U.S. Attorney for Utah Trina A. Higgins announced that the District of Utah collected $8,945,364 in criminal and civil actions in fiscal year 2023. Of this amount, $6,624,427 was collected in criminal actions and $2,320,937 in civil actions, according to the Thursday press release.
Additionally, she said her office worked with other U.S. Department of Justice attorney’s offices and components of the justice department to collect an additional $30,645,096 in cases pursued jointly. Of this amount, $10,100 was collected in criminal actions and $30,634,996 in civil actions.
“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 release explained..
“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 justice department’s Crime Victims Fund, which distributes the funds collected to federal and state victim compensation and victim assistance programs.
The numbers are down slightly from 2022, when Higgins office announced $10,690,252 collected in criminal and civil actions in fiscal year 2022 in a Jan. 10, 2023, press release. Of this amount, $5,550,041 was collected in criminal actions and $5,140,210 in civil actions.
