U.S. Attorney’s Office collects over $868,000 for mail and wire fraud victims

The Financial Litigation Program (FLP) of United States Attorney's Office for the District of Wyoming recently collected over $868,000 for victims of mail and wire fraud in U.S. v. Lattin et al., Docket No. 2:10-cr-00088-ABJ. The collection efforts of the FLP were conducted pursuant to the Federal Debt Collection Procedure Act.

"Through the FLP, our office diligently seeks to collect restitution for up to twenty years after the conviction or time-served," said U.S. Attorney Darin Smith. "This includes locating debtors and hidden assets then initiating post-judgment remedies, including (when appropriate), selling defendants' real and personal property."

In 2006, Defendant Brett Lattin fraudulently represented himself to Marathon Oil Company as a civil engineer. The false representations led to Lattin receiving the position as Construction Supervisor and responsible for supervising reservoir repairs that Marathon was required to remedy through a notice issued by the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality. Lattin and his Co-Defendant worked together in a scheme to defraud Marathon with kickbacks, false receipts, and failing to complete the work required to remedy the reservoirs.

On June 18, 2010, Lattin was sentenced, following his guilty plea, in the United States District Court for the District of Wyoming for Conspiracy to Commit Mail and Wire Fraud, in violation of Title 18 of the United States Code. The Court ordered Lattin to serve a term of incarceration and pay $2,450,000 in restitution. Upon the pronouncement of Lattin's sentence, a criminal judgment lien arose against all property rights belonging to him. Since 2010, the FLP has utilized a variety of collection techniques against Lattin, but with limited success. Recently, however, the FLP was successful in locating and selling Lattin's house and the personal property he left in it, resulting in over $868,000 that will be paid to the victims of his crimes.

"We recovered almost a million dollars in this case simply because of the tenacity and hard work of Assistant United States Attorney Jasmine Peters who handled this enforcement matter," said Smith.

For more information about the FLP, visit: https://www.justice.gov/usao-wy/civil-division