NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA - U.S. Attorney David I. Courcelle announced today that the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Louisiana (“USAO”) collected $898,444,168.50 in criminal and civil actions in Fiscal Year (“FY”) 2025. Of this amount, $27,361,565.95 was collected in criminal actions and $871,082,602.55 was collected in civil actions, through the efforts of the Office’s Monetary Penalties and Recovery Unit (MPRU).Further, the MPRU, as detailed below, also collected $3,700,536.80 in forfeited assets.The U.S.

Attorneys’ Offices, along with the Department of Justice’s (“Department”) litigating divisions, are responsible for enforcing and collecting civil and criminal debts owed to the United States, as well as 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, that distributes the funds collected to federal and state victim compensation and assistance programs.In addition to those amounts, the MPRU, working with partner agencies and divisions, also separately forfeited $3,700,536.80 in assets and 200 firearms connected to criminal activity in FY 2025. Forfeited assets deposited into the Department’s Assets Forfeiture Fund are used to restore funds to crime victims and for a variety of law enforcement purposes.Representative examples of the MPRU’s collection and forfeiture efforts include:In April 2025, the USAO recovered $868,965,517.00 from BP Exploration & Production Inc. that was imposed as a result of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill.The MPRU collected approximately $15 million in fines and restitution on behalf of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and First National Bank of Pennsylvania following a guilty plea from a corporate entity, Murex Management, LLC, for violations of 18 U.S.C.§§ 1005, and 2, as it relates to a fraudulent transaction with a financial institution and aiding and abetting.

From October 2024 to April 2025, the MPRU collected approximately $4.7 million in restitution on behalf of Medicare from the sale of defendant Shiva Akula’s healthcare agencies, following the filing of Writs of Execution after Akula was found guilty at trial of healthcare fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1347.As part of the investigation and prosecution of defendant Joseph West, Jr., the MPRU successfully seized and forfeited $162,597.27 in fraud proceeds tied to the defendant’s wire-fraud conspiracy.In connection with a narcotics investigation, the MPRU identified and forfeited real property connected to the drug-trafficking activities of defendant, Curtis Williamson, Jr., effectively depriving him of the proceeds and instrumentalities of his crime.“These statistics demonstrate the steadfast commitment of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Louisiana to seek financial restitution for victims of civil or criminal wrongdoing. Our office achieves such financial justice through the aggressive collection of civil judgments, through criminal fines and restitution, through the seizure of criminal proceeds, as well as through the forfeiture of firearms used to commit crimes” said U.S. Attorney David I.

Courcelle. “In accordance with our mission to protect the public, our Monetary Penalties and Recovery Unit will continue, not only to hold accountable those who have profited from their crimes, but also to take guns out of the hands of those who used them to victimize others.”U.S. Attorney Courcelle thanks Asset Forfeiture Assistant United States Attorney Alexandra Giavotella, Financial Litigation Assistant United States Attorney Churita Hansell, as well as the Office’s outstanding support professionals Jerrilyn A. Dufauchard, Laquana Bates, Christina Garcia, Danielle Smith-Graham, Daishawn Smith, and David Vigier for their hard work and dedication to the pursuit of justice.