It has been a banner year for the U.S. Attorney's Office in Buffalo.In fiscal 2013, U.S. Attorney William Hochul says the office recovered just over $94 million in criminal, civil and forfeiture cases. He says it's the best recovery in the more than 100-year history of the Buffalo office.
Hochul says the record recovery was made even though about 50 percent of the staff was furloughed during the government shutdown.
Over the past few years, he says there has been a "severe hiring freeze," with more than 10 percent fewer Assistant U.S. Attorneys in the office than when he started the job in 2010.
"These recoveries, to put in context, really represent tremendous work for the men and women of the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Hochul says a "substantial amount" of the recovered money goes to victims of crime and millions more goes to local, state, and federal law enforcement partners. But he says the bulk goes to the U.S. Treasury, which he says benefits taxpayers.