Indianapolis – Acting United States Attorney John E. Childress announced today that the Southern District of Indiana collected $9,055,193.32 in criminal and civil actions in Fiscal Year 2020. Of this amount, $2,195,355.91was collected in criminal actions and $6,859,837.41was collected in civil actions.
The Justice Department collected more than $15.9 billion in civil and criminal actions in fiscal year (FY) 2020 ending Sept. 30, 2020. The $15,988,516,670 in collections represents more than five times the approximately $3.2 billion appropriated budget for the 94 U.S. Attorneys’ offices and the main litigating divisions of the Justice Department. The total includes all monies collected as a result of Justice Department-led enforcement actions and negotiated civil settlements. It includes more than $13.5 billion in payments made directly to the Justice Department, and more than $2.4 billion in indirect payments made to other federal agencies, states and other designated recipients.
“The Southern District of Indiana’s Civil Division and Asset Recovery Unit have some of the best federal prosecutors and support staff in the country,” said Childress. “They work tirelessly every day to protect Hoosiers and their resources. Returning over $9 million to the victims of these criminal and civil cases is very satisfying. This office is committed to enforcing federal laws and holding those accountable who choose to do harm to our citizens.”
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 Southern District of Indiana, working with partner agencies and divisions, collected $7,879,734 asset forfeiture actions in FY 2020. 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.
In November of 2020, Acting United States Attorney John E. Childress renewed a Strategic Plan designed to shape and strengthen the District’s response to its most significant public safety challenges. This demonstrates the Office’s firm commitment to enforcing the collection of criminal impositions and civil debts owed to the United States to maximize recoveries to the United States Treasury and to victims of crime. (See United States Attorney’s Office, Southern District of Indiana Strategic Plan 6.3 and 6.4)
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