That is indeed strange. But one must always keep in mind that the media often gets the law wrong - whether it is the specific crime they were indicted for or the reasoning for a judgement. But, I cannot tell here. It just seems strange.
The reason for the discrepancy is simple: the government can only relcaim money connected to what they indict you for — not all the crimes people suspect, but can’t prove; in contrast, a newspaper is free to speculate “Well, if a month long sting caught them doing $50k, then they did like $500k/yr!”
You can get similar estimates if the government catches them with unsold drugs, and the paper reports how much money they would have made selling it. Again, a reasonable estimate of their cash flow, but sensible the police seize the drugs rather than money they haven’t earned yet. (And can’t seize past money, if not connected to a crime.)
I don’t have specific citations, but I’ve seen both in local papers over the years.