Thomas Crowne received his law degree in 2002 and his LLM in 2006. He used federal and private student loans to fund his legal education and bar examination costs. Crowne was admitted to the bar in New York in November 2004, but he took inactive status in 208. In June 2009, Crowne was hired as a agent for the Treasury Department. Crowne conducted audits of taxpayers' federal tax returns. In July 2013, Crowne began auditing the 2011 and 2012 tax returns for Be a Pal, Inc., an alternate medical provider. Crowne met with Tim Binger, the representative for Be a Pal, during the audit process. Crowne asked Binger to go outside to have a discussion "off the record." During that discussion, Crowne told Binger that he had saved Be a Pal over $3 million in taxes. Crowne then solicited a bribe of $30,000 from Binger, which Crowne said he needed to help pay his school loan debt. Fearing that Crowne would not present the signed audit documents to his superiors to close the case, Binger agreed to make the payment. Binger immediately reported the incident to law enforcement, who arrested Crowne, after Crowne was recorded accepting two cash payments of $5,000 and $15,000 from Binger. Crowne resigned from the Treasury Department and was indicted for several federal offenses. On June 22, 2014, Crowne was convicted for the crimes of receiving a bribe by a public official and receiving an illegal gratuity by a public official, both felonies. He was sentenced to thirty months' imprisonment and three years' supervised release. Following his conviction, Crowne was disbarred by the NY Superior Court. Crowne was released from prison in June 2016 and is living in a half-way house in Boston. Crowne filed a Chapter 7 bankruptcy case one month after his conviction. His debts consisted almost entirely of his student loan debt. Crowne's student loan debt totaled ap-proximately $326,000. Crowne was granted a discharge on his other debts on September 14, 2014. In February 2015 while incarcerated, Crowne filed a complaint seeking to discharge his entire student loan debt. Crowne cited his disbarment and felony record as proof that he could not return to his former profession or earn the same income, even if he could find any substantive employment following his release. He argued that requiring him to pay his student loans would impose an undue hardship on him and his dependents. Crowne was then 45 years old and had a 3-year-old son. The bankruptcy court did not grant Crowne's motion to discharge his student loans. Crowne appealed to the Fifth Circuit.