US Attorneys in Wis. recovered $13.8M in 2013

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MILWAUKEE — Eastern District of Wisconsin U.S. Attorney Jim Santelle says his office collected about $9.7 million in civil and criminal cases in fiscal year 2013.

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

He also said 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. Santelle’s office seized assets including the defendant’s home, retirement accounts and wine collection, and turned the proceeds over to the employer.

In the Western District, U.S. Attorney John Vaudreuil said in a news release Thursday that his office collected about $4.1 in civil and criminal case.

Of that, the release states, $1.3 million was in criminal cases, while $2.9 million was from civil cases. The office also collected about $4 million in defendant assets.

Law Journal staff writer Eric Heisig also contributed to this report.