Convictions for November 2014
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during November 2014 the government reported 9420 new convictions. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is down 14.1 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 2014 convictions of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, the number of convictions was up (5.2%). 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 1.8 percent from levels reported in 2009.
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 November 2014 was for "Immigration", accounting for 57.6 percent of convictions. Convictions were also filed for "Drugs-Drug Trafficking" (11.9%), " Weapons-Operation Triggerlock Major" (4.8%), "Drugs-Organized Crime Task Force" (4.6%), "Withheld by Govt from TRAC (FOIA challen" (4.2%), "Project Safe Childhood" (2.1%). See Figure 2.
The lead investigative agency for convictions in November 2014 was DHS accounting for 64 percent of convictions. Other agencies with substantial numbers of convictions were: DEA (9% ), FBI (8%), ATF (5%), Local (2%). See Figure 3.
Convictions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In November 2014, 4292 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 November 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 64.4 percent of all magistrate convictions in November.
Other frequently prosecuted lead charges include: "08 USC 1326 - Reentry of deported alien" (24.5%).
Convictions in U.S. District Courts
In November 2014, 5128 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during November 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 November.
Top Ranked Lead Charges
Table 2 shows the top lead charges recorded in the convictions of matters filed in U.S. District Court during November 2014.
Lead Charge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago 08 USC 1326 - Reentry of deported alien 1,254 1 1 1 More 21 USC 841 - Drug Abuse Prevention & Control-Prohibited acts A 732 2 2 2 More 21 USC 846 - Attempt and conspiracy 583 3 3 3 More 18 USC 922 - Firearms; Unlawful acts 385 4 4 4 More 08 USC 1324 - Bringing in and harboring certain aliens 156 5 5 5 More 18 USC 2252 - Material involving sexual exploitation of minors 105 6 7 9 More 18 USC 1546 - Fraud and misuse of visas, permits, and other documents 71 7 8 8 More 18 USC 641 - Public money, property or records 69 8 10 14 More 18 USC 1951 - Hobbs Act 60 9 16 18 More 18 USC 2113 - Bank robbery and incidental crimes 60 9 12 7 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 38.2 percent — compared to one year ago was Title 18 U.S.C Section 1951 that involves " Hobbs Act ". This was the same statute that had the largest increase — 51 % — 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 18.2 percent — was " Fraud and misuse of visas, permits, and other documents " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 1546 ). This was the same statute that had the largest decrease — 36.4 % — when compared with five years ago.
Top Ranked Judicial Districts
In November 2014 the Justice Department said the government obtained 1960.5 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 27,933 485 1 4 5 More N Dakota 9,924 58 2 65 71 More Texas, W 9,627 529 3 2 1 More W Virg, N 6,732 52 4 60 64 More Cal, S 6,192 173 5 3 3 More Texas, S 5,566 413 6 1 2 More S Dakota 5,323 37 7 27 43 More Wyoming 5,203 25 8 76 45 More Nebraska 4,851 75 9 30 41 More Vermont 4,218 22 10 86 81 More Table 3. Top 10 Districts (per ten million people)
The District of New Mexico — with 27933 convictions as compared with 1960.5 convictions per ten million population in the United States — was the most active during November 2014. The District of New Mexico was ranked 4 a year ago, while it was ranked 5 for most frequent use five years ago.
The District of North Dakota ranked 2nd.
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 7th , and Nebraska at 9th In the same order, these districts ranked 27th and 30th one year ago and 43rd and 41st five years ago.
The federal judicial district which showed the greatest growth in the rate of convictions compared to one year ago — 26.2 percent — was Wyoming . Compared to five years ago, the district with the largest growth — 34.2 percent — was North Dakota .
In the last year, the judicial District Court recording the largest drop in the rate of convictions — 29.9 percent — was South Dakota . But over the past five years, Wyoming showed the largest drop — 37.1 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 November 2014 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago Brack, Robert C. N Mexico 171 1 1 1 More Moses, Alia Texas, W 156 2 4 - More Junell, Robert A. Texas, W 123 3 11 10 More Gonzales, Kenneth John N Mexico 112 4 18 - More Crane, Randy Texas, S 72 5 5 5 More Hinojosa, Ricardo H. Texas, S 51 6 3 11 More Alvarez, Micaela Texas, S 49 7 7 3 More Ramos, Nelva Gonzales Texas, S 49 7 6 - More Erickson, Ralph R. N Dakota 43 9 84 49 More McDade, Joe Billy N Mexico 43 9 331 - 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 171 convicted in convictions. Judge Brack appeared in the top ten rankings one year (ranked 1) and five years ago (rank 1).
Judge Alia Moses in the Western District of Texas (San Antonio) ranked 2nd with 156 convicted in convictions. Judge Moses also appeared in the top ten rankings one year ago (ranked 4).
Judge Robert A. Junell in the Western District of Texas (San Antonio) ranked 3rd with 123 convicted in convictions.
Report Generated: January 22, 2015
