Portland, Maine: United States Attorney Thomas E. Delahanty II announced
today that the District of Maine collected $2,534,846.68 in criminal and civil actions in Fiscal
Year 2013. Of this amount, $1,360,891.94 was collected in criminal actions and $1,173,954.74
was collected in civil actions.
Attorney General Eric Holder announced on Thursday that the Justice Department
collected approximately $8.1 billion in civil and criminal actions in the fiscal year ending Sept.
30, 2013. The more than $8 billion in collections in FY 2013 represents nearly three times the
appropriated $2.76 billion budget for the 94 U.S. Attorney’s offices and the main litigating
divisions in that same period.
“The department’s enforcement actions help to not only ensure justice is served, but also
deliver a valuable return to the American people," said Attorney General Holder. “It is critical
that Congress provide the resources necessary to match the department’s mounting caseload. As
these figures show, supporting our federal prosecutors is a sound investment."
The U.S. Attorneys’ Offices, along with the department’s litigating divisions, are
responsible for enforcing and collecting civil and criminal debts owed to the U.S. and criminal
debts owed to federal crime victims. The law requires defendants to pay restitution to victims of
certain federal crimes who have suffered a physical injury or financial loss. While restitution is
paid to the victim, criminal fines and felony assessments are paid to the department’s Crime
Victims’ Fund, which distributes the funds to state victim compensation and victim assistance
programs.
The largest civil collections were from affirmative civil enforcement cases, in which the
United States recovered government money lost to fraud or other misconduct or collected fines
imposed on individuals and/or corporations for violations of federal health, safety, civil rights or
environmental laws. In addition, civil debts were collected on behalf of several federal agencies,
including the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Health and Human Services,
Internal Revenue Service, Small Business Administration and Department of Education.
Additionally, the U.S. Attorney’s office in the District of Maine, working with partner
agencies and divisions, collected $462,493 in asset forfeiture actions in FY 2013. Forfeited
assets are deposited into the Department of Justice Assets Forfeiture Fund and are used to restore
funds to crime victims and for a variety of law enforcement purposes.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
