U.S. Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania issued the following announcement on Dec. 20.
U.S. Attorney David J. Freed announced that the Middle District of Pennsylvania collected $15,249,331 in criminal and civil actions in Fiscal Year 2019. Of this amount, $2,431,898 was collected in criminal actions and $12,817,433 was collected in civil actions.
Additionally, the Middle District of Pennsylvania worked with other U.S. Attorney’s Offices and components of the Department of Justice to collect an additional $1,447,320 in cases pursued jointly by these offices. Of this amount, $13,767 was collected in criminal actions and $1,433,552 was collected in civil actions.
“The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania is dedicated to the protection of our fellow law-abiding citizens, whether we are battling the scourge of drugs and violent crime or attacking scams designed to defraud government agencies,” said U.S. Attorney Freed. “The diligent efforts of our hard working attorneys and staff have again resulted in our collections far exceeding our office budget. In addition, our successes in the realm of asset forfeiture provide direct benefits to crime victims and strong support of numerous law enforcement initiatives.”
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 the Middle District of Pennsylvania, working with partner agencies and divisions, collected $70,977,344 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.
Original source can be found here.