(Cleveland, Ohio) - U.S. Attorney Justin E. Herdman announced today that the Northern District of Ohio collected $39,306,678.20 in criminal and civil actions in Fiscal Year 2019. Of this amount, $32,884,564.20 was collected in criminal actions and $6,422,114.00 was collected in civil actions.
Additionally, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Ohio, working with partner agencies and divisions, collected $14,622,034 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.
Accordingly, a combined $53,928,712.20 was collected by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Ohio in FY 2019.
“These figures represent money returned to the United States through the hard work and outstanding effort of our employees and law enforcement partners" said U.S. Attorney Justin E. Herdman. “Whether we are representing the United States in a criminal or a civil action, we will always seek to maximize the financial interests of our country in resolving these cases."
Separately, the Northern District of Ohio worked with other U.S. Attorney’s Offices and components of the Department of Justice to collect an additional $1,239,149.51 in cases pursued jointly by these offices. Of this amount, $35,206.84 was collected in criminal actions and $1,203,942.67 was collected in civil actions.
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. #
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
