
U. S. Attorney's Office Collects Over $1.65 Million
In Civil & Criminal Actions In FY 2012
Contact: Donald E. Clark
Assistant United States Attorney
Tel: (207) 771-3237
Portland, Maine: United States Attorney Thomas E. Delahanty II announced today that the
District of Maine collected $1,653,860 in Fiscal Year (FY) 2012 related to criminal and civil actions. Of
this amount, $1,089,961.25 was collected in criminal actions and $563,898.92 was collected in civil
actions. Additionally, the office collected $220,610 in criminal and civil forfeitures.
Nationwide, the U.S. 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 shared cases in which one or more U.S. Attorneys’ offices or department litigating
divisions were also involved. The $13.1 billion represents more than six times the appropriated budget
of the combined 94 offices for FY 2012.
U.S. Attorney Delahanty said: “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.”
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. 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
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 U.S. 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 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, and Small Business Administration.
Additionally, the U.S. 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 U.S. 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/reading_room/foiamanuals.html.





