Roundup Record Tribune & Winnett Times -

BILLINGS - U.S. Attorney Kurt Alme announced today that the District of Montana collected $9,536,489 in criminal and civil actions in Fiscal Year 2019. Of this amount, the office collected $1,567,514 in criminal actions and $7,968,974 in civil actions.

In some cases, the U.S. Attorney’s Office worked jointly with other litigating agencies of the Department of Justice to collect an additional $1,230,331.

“These recovered funds come from divesting criminals of ill-gotten gains and from civil penalties and debt collections. The money helps to make crime victims whole and benefits the U.S. Treasury, which are priorities of this office. I want to thank our employees and in particular, the Financial Litigation Unit, for their hard work and dedication,” U.S. Attorney Alme said.

Funds collected in criminal judgments include cases involving Stanley Weber, a former Indian Health Service doctor convicted of sexual abuse of children, and Woody’s Trucking LLC, which was convicted of multiple charges stemming from a 2012 explosion of an oil and gas processing plant in Wibaux.

Some of the funds recovered funds in civil actions include cases involving Bozeman Health Deaconess Hospital for alleged fraudulent billing and the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes Pharmacy for alleged pharmacy violations involving opioids.

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 Montana, working with partner agencies and divisions, collected $584,174 in asset forfeiture actions in FY 2019.

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.