DETROIT - U.S. Attorney Matthew Schneider announced today that the Eastern District of Michigan collected $90,585,906 in criminal and civil actions in Fiscal Year 2019. Of this amount, $86,186,604 was collected in criminal actions and $4,399,302 was collected in civil actions.
Additionally, the Eastern District of Michigan worked with other U.S. Attorney’s Offices and components of the Department of Justice to collect an additional $5,990,117 in cases pursued jointly by these offices. Of this amount, $38,009.96 was collected in criminal actions and $5,952,107 was collected in civil actions.
“The prosecutors and trial attorneys in our office worked tirelessly every day and these numbers prove it," stated United States Attorney Matthew Schneider. “Our office recovered over three times the amount of money spent in our annual budget of $29 million. I’m happy to say these funds will be returned to victims and taxpayers."
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 collected to federal and state victim compensation and victim assistance programs.
Additionally, the U.S. Attorney’s office in Eastern District of Michigan, working with partner agencies and divisions, collected $14,168,249 in asset forfeiture actions in FY 2019. Forfeited assets deposited into the Department of Justice Assets Forfeiture Fund 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
