United States Attorney Christina E. Nolan announced today that the District of Vermont collected $1,228,588.74 in criminal and civil actions in Fiscal Year 2019. Of this amount, $574,416.22 was collected in criminal actions and $654,172.52 was collected in civil actions.
The District of Vermont worked with other U.S. Attorney’s Offices and components of the Department of Justice to collect an additional $39,001,889.33 in cases pursued jointly by these offices. Of this amount, $18,037.74 was collected in criminal actions and $38,983,851.59 was collected in civil actions.
The U.S. Attorneys’ Offices, along with the Justice 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 Vermont U.S. Attorney’s office, working with partner agencies and divisions, collected $330,182.00 in asset forfeiture actions in FY 2019. Forfeited assets deposited into the Department of Justice Asset Forfeiture Fund are used to restore funds to crime victims and for a variety of law enforcement purposes.
“The District of Vermont’s federal prosecutors and Civil Division attorneys work tirelessly to protect our citizens, to recover financial losses they sustain from criminal conduct, and to safeguard precious taxpayer resources," said U.S. Attorney Nolan. “Their efforts enabled us to achieve justice for victims and recoup a significant amount of taxpayer dollars in Fiscal Year 2019."
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
