Convictions for December 2016
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during December 2016 the government reported 8844 new convictions. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is up 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 2016 convictions of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, the number of convictions was down (-8.8%). 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 20.5 percent from levels reported in 2011.
The decrease 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 December 2016 was for "Immigration", accounting for 54.6 percent of convictions. Convictions were also filed for "Drugs-Drug Trafficking" (11.1%), "Weapons-Operation Triggerlock Major" (6.5%), "Drugs-Organized Crime Task Force" (5.1%), "Withheld by Govt from TRAC (FOIA challen" (3.9%), "Project Safe Childhood" (2.1%). See Figure 2.
The lead investigative agency for convictions in December 2016 was DHS accounting for 61 percent of convictions. Other agencies with substantial numbers of convictions were: FBI (9% ), DEA (8%), ATF (6%), Interior (3%). See Figure 3.
Convictions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In December 2016, 3575 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 December 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 66.7 percent of all magistrate convictions in December.
Other frequently prosecuted lead charges include: "08 USC 1326 - Reentry of deported alien" (19.2%).
Convictions in U.S. District Courts
In December 2016, 5269 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during December 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 December.
Top Ranked Lead Charges
Table 2 shows the top lead charges recorded in the convictions of matters filed in U.S. District Court during December 2016.
Lead Charge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago 08 USC 1326 - Reentry of deported alien 1,353 1 1 1 More 21 USC 841 - Drug Abuse Prevention & Control-Prohibited acts A 720 2 2 2 More 18 USC 922 - Firearms; Unlawful acts 508 3 4 4 More 21 USC 846 - Attempt and conspiracy 493 4 3 3 More 08 USC 1324 - Bringing in and harboring certain aliens 261 5 5 5 More 18 USC 2252 - Material involving sexual exploitation of minors 81 6 6 7 More 21 USC 952 - Importation of controlled substances 79 7 7 6 More 18 USC 1343 - Fraud by wire, radio, or television 75 8 9 15 More 18 USC 1951 - Hobbs Act 58 9 12 18 More 18 USC 371 - Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US 53 10 11 9 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 "Firearms; Unlawful acts" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 922. "Firearms; Unlawful acts" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 922 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 convictions — up 23 percent — compared to one year ago was Title 21 U.S.C Section 952 that involves " Importation of controlled substances ". Compared to five years ago, the largest increase — 18.8 percent — was registered for convictions under " Hobbs Act " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 1951 ).
Again among the top ten lead charges, the one showing the sharpest decline in convictions compared to one year ago — down 18 percent — was " Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 371 ). This was the same statute that had the largest decrease — 37.7 % — when compared with five years ago.
Top Ranked Judicial Districts
In December 2016 the Justice Department said the government obtained 1967.2 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 18,186 316 1 3 5 More Texas, S 9,293 734 2 1 3 More Cal, S 8,277 240 3 5 4 More Texas, W 7,703 448 4 2 1 More S Dakota 6,113 43 5 38 49 More Arizona 5,518 314 6 4 2 More Iowa, N 5,058 56 7 54 46 More La, M 4,768 33 8 76 88 More D. C. 4,284 24 9 75 66 More N Dakota 4,280 27 10 39 57 More Table 3. Top 10 Districts (per ten million people)
The District of New Mexico — with 18186 convictions as compared with 1967.2 convictions per ten million population in the United States — was the most active during December 2016. The District of New Mexico was ranked 3 a year ago, while it was ranked 5 for most frequent use five years ago.
The Southern District of Texas (Houston) ranked 2nd. The Southern District of Texas (Houston) was ranked 1 a year ago, while it was ranked 3 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 5 a year ago, while it was ranked 4 for most frequent use five years ago.
Recent entrants to the top 10 list were South Dakota , now ranked 5th , and North Dakota at 10th In the same order, these districts ranked 38th and 39th one year ago and 49th and 57th five years ago.
The federal judicial district which showed the greatest growth in the rate of convictions compared to one year ago — 29.6 percent — was Arizona . Compared to five years ago, the district with the largest growth — 36.6 percent — was New Mexico .
In the last year, the judicial District Court recording the largest drop in the rate of convictions — 16.5 percent — was Middle District of Louisiana (Baton Rouge). But over the past five years, Southern District of California (San Diego) showed the largest drop — 46.6 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 December 2016 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago Johnson, William Paul N Mexico 97 1 6 42 More Moses, Alia M. Texas, W 93 2 2 1 More Hinojosa, Ricardo H. Texas, S 88 3 5 6 More Brack, Robert C. N Mexico 83 4 1 26 More Olvera, Jose Rolando, Jr. Texas, S 78 5 544 - More Ramos, Nelva Gonzales Texas, S 77 6 7 722 More Saldana, Diana Texas, S 72 7 16 34 More Garcia Marmolejo, Marina Texas, S 61 8 17 - More Crane, Randy Texas, S 59 9 8 5 More Alvarez, Micaela Texas, S 58 10 10 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 William Paul Johnson in the District of New Mexico ranked 1st with 97 convicted in convictions. Judge Johnson also appeared in the top ten rankings one year ago (ranked 6).
Judge Alia M. Moses in the Western District of Texas (San Antonio) ranked 2nd with 93 convicted in convictions. Judge Moses appeared in the top ten rankings one year (ranked 2) and five years ago (rank 1).
Judge Ricardo H. Hinojosa in the Southern District of Texas (Houston) ranked 3rd with 88 convicted in convictions. Judge Hinojosa appeared in the top ten rankings one year (ranked 5) and five years ago (rank 6).
Report Generated: January 20, 2017
