Prosecutions for May 2017
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during May 2017 the government reported 10446 new prosecutions. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is up 19.4 percent over the previous month.
The comparisons of the number of defendants charged 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 2017 prosecutions of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, the number of filings was down (-17.7%). Prosecutions over the past year are still much lower than they were five years ago. Overall, the data show that prosecutions of this type are down 30.4 percent from levels reported in 2012.
The decrease from the levels five years ago in prosecutions for these matters is shown more clearly in Figure 1. The vertical bars in Figure 1 represent the number of prosecutions 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 prosecutions of these matters in May 2017 was for "Immigration", accounting for 44.5 percent of prosecutions. Prosecutions were also filed for "Drugs-Drug Trafficking" (13.6%), "Withheld by Govt from TRAC (FOIA challen" (10.5%), "Weapons-Operation Triggerlock Major" (7.5%), "Other Criminal Prosecutions" (3.6%), "Drugs-Organized Crime Task Force" (3.4%), "Assimilated Crimes" (2.8%). See Figure 2.
The lead investigative agency for prosecutions in May 2017 was DHS accounting for 53 percent of prosecutions referred. Other agencies with substantial numbers of referrals were: FBI (12% ), DEA (10%), ATF (8%), Defense (3%). See Figure 3.
Prosecutions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In May 2017, 5593 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 1326 involving "Reentry of deported alien". This was the lead charge for 32.6 percent of all magistrate filings in May.
Other frequently prosecuted lead charges include: "08 USC 1325 - Entry of alien at improper time or place; etc." (31.3%).
Prosecutions in U.S. District Courts
In May 2017, 4853 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during May there were an additional 1723 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 prosecutions of matters filed in U.S. District Court during May 2017.
Lead Charge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago 08 USC 1326 - Reentry of deported alien 1,426 1 1 1 More 21 USC 841 - Drug Abuse Prevention & Control-Prohibited acts A 813 2 2 2 More 18 USC 922 - Firearms; Unlawful acts 701 3 4 4 More 21 USC 846 - Attempt and conspiracy 636 4 3 3 More 08 USC 1324 - Bringing in and harboring certain aliens 202 5 5 5 More 18 USC 1343 - Fraud by wire, radio, or television 111 6 11 11 More 21 USC 952 - Importation of controlled substances 107 7 6 6 More 18 USC 2113 - Bank robbery and incidental crimes 77 8 12 9 More 18 USC 1951 - Hobbs Act 75 9 8 15 More 18 USC 2252 - Material involving sexual exploitation of minors 74 10 7 7 More Table 2. Top Charges Filed
"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 prosecutions — up 10.2 percent — compared to one year ago was Title 18 U.S.C Section 2113 that involves " Bank robbery and incidental crimes ". Compared to five years ago, the largest increase — 11.5 percent — was registered for prosecutions under " Bringing in and harboring certain aliens " (Title 8 U.S.C Section 1324 ).
Again among the top ten lead charges, the one showing the sharpest decline in prosecutions compared to one year ago — down 18.1 percent — was " Hobbs Act " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 1951 ). Compared to five years ago, the most significant decline in prosecutions — 37.9 percent — was for filings where the lead charge was " Importation of controlled substances " (Title 21 U.S.C Section 952 ).
Top Ranked Judicial Districts
In May 2017 the Justice Department said the government brought 2455.1 prosecutions for every ten million people in the United States.
Understandably, there is great variation in the per capita number of prosecutions that are filed in each of the nation's ninety-four federal judicial districts.
The districts registering the largest number of prosecutions per capita for these matters last month are shown in Table 3. Districts must have at least 5 prosecutions to receive a ranking.
Judicial District Percapita Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago N Mexico 17,956 312 1 3 5 More Cal, S 13,174 382 2 5 4 More Texas, W 9,423 548 3 2 1 More Arizona 9,314 530 4 4 2 More Wyoming 9,009 44 5 71 80 More S Dakota 7,108 50 6 25 39 More Texas, S 6,938 548 7 1 3 More Ark, E 6,658 91 8 57 44 More N Car, W 4,930 130 9 33 32 More N Dakota 4,915 31 10 43 54 More Table 3. Top 10 Districts (per ten million people)
The District of New Mexico — with 17956 prosecutions as compared with 2455.1 prosecutions per ten million population in the United States — was the most active during May 2017. 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 California (San Diego) ranked 2nd. 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.
Western District of Texas (San Antonio) is now ranking 3rd. The Western District of Texas (San Antonio) was ranked 2 a year ago, while it was ranked 1 for most frequent use five years ago.
Recent entrants to the top 10 list were South Dakota , now ranked 6th , and Western District of North Carolina (Asheville) at 9th In the same order, these districts ranked 25th and 33rd one year ago and 39th and 32nd five years ago.
The federal judicial district which showed the greatest growth in the rate of prosecutions compared to one year ago — 30 percent — was Wyoming . This was the same district that had the largest increase — 28 percent — when compared with five years ago.
In the last year, the judicial District Court recording the largest drop in the rate of prosecutions — 41.1 percent — was New Mexico . But over the past five years, Arizona showed the largest drop — 36.3 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 of this type during May 2017 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago Moses, Alia M. Texas, W 96 1 2 1 More Whitney, Frank DeArmon N Car, W 84 2 122 53 More Rodriguez, Xavier Texas, W 81 3 47 45 More Gonzales, Kenneth John N Mexico 77 4 3 - More Brack, Robert C. N Mexico 73 5 1 2 More Junell, Robert A. Texas, W 63 6 4 3 More Olvera, Jose Rolando, Jr. Texas, S 60 7 6 - More Benitez, Roger T. Cal, S 53 8 35 30 More Ramos, Nelva Gonzales Texas, S 53 8 14 13 More Alvarez, Micaela Texas, S 52 10 10 9 More Crane, Randy Texas, S 52 10 11 4 More Table 4. Top Ten Judges
All 11 of the "top ten" judges were in districts which were in the top ten with the largest number of filings per capit. (Because of ties, there were a total of 11 judges in the "top ten" rankings.)
Judge Alia M. Moses in the Western District of Texas (San Antonio) ranked 1st with 96 defendants in cases. Judge Moses appeared in the top ten rankings one year (ranked 2) and five years ago (rank 1).
Judge Frank DeArmon Whitney in the Western District of North Carolina (Asheville) ranked 2nd with 84 defendants in cases.
Judge Xavier Rodriguez in the Western District of Texas (San Antonio) ranked 3rd with 81 defendants in cases.
Report Generated: July 6, 2017
