Convictions for May 2016
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during May 2016 the government reported 9877 new convictions. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is down 1 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 only slightly down (-1%). 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 8.3 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 May 2016 was for "Immigration", accounting for 60.3 percent of convictions. Convictions were also filed for "Drugs-Drug Trafficking" (10.2%), "Weapons-Operation Triggerlock Major" (4.9%), "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 May 2016 was DHS accounting for 66 percent of convictions. Other agencies with substantial numbers of convictions were: FBI (8% ), DEA (8%), ATF (5%), Defense (2%). See Figure 3.
Convictions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In May 2016, 4729 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 71.2 percent of all magistrate convictions in May.
Other frequently prosecuted lead charges include: "08 USC 1326 - Reentry of deported alien" (20%).
Convictions in U.S. District Courts
In May 2016, 5148 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 2016.
Lead Charge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago 08 USC 1326 - Reentry of deported alien 1,291 1 1 1 More 21 USC 841 - Drug Abuse Prevention & Control-Prohibited acts A 742 2 2 2 More 21 USC 846 - Attempt and conspiracy 492 3 3 3 More 18 USC 922 - Firearms; Unlawful acts 410 4 4 4 More 08 USC 1324 - Bringing in and harboring certain aliens 207 5 5 5 More 21 USC 952 - Importation of controlled substances 84 6 7 9 More 18 USC 1343 - Fraud by wire, radio, or television 77 7 10 15 More 18 USC 641 - Public money, property or records 73 8 9 14 More 18 USC 2252 - Material involving sexual exploitation of minors 72 9 6 6 More 18 USC 1951 - Hobbs Act 69 10 12 18 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 12.7 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 — 67.1 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 14 percent — was " Attempt and conspiracy " (Title 21 U.S.C Section 846 ). Compared to five years ago, the most significant decline in convictions — 23.8 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 May 2016 the Justice Department said the government obtained 1922 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 35,394 615 1 4 5 More Texas, W 7,514 437 2 1 2 More Texas, S 6,419 507 3 3 1 More W Virg, N 5,797 45 4 45 78 More Arizona 5,518 314 5 2 3 More Montana 5,460 47 6 52 73 More Cal, S 5,449 158 7 5 4 More Ala, S 4,414 31 8 55 49 More S Dakota 4,407 31 9 47 54 More D. C. 4,284 24 10 77 63 More Table 3. Top 10 Districts (per ten million people)
The District of New Mexico — with 35394 convictions as compared with 1922 convictions per ten million population in the United States — was the most active during May 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.
Southern District of Texas (Houston) is now ranking 3rd. The Southern District of Texas (Houston) was ranked 3 a year ago, while it was ranked 1 for most frequent use five years ago.
Recent entrants to the top 10 list were Northern District of West Virginia (Wheeling), now ranked 4th , and South Dakota at 9th In the same order, these districts ranked 45th and 47th one year ago and 78th and 54th five years ago.
The federal judicial district which showed the greatest growth in the rate of convictions compared to one year ago — 24.4 percent — was Southern District of Texas (Houston). Compared to five years ago, the district with the largest growth — 91.5 percent — was New Mexico .
In the last year, the judicial District Court recording the largest drop in the rate of convictions — 26.4 percent — was Southern District of California (San Diego). This was the same district that had the largest increase — 39.1 percent — when compared with five years ago.
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 2016 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago Gonzales, Kenneth John N Mexico 184 1 3 - More Brack, Robert C. N Mexico 180 2 1 8 More Moses, Alia M. Texas, W 165 3 2 2 More Johnson, William Paul N Mexico 136 4 61 89 More Saldana, Diana Texas, S 83 5 28 799 More Garcia Marmolejo, Marina Texas, S 54 6 16 - More Olvera, Jose Rolando, Jr. Texas, S 54 6 - - More Hanen, Andrew S. Texas, S 53 8 4 13 More Garcia, Orlando Luis Texas, W 45 9 37 18 More Martinez, Philip Ray Texas, W 45 9 24 17 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 Kenneth John Gonzales in the District of New Mexico ranked 1st with 184 convicted in convictions. Judge Gonzales also appeared in the top ten rankings one year ago (ranked 3).
Judge Robert C. Brack in the District of New Mexico ranked 2nd with 180 convicted in convictions. Judge Brack appeared in the top ten rankings one year (ranked 1) and five years ago (rank 8).
Judge Alia M. Moses in the Western District of Texas (San Antonio) ranked 3rd with 165 convicted in convictions. Judge Moses appeared in the top ten rankings one year (ranked 2) and five years ago (rank 2).
Report Generated: July 15, 2016
