Prosecutions for April 2018

Referring Agency: Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

Number Latest Month 898
Percent Change from previous month -12.0
Percent Change from 1 year ago 26.1
Percent Change from 5 years ago
(Including Magistrate Court)
20.5
Percent Change from 5 years ago
(Excluding Magistrate Court)
14.0
Table 1. Criminal Prosecutions

The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during April 2018 the government reported 898 new prosecutions for these matters. Those cases were referred by the Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is down 12 percent over the previous month.

The comparisons of the number of defendants charged are based on case-by-case information obtained by TRAC under the Freedom of Information Act from the Executive Office for United States Attorneys (see Table 1).

When monthly 2018 prosecutions of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, the number of filings was up (26.1%). Prosecutions over the past year are still much higher than they were five years ago. Overall, the data show that prosecutions of this type are up 20.5 percent from levels reported in 2013.

The growth in these cases is partly related to increases in the matters filed in U.S. Magistrate Courts. If magistrate cases are excluded and only Federal District Court cases are counted, the overall increase in prosecutions is 14 percent instead of 20.5 percent. The evidence suggests that part of the difference may be the result of improvements in the recording of the magistrate cases by the Justice Department.

Bar and line plot of FYMON

Figure 1. Monthly Trends in Prosecutions

The increase from the levels five years ago in prosecutions for these matters is shown more clearly in Figure 1. The vertical bars in Figure 1 represent the number of prosecutions of this type recorded on a month-to-month basis. Where a prosecution was initially filed in U.S. Magistrate Court and then transferred to the U.S. District Court, the magistrate filing date was used since this provides an earlier indicator of actual trends. The superimposed line on the bars plots the six-month moving average so that natural fluctuations are smoothed out. The one and five-year rates of change in Table 1 and in the sections that follow are all based upon this six-month moving average. To view trends year-by-year rather than month-by-month, see TRAC's annual report series for a broader picture.

Cases were classified by prosecutors into more specific types.

The largest number of prosecutions of these matters in April 2018 was for "Weapons-Operation Triggerlock Major", accounting for 58.7 percent of prosecutions. Prosecutions were also filed for "Withheld by Govt from TRAC (FOIA challen" (17.5%), "Drugs-Drug Trafficking" (13%), "Violence-Other" (5.1%). See Figure 2.

Pie chart of progcatlabel

Figure 2. Specific Types of Prosecutions

Prosecutions in U.S. Magistrate Courts

Top Ranked Lead Charges

In April 2018, 141 defendants in cases for these matters were filed in U.S. Magistrate Courts. These courts handle less serious misdemeanor cases, including what are called "petty offenses." In addition, complaints are sometimes filed in the magistrate courts before an indictment or information is entered. In these cases, the matter starts in the magistrate courts and later moves to the district court where subsequent proceedings take place.

In the magistrate courts in April the most frequently cited lead charge was Title 18 U.S.C Section 922 involving "Firearms; Unlawful acts". This was the lead charge for 58.2 percent of all magistrate filings in April.

Other frequently prosecuted lead charges include: "21 USC 841 - Drug Abuse Prevention & Control-Prohibited acts A" (8.5%), "18 USC 1951 - Hobbs Act" (7.1%).

Prosecutions in U.S. District Courts

In April 2018, 757 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during April there were an additional 92 defendants whose cases moved from the magistrate courts to the U.S. district courts after an indictment or information was filed. The sections which follow cover both sets of cases and therefore cover all matters filed in district court during April.

Top Ranked Lead Charges

Table 2 shows the top lead charges recorded in the prosecutions of matters filed in U.S. District Court during April 2018 referred by the Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Lead Charge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago  
18 USC 922 - Firearms; Unlawful acts 490 1 1 1 More
21 USC 841 - Drug Abuse Prevention & Control-Prohibited acts A 95 2 2 2 More
18 USC 924 - Firearms; Penalties 22 3 4 4 More
21 USC 846 - Attempt and conspiracy 21 5 3 3 More
18 USC 1951 - Hobbs Act 19 6 5 5 More
18 USC 844 - Explosives - Importation and storage of explosives 5 7 7 9 More
18 USC 2119 - Carjacking 5 7 9 11 More
26 USC 5861 - Tax on Making Firearms - Prohibited acts 5 7 6 6 More
07 USC 2156 - Animal Fighting Venture Prohibited 3 10 - - More
18 USC 1001 - Fraud/false statements or entries generally 3 10 18 20 More
Table 2. Top Charges Filed

  • "Firearms; Unlawful acts" (Title 18 U.S.C Section 922) was the most frequent recorded lead charge. "Firearms; Unlawful acts" (Title 18 U.S.C Section 922) was ranked 1 a year ago, while it was ranked 1 five years ago.

