The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Alabama announced it collected more than $10.5 million in civil and criminal actions during Fiscal Year 2025. Of this total, $5,051,988.20 came from criminal actions and $5,507,865.62 from civil actions.
U.S. Attorney Prim F. Escalona credited the Financial Litigation Program for its efforts in recovering these funds. “I am tremendously proud of the work done by my office’s Financial Litigation Program,” said Escalona. “The Financial Litigation Program works tirelessly to collect debts owed to the United States, as well as those owed to crime victims.”
An example cited by the office involved Robert Winston Burgett, who was sentenced in April 2025 for embezzling nearly $950,000 from the City of Homewood. The program identified Burgett’s retirement accounts soon after sentencing and began collection proceedings; so far, $195,000 has been recovered.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office is responsible for enforcing and collecting both civil and criminal debts owed to the federal government and to victims of federal crimes. Defendants are required by law to pay restitution to victims who have suffered physical injury or financial loss due to certain federal crimes. Restitution payments go directly to victims, while criminal fines and felony assessments are directed into the Crime Victims Fund, which supports victim compensation and assistance programs at both federal and state levels.
In addition to collections, the office reported that it initiated forfeiture proceedings on 314 criminal assets across 134 cases in Fiscal Year 2025—nearly double compared with recent years. Many of these forfeitures involved firearms linked to drug trafficking or violent offenses; such firearms are destroyed upon forfeiture. Proceeds from other forfeited assets may be used for victim restitution, shared with local law enforcement agencies, or placed into the Department of Justice Asset Forfeiture Fund for further law enforcement activities and support for victims.
For Fiscal Year 2025, the Asset Forfeiture Unit secured $13,227,075 in money judgments related to asset forfeitures owed to the United States.
