Nothing is certain but death and taxes, and cigarettes often beget both. But John Maddux, Jr., and his wife, Christina Carman, along with some friends and family, found a way to skirt the tax part: for years they trafficked cigarettes in a way that bypassed governmental taxing authorities. This enabled them to sell untaxed cigarettes directly to consumers at a steep discount—converting what would have been taxes into profits for themselves. The law caught up with them, they were convicted and sentenced, and we affirmed in full. See generally United States v. Maddux, 917 F.3d 437 (6th Cir. 2019).

If we can be certain of anything else, it is that criminal sentences rarely change (let alone grow) after that point, subject to a few narrow exceptions. Yet we have this case. Before Maddux’s and Carman’s sentencing hearings, the government sought two multi-million-dollar money judgments against each of them—forfeiture orders representing the gross proceeds of their scheme. So far, good enough. By the time of their sentencings, however, the district court failed to enter preliminary forfeiture orders, nor did it include the money judgments as “part of the sentence[s]” announced. 28 U.S.C. § 2461(c); see Fed. R. Crim. P. 32.2(b)(2)(B), (b)(4)(A)–(B). Instead, years after their sentences became final—and affirmed by this court— the district court imposed the two money judgments sought, which Maddux and Carman now appeal.

All agree (including the district court) that that chain of events ignored Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 32.2(b). That rule provides the procedures for effecting criminal forfeiture, requiring that a preliminary forfeiture order is entered well before sentencing, that forfeiture is included in the sentence, and that any forfeiture (or lack thereof) becomes final at sentencing. The district court, however, justified its late-issued money judgments by calling Rule 32.2(b)’s procedural requirements time-related directives—deadlines that may be violated so long as the defendant receives adequate notice and a hearing. Because we conclude that Rule 32.2(b) is a mandatory claims-processing rule, rather than a time-related directive, we reverse the money judgments in this published opinion. Carman separately appeals two orders entered in her ancillary proceedings below, in which she claims a superior interest in specific property forfeited by Maddux. We affirm those orders in an unpublished appendix to this opinion.