Acting U.S. Attorney John C. Gurganus announced that the Middle District of Pennsylvania collected $17,444,425 in criminal and civil actions during Fiscal Year 2024. This total includes $3,588,583 from criminal actions and $13,855,841 from civil actions.
The district also collaborated with other U.S. Attorney’s Offices and components of the Department of Justice to collect an additional $5,108,801 in joint cases. From this amount, $16,233 was collected in criminal actions and $5,092,567 in civil actions.
“The U.S. Attorney’s Office is committed to working for victims of crime and do what we can to make them whole,” stated Acting U.S. Attorney John C. Gurganus. “We collect restitution from convicted defendants on behalf of crime victims, we work to forfeit the ill-gotten gains that defendants obtain through illegal means, and we fight to get back money owed to taxpayers in criminal and civil cases. I am proud to say that we have collected millions of dollars over the last year for the taxpayers and for crime victims in our district.”
U.S. Attorneys’ Offices enforce and collect debts owed to the United States and federal crime victims. The law mandates restitution payments by defendants to victims who have suffered physical injury or financial loss due to certain federal crimes. While restitution is directed to the victim, fines and felony assessments are allocated to the Crime Victims Fund for distribution among federal and state victim compensation programs.
In a notable case involving Penn State Health, a settlement agreement was reached after it was found that claims submitted for Annual Wellness Visits were unsupported by wellness records between December 1, 2015, and November 30, 2022. Penn State Health agreed to pay $11,712,336.
Another case involved Jimmy Tran who operated Asia Market in Harrisburg, PA. Tran illegally exchanged SNAP benefits for cash between January 2017 and August 2020 amounting to $1,843,534 with a forfeiture payment due of $299,174.60.
Additionally, asset forfeiture actions led by the U.S. Attorney’s office resulted in collections totaling $1,311,135 in FY 2024. These assets contribute towards restoring funds to crime victims and support various law enforcement initiatives.