  • Ranked 2nd in frequency was the lead charge "Drug Abuse Prevention & Control-Prohibited acts A" under Title 21 U.S.C Section 841. "Drug Abuse Prevention & Control-Prohibited acts A" under Title 21 U.S.C Section 841 was ranked 2 a year ago, while it was ranked 2 five years ago.

  • Ranked 3rd were "Other US Code Section" under Title U.S.C Section and "Firearms; Penalties" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 924. "Firearms; Penalties" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 924 was ranked 4 a year ago, while it was ranked 4 five years ago.

Among these top ten lead charges, the one showing the greatest increase in prosecutions — up 677.8 percent — compared to one year ago was Title U.S.C Section that involves "Other US Code Section ". Compared to five years ago, the largest increase — 150 percent — was registered for prosecutions under " Fraud/false statements or entries generally " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 1001 ).

Again among the top ten lead charges, the one showing the sharpest decline in prosecutions compared to one year ago — down 26.5 percent — was " Explosives - Importation and storage of explosives " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 844 ). Compared to five years ago, the most significant decline in prosecutions — 33.1 percent — was for filings where the lead charge was " Attempt and conspiracy " (Title 21 U.S.C Section 846 ).

Top Ranked Judicial Districts

In April 2018 the Justice Department said the government brought 315.3 prosecutions for every ten million people in the United States.

Understandably, there is great variation in the per capita number of prosecutions that are filed in each of the nation's ninety-four federal judicial districts.

The districts registering the largest number of prosecutions per capita for these matters last month are shown in Table 3. Districts must have at least 5 prosecutions to receive a ranking.


Judicial District Percapita Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago  
Ala, S 2,132 15 1 31 35 More
S Dakota 1,410 10 2 46 79 More
Ala, N 1,381 33 3 9 31 More
Alaska 1,334 8 4 74 56 More
Tenn, W 1,147 15 5 8 11 More
N Car, E 1,083 36 6 5 4 More
Ga, M 1,016 17 7 69 66 More
N Car, W 1,011 27 8 20 14 More
La, M 1,006 7 9 40 88 More
Tenn, E 922 20 10 15 7 More
Table 3. Top 10 Districts (per ten million people)

  • The Southern District of Alabama (Mobile) — with 2132 prosecutions as compared with 315.3 prosecutions per ten million population in the United States — was the most active during April 2018.

  • The District of South Dakota ranked 2nd.

  • Northern District of Alabama (Birmingham) is now ranking 3rd. The Northern District of Alabama (Birmingham) was ranked 9 a year ago.

Recent entrants to the top 10 list were Eastern District of Tennessee (Knoxville), now ranked 10th , and Western District of North Carolina (Asheville) at 8th In the same order, these districts ranked 15th and 20th one year ago and 7th and 14th five years ago.

The federal judicial district which showed the greatest growth in the rate of prosecutions compared to one year ago — 150 percent — was Alaska . Compared to five years ago, the district with the largest growth — 385.7 percent — was Middle District of Louisiana (Baton Rouge).

In the last year, the judicial District Court recording the largest drop in the rate of prosecutions — 11.4 percent — was Southern District of Alabama (Mobile).  This was the same district that had the largest increase — 2.5 percent — when compared with five years ago.

Top Ranked District Judges

At any one time, there are about 680 federal District Court judges working in the United States. The judges recorded with the largest number of new crime cases of this type during April 2018 are shown in Table 4.

Judge Count Rank  
Coogler, L. Scott Ala, N 18 1 More
Boyle, Terrence William N Car, E 12 2 More
Cogburn, Max Oliver, Jr. N Car, W 12 2 More
Cardone, Kathleen Texas, W 12 2 More
Blake, Catherine C. Maryland 11 5 More
Dever, James C., III N Car, E 11 5 More
Trauger, Aleta Arthur Tenn, M 10 7 More
O'Neill, Lawrence Joseph Cal, E 9 8 More
Conner, Christopher C. Penn, M 9 8 More
Conrad, Robert James, Jr. N Car, W 8 10 More
Goldberg, Mitchell S. Penn, E 8 10 More
Table 4. Top Ten Judges

A total of 5 out of the "top ten" judges were in districts which were in the top ten with the largest number of filings per capita, while the remaining 6 judges were from other districts. (Because of ties, there were a total of 11 judges in the "top ten" rankings.)

  • Judge L. Scott Coogler in the Northern District of Alabama (Birmingham) ranked 1st with 18 defendants in cases.

  • Judges Terrence William Boyle in the Eastern District of North Carolina (Raleigh), Max Oliver Cogburn, Jr. in the Western District of North Carolina (Asheville) and Kathleen Cardone in the Western District of Texas (San Antonio) ranked 2nd with 12 defendants in cases.

Report Generated: May 23, 2018
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