Financial Litigation Unit, U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of Indiana

For the past 2 years, the Financial Litigation Unit (FLU) in the U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of Indiana, has increased criminal collections through aggressive collections practices, particularly in the area of garnishments. Michelle Frydell and Sue Ross are actively involved in criminal debt collection and, during the past 2 years, have taken several steps to focus attention on and increase criminal collections through innovative garnishments such as garnishing pensions, stocks, investment portfolios, and life insurance plans. 

In 2004, Frydell participated in a training session for probation officers during which she emphasized the importance of identifying criminal defendants' assets early and the benefits of a defendant consenting to the garnishment of wages in order to comply with restitution obligations. 

In early 2005, Frydell and Ross met with the chief probation officer to discuss changes to the Pre-Sentence Investigation Reports to better identify specific assets available to satisfy outstanding criminal debts. As a result of this meeting, changes were implemented to the Pre-Sentence Investigation Report to include more specific financial accounting and property information. This change resulted in FLU's ability to more quickly identify and garnish assets. 

These are just a few examples that demonstrate the tenacity that Frydell and Ross employ to effect restitution for victims of crime. These practices have resulted in greater offender accountability to victims and send a clear message that if defendants refuse to honor their obligations, FLU will make every effort to enforce collection. 

The Financial Litigation Unit in the U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of Indiana, was nominated by Susan W. Brooks, U.S. Attorney, Southern District of Indiana.