US Attorney in Wis.: We recovered $9.7M in FY2013

US Attorney in Wis.: We collected about $9.7M in civil, criminal cases in fiscal year 2013

MILWAUKEE — A federal prosecutor in Milwaukee says his office collected about $9.7 million in civil and criminal cases in fiscal year 2013.

U.S. Attorney James Santelle says about $5 million was recovered in criminal penalties and $4.7 million in civil penalties. He says the total amount is more than the office’s operating budget of about $8 million.

Santelle says his office also recovered $3 million in defendant assets. The assets are used to compensate victims of crime and to support various law enforcement activities.

For example, he cites the case of a defendant convicted of embezzling over $1 million from his employer. The U.S. Attorney’s office seized assets including the defendant’s home, retirement accounts and wine collection, and turned the proceeds over to the employer.