U.S. Department
of Justice
Press Release
Northern District of Mississippi U.S. Attorney’s Office Collects $1,735,405.72 in Civil and Criminal Actions for U.S. Taxpayers in Fiscal Year 2015
For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Northern District of Mississippi
(OXFORD) - U.S. Attorney Felicia C. Adams announced today that the Northern District of Mississippi collected $1,735.405.72 in criminal and civil actions in Fiscal Year 2015. Of this amount, $1,527,555.12 was collected in criminal actions and $207,850.60 was collected in civil actions.
Additionally, the Northern District of Mississippi worked with other U.S. Attorney’s Offices and components of the Department of Justice to collect an additional $18,242.56 in cases pursued jointly with these offices.
Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch announced on December 3, 2015, that the Justice Department collected $23.1 billion in civil and criminal actions in the fiscal year ending September 30, 2015. The more than $23.1 billion in collections in FY 2015 represent more than seven and a half times the approximately $2.93 billion of the Justice Department’s combined appropriations for the 94 U. S. Attorney’s offices and the main litigating divisions in that same period.
"The Department of Justice is committed to upholding the rule of law, safeguarding taxpayer resources, and protecting the American people from exploitation and abuse,” said Attorney General Loretta Lynch. “The collections we are announcing today demonstrate not only the strength of that commitment, but also the significant return on public investment that our actions deliver. I want to thank the prosecutors and trial attorneys who made this achievement possible, and to reiterate our dedication to this ongoing work.”
“During this time of economic recovery, these collections are more important than ever,” said U.S. Attorney Felicia C. Adams. “The U.S. Attorney’s Office is dedicated to protecting the public and recovering funds for the federal treasury and for victims of federal crime. We will continue to hold accountable those who seek to profit from their illegal activities.”
This past December, the Northern District of Mississippi recovered $700,000.00 as part of a plea agreement in a criminal case brought against the defendant Leading Edge Aviation Services, Inc., an aircraft maintenance and repair company. The defendant pleaded guilty to improper storage of hazardous waste. As part of the plea agreement, the defendant also paid $275,000.00 to the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality and $25,000 to the Association of State and Territorial Solid Waste Management Officials.
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 to state victim compensation and victim assistance programs.
The largest civil collections were from affirmative civil enforcement cases, in which the United States recovered government money lost to fraud 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 U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Health and Human Services, Internal Revenue Service, Small Business Administration, and Department of Education.
Additionally, the U.S. Attorney’s office in the Northern District of Mississippi, working with partner agencies and divisions, collected $335,365.00 in asset forfeiture actions in FY 2015. 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.
Updated December 4, 2015
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Office and Personnel Updates
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