Convictions for April 2016
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during April 2016 the government reported 10047 new convictions. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is down 23.9 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 2016 convictions of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, the number of convictions was down (-3%). 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 7.6 percent from levels reported in 2011.
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 2016 was for "Immigration", accounting for 61.4 percent of convictions. Convictions were also filed for "Drugs-Drug Trafficking" (9.2%), "Drugs-Organized Crime Task Force" (5.1%), "Weapons-Operation Triggerlock Major" (4.9%), "Withheld by Govt from TRAC (FOIA challen" (3.4%), "Project Safe Childhood" (2.4%). See Figure 2.
The lead investigative agency for convictions in April 2016 was DHS accounting for 67 percent of convictions. Other agencies with substantial numbers of convictions were: FBI (8% ), DEA (7%), ATF (5%), Local (2%). See Figure 3.
Convictions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In April 2016, 4934 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 71.7 percent of all magistrate convictions in April.
Other frequently prosecuted lead charges include: "08 USC 1326 - Reentry of deported alien" (22.3%).
Convictions in U.S. District Courts
In April 2016, 5113 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 2016.
Lead Charge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago 08 USC 1326 - Reentry of deported alien 1,284 1 1 1 More 21 USC 841 - Drug Abuse Prevention & Control-Prohibited acts A 715 2 2 2 More 21 USC 846 - Attempt and conspiracy 525 3 3 3 More 18 USC 922 - Firearms; Unlawful acts 452 4 4 4 More 08 USC 1324 - Bringing in and harboring certain aliens 155 5 5 5 More 18 USC 2252 - Material involving sexual exploitation of minors 119 6 6 6 More 18 USC 371 - Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US 79 7 8 10 More 21 USC 952 - Importation of controlled substances 79 7 7 9 More 18 USC 1343 - Fraud by wire, radio, or television 66 9 10 15 More 18 USC 641 - Public money, property or records 60 10 9 14 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 13.9 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 — 37.5 percent — was registered for convictions under " Fraud by wire, radio, or television " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 1343 ).
Again among the top ten lead charges, the one showing the sharpest decline in convictions compared to one year ago — down 18.8 percent — was " Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 371 ). Compared to five years ago, the most significant decline in convictions — 22.8 percent — was for convictions where the lead charge was " Reentry of deported alien " (Title 8 U.S.C Section 1326 ).
Top Ranked Judicial Districts
In April 2016 the Justice Department said the government obtained 1924.2 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 26,755 465 1 4 5 More Texas, W 8,880 506 2 1 2 More W Virg, N 7,995 62 3 43 76 More Wyoming 6,368 31 4 66 50 More Arizona 5,633 316 5 3 3 More Texas, S 5,482 424 6 2 1 More Cal, S 5,229 150 7 5 4 More S Dakota 5,204 37 8 48 51 More Montana 5,041 43 9 61 67 More Vermont 4,788 25 10 83 90 More Table 3. Top 10 Districts (per ten million people)
The District of New Mexico — with 26755 convictions as compared with 1924.2 convictions per ten million population in the United States — was the most active during April 2016. The District of New Mexico was ranked 4 a year ago, while it was ranked 5 for most frequent use five years ago.
The Western District of Texas (San Antonio) ranked 2nd. The Western District of Texas (San Antonio) was ranked 1 a year ago, while it was ranked 2 for most frequent use five years ago.
Northern District of West Virginia (Wheeling) is now ranking 3rd.
Recent entrants to the top 10 list were Northern District of West Virginia (Wheeling), now ranked 3rd , and South Dakota at 8th In the same order, these districts ranked 43rd and 48th one year ago and 76th and 51st five years ago.
The federal judicial district which showed the greatest growth in the rate of convictions compared to one year ago — 28 percent — was South Dakota . Compared to five years ago, the district with the largest growth — 90.2 percent — was Vermont .
In the last year, the judicial District Court recording the largest drop in the rate of convictions — 21 percent — was Arizona . But over the past five years, Wyoming showed the largest drop — 37.4 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 2016 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago Brack, Robert C. N Mexico 124 1 1 8 More Skavdahl, Scott Wesley N Mexico 112 2 358 - More Moses, Alia M. Texas, W 102 3 2 2 More Garcia, Orlando Luis Texas, W 96 4 32 17 More Gonzales, Kenneth John N Mexico 66 5 3 - More Biery, Samuel Frederick, Jr. Texas, W 66 5 39 43 More Hanen, Andrew S. Texas, S 60 7 4 12 More Olvera, Jose Rolando, Jr. Texas, S 60 7 - - More Wake, Neil Vincent Arizona 46 9 8 49 More Crane, Randy Texas, S 45 10 7 4 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 124 convicted in convictions. Judge Brack appeared in the top ten rankings one year (ranked 1) and five years ago (rank 8).
Judge Scott Wesley Skavdahl in the District of New Mexico ranked 2nd with 112 convicted in convictions.
Judge Alia M. Moses in the Western District of Texas (San Antonio) ranked 3rd with 102 convicted in convictions. Judge Moses appeared in the top ten rankings one year (ranked 2) and five years ago (rank 2).
Report Generated: June 10, 2016
