Convictions for April 2014
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during April 2014 the government reported 13372 new convictions. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is up 2.4 percent over the previous month.
The comparisons of the number of defendants convicted 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 2014 convictions of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, the number of convictions was down (-13.6%). Convictions over the past year are still much lower than they were five years ago. Overall, the data show that convictions of this type are down 5.8 percent from levels reported in 2009.
The leveling out 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 decrease in convictions is 2.9 percent instead of 5.8 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.
The leveling out from the levels five years ago in convictions for these matters is shown more clearly in Figure 1. The vertical bars in Figure 1 represent the number of convictions 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 convictions of these matters in April 2014 was for "Immigration", accounting for 61.3 percent of convictions. Convictions were also filed for "Drugs-Drug Trafficking" (11.2%), "Weapons-Operation Triggerlock Major " (4.2%), "Drugs-Organized Crime Task Force" (4.1%), "Withheld by Govt from TRAC (FOIA challen" (3.8%). See Figure 2.
The lead investigative agency for convictions in April 2014 was DHS accounting for 69 percent of convictions. Other agencies with substantial numbers of convictions were: FBI (7% ), DEA (7%), ATF (5%), Local (2%). See Figure 3.
Convictions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In April 2014, 6438 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 8 U.S.C Section 1325 involving "Entry of alien at improper time or place; etc.". This was the lead charge for 64 percent of all magistrate convictions in April.
Other frequently prosecuted lead charges include: "08 USC 1326 - Reentry of deported alien" (24.7%).
Convictions in U.S. District Courts
In April 2014, 6934 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during April there were an additional 0 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 convictions of matters filed in U.S. District Court during April 2014.
Lead Charge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago 08 USC 1326 - Reentry of deported alien 1,953 1 1 1 More 21 USC 841 - Drug Abuse Prevention & Control-Prohibited acts A 852 2 2 2 More 21 USC 846 - Attempt and conspiracy 715 3 3 3 More 18 USC 922 - Firearms; Unlawful acts 507 4 4 4 More 08 USC 1324 - Bringing in and harboring certain aliens 224 5 5 5 More 21 USC 952 - Importation of controlled substances 145 6 6 7 More 18 USC 2252 - Material involving sexual exploitation of minors 119 7 7 9 More 18 USC 371 - Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US 117 8 10 11 More 18 USC 1546 - Fraud and misuse of visas, permits, and other documents 111 9 9 6 More 18 USC 2113 - Bank robbery and incidental crimes 77 10 8 10 More Table 2. Top Charges for Convictions
"Reentry of deported alien" (Title 8 U.S.C Section 1326) was the most frequent recorded lead charge. "Reentry of deported alien" (Title 8 U.S.C Section 1326) 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 was "Attempt and conspiracy" under Title 21 U.S.C Section 846. "Attempt and conspiracy" under Title 21 U.S.C Section 846 was ranked 3 a year ago, while it was ranked 3 five years ago.
Among these top ten lead charges, the one showing the greatest increase in convictions — up 15.5 percent — compared to one year ago was Title 18 U.S.C Section 2252 that involves " Material involving sexual exploitation of minors ". Compared to five years ago, the largest increase — 12 percent — was registered for convictions under " Importation of controlled substances " (Title 21 U.S.C Section 952 ).
Again among the top ten lead charges, the one showing the sharpest decline in convictions compared to one year ago — down 11.6 percent — was " Bank robbery and incidental crimes " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 2113 ). Compared to five years ago, the most significant decline in convictions — 45.2 percent — was for convictions where the lead charge was " Fraud and misuse of visas, permits, and other documents " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 1546 ).
Top Ranked Judicial Districts
In April 2014 the Justice Department said the government obtained 2650.7 convictions for every ten million people in the United States.
Understandably, there is great variation in the per capita number of convictions in each of the nation's ninety-four federal judicial districts.
The districts registering the largest number of convictions per capita for these matters last month are shown in Table 3. Districts must have at least 5 convictions to receive a ranking.
Judicial District Percapita Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago N Mexico 20,139 350 1 4 5 More Arizona 15,363 839 2 5 4 More Cal, S 12,415 347 3 3 3 More Texas, W 11,434 628 4 1 2 More S Dakota 10,944 76 5 39 39 More D. C. 10,627 56 6 70 66 More N Dakota 8,919 52 7 49 71 More Texas, S 7,343 545 8 2 1 More Wyoming 4,996 24 9 82 51 More Fla, S 4,969 287 10 6 6 More Table 3. Top 10 Districts (per ten million people)
The District of New Mexico — with 20139 convictions as compared with 2650.7 convictions per ten million population in the United States — was the most active during April 2014. The District of New Mexico was ranked 4 a year ago, while it was ranked 5 for most frequent use five years ago.
The District of Arizona ranked 2nd. The District of Arizona was ranked 5 a year ago, while it was ranked 4 for most frequent use five years ago.
Southern District of California (San Diego) is now ranking 3rd. The Southern District of California (San Diego) was ranked 3 a year ago, while it was ranked 3 for most frequent use five years ago.
Recent entrants to the top 10 list were South Dakota , now ranked 5th , and North Dakota at 7th In the same order, these districts ranked 39th and 49th one year ago and 39th and 71st five years ago.
The federal judicial district which showed the greatest growth in the rate of convictions compared to one year ago — 66.7 percent — was Wyoming . Compared to five years ago, the district with the largest growth — 35.3 percent — was Arizona .
In the last year, the judicial District Court recording the largest drop in the rate of convictions — 20.2 percent — was Southern District of California (San Diego). But over the past five years, Southern District of Texas (Houston) showed the largest drop — 21 percent.
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 resulting in convictions of this type during April 2014 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago Brack, Robert C. N Mexico 144 1 1 4 More Moses, Alia Texas, W 114 2 2 - More Campbell, David G. Arizona 93 3 72 79 More Gonzales, Kenneth John N Mexico 93 3 - - More Snow, G. Murray Arizona 92 5 118 239 More Bolton, Susan Ritchie Arizona 87 6 102 52 More Wake, Neil Vincent Arizona 77 7 97 51 More Hinojosa, Ricardo H. Texas, S 76 8 4 7 More Crane, Randy Texas, S 73 9 3 8 More Martinez, Philip Ray Texas, W 64 10 12 10 More Table 4. Top Ten Judges
All 10 of the "top ten" judges were in districts which were in the top ten with the largest number of convictions per capit.
Judge Robert C. Brack in the District of New Mexico ranked 1st with 144 convicted in convictions. Judge Brack appeared in the top ten rankings one year (ranked 1) and five years ago (rank 4).
Judge Alia Moses in the Western District of Texas (San Antonio) ranked 2nd with 114 convicted in convictions. Judge Moses also appeared in the top ten rankings one year ago (ranked 2).
Judges David G. Campbell in the District of Arizona and Kenneth John Gonzales in the District of New Mexico ranked 3rd with 93 convicted in convictions.
Report Generated: July 3, 2014
