Convictions for July 2018
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during July 2018 the government reported 15041 new convictions. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is the same as in 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 2018 convictions of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, the number of convictions was up (42.5%). 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 1.4 percent from levels reported in 2013.
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 July 2018 was for "Immigration", accounting for 67.8 percent of convictions. Convictions were also filed for "Drugs-Drug Trafficking" (8.5%), "Weapons-Operation Triggerlock Major" (5.2%), "Drugs-Organized Crime Task Force" (3.7%), "Withheld by Govt from TRAC (FOIA challen" (2.1%). See Figure 2.
The lead investigative agency for convictions in July 2018 was DHS accounting for 73 percent of convictions. Other agencies with substantial numbers of convictions were: FBI (6% ), ATF (5%), DEA (5%), Interior (2%). See Figure 3.
Convictions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In July 2018, 8271 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 July 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 84.3 percent of all magistrate convictions in July.
Other frequently prosecuted lead charges include: "08 USC 1326 - Reentry of deported alien" (8.8%).
Convictions in U.S. District Courts
In July 2018, 6770 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during July 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 July.
Top Ranked Lead Charges
Table 2 shows the top lead charges recorded in the convictions of matters filed in U.S. District Court during July 2018.
Lead Charge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago 08 USC 1326 - Reentry of deported alien 1,974 1 1 1 More 21 USC 841 - Drug Abuse Prevention & Control-Prohibited acts A 914 2 2 2 More 18 USC 922 - Firearms; Unlawful acts 726 3 4 4 More 21 USC 846 - Attempt and conspiracy 628 4 3 3 More 08 USC 1324 - Bringing in and harboring certain aliens 266 5 5 5 More 21 USC 952 - Importation of controlled substances 105 6 6 6 More 18 USC 2252 - Material involving sexual exploitation of minors 99 7 7 7 More 18 USC 1343 - Fraud by wire, radio, or television 94 8 8 12 More 18 USC 1951 - Hobbs Act 91 9 9 16 More 18 USC 2113 - Bank robbery and incidental crimes 78 10 10 11 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 18.8 percent — compared to one year ago was Title 18 U.S.C Section 922 that involves " Firearms; Unlawful acts ". This was the same statute that had the largest increase — 32.7 % — when compared with five years ago.
Again among the top ten lead charges, the one showing the sharpest decline in convictions compared to one year ago — down 8.5 percent — was " Attempt and conspiracy " (Title 21 U.S.C Section 846 ). This was the same statute that had the largest decrease — 20.8 % — when compared with five years ago.
Top Ranked Judicial Districts
In July 2018 the Justice Department said the government obtained 2514.2 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 19,202 333 1 4 4 More Texas, W 14,614 864 2 1 1 More Cal, S 11,662 340 3 5 3 More Iowa, S 9,426 142 4 37 58 More S Dakota 9,024 64 5 28 37 More Arizona 8,362 483 6 3 5 More Texas, S 6,543 524 7 2 2 More Texas, N 5,287 319 8 8 12 More Nebraska 5,223 83 9 26 30 More Vermont 4,803 25 10 81 83 More Table 3. Top 10 Districts (per ten million people)
The District of New Mexico — with 19202 convictions as compared with 2514.2 convictions per ten million population in the United States — was the most active during July 2018. The District of New Mexico was ranked 4 a year ago, while it was ranked 4 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 1 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 3 for most frequent use five years ago.
Recent entrants to the top 10 list were Nebraska , now ranked 9th , and South Dakota at 5th In the same order, these districts ranked 26th and 28th one year ago and 30th and 37th five years ago.
The federal judicial district which showed the greatest growth in the rate of convictions compared to one year ago — 75 percent — was Southern District of California (San Diego). Compared to five years ago, the district with the largest growth — 57.3 percent — was Northern District of Texas (Fort Worth).
In the last year, the judicial District Court recording the largest drop in the rate of convictions — 33.9 percent — was Arizona . But over the past five years, Vermont showed the largest drop — 9.4 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 July 2018 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago Guaderrama, David C. Texas, W 147 1 17 9 More Martinez, Philip Ray Texas, W 103 2 18 13 More O'Connor, Reed Charles Texas, N 102 3 53 108 More Briones, David Texas, W 100 4 12 14 More Crane, Randy Texas, S 98 5 7 3 More Montalvo, Frank Texas, W 91 6 6 10 More Skavdahl, Scott Wesley N Mexico 83 7 97 - More Alvarez, Micaela Texas, S 81 8 16 7 More Collins, Raner Christercunean Arizona 80 9 14 11 More Soto, James Alan Arizona 76 10 3 - 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 David C. Guaderrama in the Western District of Texas (San Antonio) ranked 1st with 147 convicted in convictions.
Judge Philip Ray Martinez in the Western District of Texas (San Antonio) ranked 2nd with 103 convicted in convictions.
Judge Reed Charles O'Connor in the Northern District of Texas (Fort Worth) ranked 3rd with 102 convicted in convictions.
Report Generated: August 23, 2018
