Convictions for May 2015
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during May 2015 the government reported 9667 new convictions. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is down 23.4 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 2015 convictions of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, the number of convictions was down (-4.7%). 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 10.7 percent from levels reported in 2010.
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 May 2015 was for "Immigration", accounting for 58.8 percent of convictions. Convictions were also filed for "Drugs-Drug Trafficking" (11.5%), "Weapons-Operation Triggerlock Major" ( 4.6%), "Drugs-Organized Crime Task Force" (4.4%), "Withheld by Govt from TRAC (FOIA challen" (4.1%), "Project Safe Childhood" (2.1%). See Figure 2.
The lead investigative agency for convictions in May 2015 was DHS accounting for 65 percent of convictions. Other agencies with substantial numbers of convictions were: FBI (8% ), DEA (8%), ATF (5%), Local (2%). See Figure 3.
Convictions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In May 2015, 4609 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 May 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 May.
Other frequently prosecuted lead charges include: "08 USC 1326 - Reentry of deported alien" (26.5%).
Convictions in U.S. District Courts
In May 2015, 5058 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during May 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 May.
Top Ranked Lead Charges
Table 2 shows the top lead charges recorded in the convictions of matters filed in U.S. District Court during May 2015.
Lead Charge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago 08 USC 1326 - Reentry of deported alien 1,198 1 1 1 More 21 USC 841 - Drug Abuse Prevention & Control-Prohibited acts A 695 2 2 2 More 21 USC 846 - Attempt and conspiracy 622 3 3 3 More 18 USC 922 - Firearms; Unlawful acts 376 4 4 4 More 08 USC 1324 - Bringing in and harboring certain aliens 158 5 5 5 More 18 USC 2252 - Material involving sexual exploitation of minors 100 6 7 8 More 18 USC 641 - Public money, property or records 83 7 12 14 More 18 USC 2113 - Bank robbery and incidental crimes 64 8 9 7 More 21 USC 952 - Importation of controlled substances 62 9 6 9 More 18 USC 1343 - Fraud by wire, radio, or television 57 10 9 16 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 17.3 percent — compared to one year ago was Title 18 U.S.C Section 641 that involves " Public money, property or records ". Compared to five years ago, the largest increase — 50.8 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 27.5 percent — was " Importation of controlled substances " (Title 21 U.S.C Section 952 ). Compared to five years ago, the most significant decline in convictions — 34.8 percent — was for convictions where the lead charge was " Bank robbery and incidental crimes " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 2113 ).
Top Ranked Judicial Districts
In May 2015 the Justice Department said the government obtained 1933.8 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 23,268 404 1 5 5 More Cal, S 8,554 239 2 4 4 More Texas, W 8,553 470 3 1 1 More S Dakota 6,618 46 4 33 47 More Texas, S 5,243 389 5 2 2 More Arizona 5,202 284 6 3 3 More Montana 4,774 40 7 72 65 More W Virg, N 4,661 36 8 65 66 More Utah 3,951 94 9 26 16 More W Virg, S 3,743 29 10 65 78 More Table 3. Top 10 Districts (per ten million people)
The District of New Mexico — with 23268 convictions as compared with 1933.8 convictions per ten million population in the United States — was the most active during May 2015. The District of New Mexico was ranked 5 a year ago, while it was ranked 5 for most frequent use five years ago.
The Southern District of California (San Diego) ranked 2nd. The Southern District of California (San Diego) was ranked 4 a year ago, while it was ranked 4 for most frequent use five years ago.
Western District of Texas (San Antonio) is now ranking 3rd. 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.
Recent entrants to the top 10 list were Utah , now ranked 9th , and South Dakota at 4th In the same order, these districts ranked 26th and 33rd one year ago and 16th and 47th five years ago.
The federal judicial district which showed the greatest growth in the rate of convictions compared to one year ago — 32.1 percent — was Northern District of West Virginia (Wheeling). Compared to five years ago, the district with the largest growth — 35.4 percent — was New Mexico .
In the last year, the judicial District Court recording the largest drop in the rate of convictions — 29.3 percent — was South Dakota . But over the past five years, Utah showed the largest drop — 27 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 May 2015 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago Brack, Robert C. N Mexico 158 1 3 1 More Gonzales, Kenneth John N Mexico 118 2 4 - More Motz, J. Frederick N Mexico 98 3 - - More Junell, Robert A. Texas, W 93 4 1 6 More Moses, Alia Texas, W 92 5 2 - More Hanen, Andrew S. Texas, S 68 6 7 13 More Crane, Randy Texas, S 46 7 6 5 More Biery, Samuel Frederick, Jr. Texas, W 44 8 18 43 More Zipps, Jennifer Guerin Arizona 43 9 16 - More Hinojosa, Ricardo H. Texas, S 41 10 5 7 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 158 convicted in convictions. Judge Brack appeared in the top ten rankings one year (ranked 3) and five years ago (rank 1).
Judge Kenneth John Gonzales in the District of New Mexico ranked 2nd with 118 convicted in convictions. Judge Gonzales also appeared in the top ten rankings one year ago (ranked 4).
Judge J. Frederick Motz in the District of New Mexico ranked 3rd with 98 convicted in convictions.
Report Generated: June 24, 2015
