BURLINGTON — This is an official press release from the U.S. Department of Justice (USAO - Vermont), published as received.

BURLINGTON – First Assistant United States Attorney Jonathan A. Ophardt announced today that the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Vermont collected $4,437,008.08 in criminal and civil actions in Fiscal Year 2025. Of this amount, $1,722,712.24 was collected in criminal actions and $2,714,295.84 was collected in civil actions. The District of Vermont also worked with other U.S. Attorney’s Offices and components of the Department of Justice to collect an additional $73,705.04 in criminal cases pursued jointly by these offices.

The U.S. Attorneys’ Offices, along with the Department’s litigating divisions, are responsible for enforcing and collecting civil and criminal debts owed to the United States and 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, which distributes the funds collected to federal and state victim compensation and victim assistance programs.

U.S. Attorneys’ Offices also use civil and criminal forfeiture tools to seize and forfeit monies and property that were proceeds of or facilitated serious criminal conduct. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Vermont, working with partner agencies and divisions, collected $7,720,856.00 in asset forfeiture actions in FY 2025. Forfeited assets are deposited into the Department of Justice Assets Forfeiture Fund and used to restore funds to crime victims and for a variety of law enforcement purposes.

Notable forfeitures and collections include the following:

  • Over $6.9 million of funds and property that were the proceeds of a cryptocurrency confidence scam impacting over 100 victims across the United States. In total, during fiscal years 2024 and 2025, FBI Vermont and the Vermont U.S. Attorney’s Office have forfeited over $8.1 million of funds and property related to the scam. FBI and the Vermont U.S. Attorney’s Office worked to identify assets purchased with victim money, ultimately forfeiting a residence in Frisco, Texas and $6.9 million of cryptocurrency. Feng Chen, 36, and Tianqiong Xu, 36, recently of Frisco, Texas, were indicted for the scheme on June 27, 2024, but are fugitives and believed to have returned to China. The indictment contains allegations only; Chen and Xu are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty. The Vermont U.S. Attorney’s Office is currently working to return the seized funds to the victims of the scheme.
  • $226,409.95 of restitution, fines, and assessments were collected from Matthew Ernest, 51, of Winooski, Vermont in 2025. In 2024, Ernest was convicted of possessing child sexual abuse materials. On January 16, 2025, United States District Judge Mary Kay Lanthier ordered Ernest to serve 8 months in prison, pay $104,000.00 of restitution to 14 victims of his offense, a $100,000.00 fine plus interest, and $22,100.00 of special assessments.
  • $82,500.00 was collected from Madison Carrig in 2025. In 2024, Carrig was convicted of access device fraud related to her embezzlement of money from the automobile dealerships that employed her. During Carrig’s 2025 sentencing, she was ordered to pay $141,000.00 of restitution.
  • $321,718.00 of restitution and fines were collected from James Mailhiot.  In 2024, Mailhiot was convicted of federal income tax evasion, stemming from Mailhiot’s understating the income he earned from his roofing business. $296,718.00 of back taxes and a $25,000.00 fine were collected from Mailhiot in 2025.
  • $1,994,000.00 was collected from Galvion, Ltd., in connection with its 2024 settlement of False Claims Act allegations for the knowing sale of non-conforming parts to the United States Department of Defense.
  • $426,186.23 was collected from Revision Military, Ltd., in connection with its 2024 settlement of False Claims Act allegations for selling eyewear products that it falsely represented were wholly sourced in the United States.
  • $201,400.00 was collected on behalf of the Department of Housing and Urban Development to resolve debts owed to the government.

First Assistant United States Attorney Ophardt commended the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s Financial Litigation Unit and Asset Forfeiture personnel for their diligent work on behalf of crime victims and the public.