Nevada U.S. Attorney’s office collects $14 million in year

By Steve Kanigher

Thursday, Dec. 16, 2010 | 12:26 p.m.

Nevada's U.S. Attorney Daniel Bogden said today his office contributed to the collection of more than $14.1 million in fiscal 2010, the largest amount collected over the past five years.

The money comes from the collection of civil and criminal debts owed to the United States, such as restitution, fines, court assessments and from the seizure of assets. The 94 U.S. Attorney offices contributed to the collection of a combined $6.68 billion during the fiscal year.

The collections in Nevada included $5,295,701 in criminal actions, $2,208,277 in civil actions, $1,373,633 in criminal forfeitures, and $5,295,836 in civil forfeitures.

“During this time of economic recovery, criminal and civil collections are more important than ever,” Bogden said. “We will continue to hold accountable those who seek to profit from their illegal activities.”

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.

Forfeited assets are deposited into either the Justice Department's Justice Assets Forfeiture Fund or the Treasury Department's Forfeiture Fund and are used to restore funds to crime victims and for a variety of law enforcement purposes.