United States Attorney Francis M. Hamilton III announced on Friday that the Eastern District of Tennessee collected $4,281,327.54 in criminal and civil actions in Fiscal Year 2021. Of this amount, $3,668,516.41 was collected in criminal actions and $612,811.13 was collected in civil actions.
Separately, in fiscal year 2021, the District of Eastern District of Tennessee also recovered $555,110.14 as the result of filling an execution in an ongoing criminal matter.
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 Eastern District of Tennessee, working with partner agencies and divisions, collected $2,663,255 in asset forfeiture actions in FY 2021.
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.