2006 National Crime Victims' Rights Week
Award Recipients

The honorees received special recognition during the awards ceremony hosted April 21, 2006, by the Office for Victims of Crime to honor victim advocates, organizations, and programs in the field of victim services.

• National Crime Victim Service Awards
• Awards for Professional Innovation in Victim Services
• Volunteer for Victims Awards
• Special Courage Awards
• Allied Professionals Award
• Ronald Wilson Reagan Public Policy Awards
• Federal Service Award
• Crime Victims Fund Award

To view more details, click on a photo for an enlarged view.

Crime Victims Fund Award

Financial Litigation Unit Sue Ross and Michelle Frydell, pictured with U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana Susan W. Brooks, receiving an award from Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales, Assistant Attorney General Regina B. Schofield, and OVC Director John W. Gillis.

Financial Litigation Unit, U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of Indiana
Indianapolis, Indiana
(Team members include Sue Ross and Michelle Frydell)

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, Michelle 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, Michelle and Sue 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 Michelle and Sue 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.

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