Spokane – Michael C. Ormsby, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Washington, announced today that his office collected $21,849,045 during Fiscal Year (FY) 2012 related to criminal and civil actions. Of this amount, $1,813,003 was collected in criminal actions and $20,036,042 was collected in civil actions. The amount collected during FY 2012 is four times greater than the appropriated operating budget for his office. In addition, U.S. Attorney Ormsby's office collected $1,639,145 in criminal and civil forfeiture actions. The monies recovered in forfeiture actions are shared with state, county, and local law enforcement agencies – a total of $1,572,517 was shared in FY 2012.

"During this time of economic recovery, these collections are more important than ever," said U.S. Attorney Michael C. Ormsby. "The United States Attorney's Office in the Eastern District of Washington is dedicated to protecting the public and recovering funds for the federal treasury and for victims of federal crime. This office will continue to hold accountable those who seek to profit from their illegal activities."

Nationwide, the United States Attorneys' Offices collected $13.1 billion in criminal and civil actions during FY 2012, more than doubling the $6.5 billion collected in FY 2011. A portion of this amount, $5.3 billion, was collected in cases in which one or more of the United States Attorneys' Offices or Justice Department litigating divisions were involved. The $13.1 billion represents more than six times the appropriated budget of the combined 94 United States Attorneys' Offices for FY 2012.

The United States Attorneys' Offices, along with the Justice Department's litigating divisions, are responsible for enforcing and collecting civil and criminal debts owed to the United States and criminal debts owed to federal crime victims. Statistics indicate that the total amount collected in criminal actions totaled $3.035 billion in restitution, criminal fines, and felony assessments. 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 directly to the victim, criminal fines and felony assessments are paid to the Justice Department's Crime Victims' Fund, which distributes the funds to state victim compensation and victim assistance programs.

The statistics also indicate that $10.12 billion was collected by the United States Attorneys' Offices in individually and jointly handled civil actions. The largest civil collections were from affirmative civil enforcement cases, in which the United States recovered government money lost to fraud, waste, abuse, 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 United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, Health and Human Services, Internal Revenue Service, and Small Business Administration.

Additionally, the United States Attorneys' Offices, working with partner agencies and divisions, collected $4.389 billion in asset forfeiture actions in FY 2012. Forfeited assets are deposited into the Department of Justice Assets Forfeiture Fund and Department of Treasury Forfeiture Fund and are used to restore funds to crime victims and for a variety of law enforcement purposes.

The $13.16 billion collected nationwide by the United States Attorneys' Offices for FY 2012 nearly matches the $13.18 billion collected in FY 2010 and FY 2011 combined.

For further information, the United States Attorneys' Annual Statistical Reports can be found on the internet at http://www.justice.gov/usao/resources/annual-statistical-reports.

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