for being unable to pay a fine, but you can be imprisoned for being unwilling to pay a fine. This goes back to Bearden v. Georgia in whi

You can't be imprisoned for being unable to pay a fine, but you can be imprisoned for being unwilling to pay a fine. This goes back to Bearden v. Georgia in which the SCOTUS ruled >If the probationer has willfully refused to pay the fine or restitution when he has the resources to pay or has failed to make sufficient bona fide efforts to seek employment or borrow money to pay, the State is justified in using imprisonment as a sanction to enforce collection. [0] So yes, had Levinson refused to pay the fines imposed he could have been facing a prison sentence. You can easily find a plethora of news stories about people being imprisoned for failure to pay fines. [0] http://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-supreme-court/461/660.html http://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-supreme-court/461/660.html