Burlington, Vermont – U.S. Attorney Nikolas P. Kerest announced today that the District of Vermont collected $1,597,621.03 in criminal and civil actions in Fiscal Year 2022. Of this amount, $1,076,812.47 was collected in criminal actions and $520,808.56 was collected in civil actions.
Additionally, the District of Vermont worked with other U.S. Attorney’s Offices and components of the Department of Justice to collect an additional $23,423.31 in cases pursued jointly by these offices.
“The District of Vermont’s attorneys prioritize keeping Vermonters safe, recovering financial losses sustained as the result of illegal conduct, and protecting precious taxpayer resources,” said United States Attorney Nikolas P. Kerest. “These efforts enabled us to achieve justice and recoup a significant amount of taxpayer dollars in Fiscal Year 2022.”
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 District of Vermont, working with partner agencies and divisions, collected $595,844 in asset forfeiture actions in FY 2022. 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.