Convictions for November 2015

Number Latest Month 8,262
Percent Change from previous month -16.5
Percent Change from 1 year ago -16.3
Percent Change from 5 years ago
(Including Magistrate Court)
-12.1
Percent Change from 5 years ago
(Excluding Magistrate Court)
-16.1
Table 1. Criminal Convictions

The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during November 2015 the government reported 8262 new convictions. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is down 16.5 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 (-16.3%). 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 12.1 percent from levels reported in 2010.

Bar and line plot of FYMON

Figure 1. Monthly Trends in Convictions

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 November 2015 was for "Immigration", accounting for 53.1 percent of convictions. Convictions were also filed for "Drugs-Drug Trafficking" (11.2%), " Weapons-Operation Triggerlock Major" (5.2%), "Drugs-Organized Crime Task Force" (4.4%), "Withheld by Govt from TRAC (FOIA challen" (3.9%), "Assimilated Crimes" (3.8%), "Project Safe Childhood" (2.3%), "Other Criminal Prosecutions" (2%). See Figure 2.

The lead investigative agency for convictions in November 2015 was DHS accounting for 60 percent of convictions. Other agencies with substantial numbers of convictions were: FBI (8% ), DEA (8%), ATF (5%), Defense (4%). See Figure 3.

Pie chart of progcatlabel

Figure 2. Specific Types of Convictions
Pie chart of agenrevgrp

Figure 3. Convictions by Investigative Agency

Convictions in U.S. Magistrate Courts

Top Ranked Lead Charges

In November 2015, 3754 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 62.5 percent of all magistrate convictions in November.

Other frequently prosecuted lead charges include: "08 USC 1326 - Reentry of deported alien" (18%).

Convictions in U.S. District Courts

In November 2015, 4508 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 2015.

Lead Charge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago  
08 USC 1326 - Reentry of deported alien 1,079 1 1 1 More
21 USC 841 - Drug Abuse Prevention & Control-Prohibited acts A 579 2 2 2 More
21 USC 846 - Attempt and conspiracy 476 3 3 3 More
18 USC 922 - Firearms; Unlawful acts 374 4 4 4 More
08 USC 1324 - Bringing in and harboring certain aliens 173 5 5 5 More
21 USC 952 - Importation of controlled substances 98 6 7 12 More
18 USC 2252 - Material involving sexual exploitation of minors 83 7 6 8 More
18 USC 1343 - Fraud by wire, radio, or television 77 8 10 15 More
18 USC 641 - Public money, property or records 65 9 9 14 More
18 USC 2113 - Bank robbery and incidental crimes 52 10 8 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 4.1 percent — compared to one year ago was Title 8 U.S.C Section 1324 that involves " Bringing in and harboring certain aliens ". Compared to five years ago, the largest increase — 42.2 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 15.3 percent — was " Bank robbery and incidental crimes " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 2113 ). This was the same statute that had the largest decrease — 32.6 % — when compared with five years ago.

Top Ranked Judicial Districts

In November 2015 the Justice Department said the government obtained 1696.6 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 18,355 319 1 3 5 More
Cal, S 9,586 275 2 5 4 More
S Dakota 7,173 51 3 40 51 More
Texas, W 6,528 372 4 2 2 More
N Dakota 6,004 37 5 50 67 More
Arizona 5,401 303 6 4 3 More
Texas, S 5,016 388 7 1 1 More
Ala, S 4,568 32 8 63 70 More
Wyoming 3,698 18 9 61 37 More
Mo, E 3,645 89 10 29 21 More
Table 3. Top 10 Districts (per ten million people)

  • The District of New Mexico — with 18355 convictions as compared with 1696.6 convictions per ten million population in the United States — was the most active during November 2015. 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.

  • District of South Dakota is now ranking 3rd.

Recent entrants to the top 10 list were Eastern District of Missouri (St. Louis), now ranked 10th , and South Dakota at 3rd In the same order, these districts ranked 29th and 40th one year ago and 21st and 51st five years ago.

The federal judicial district which showed the greatest growth in the rate of convictions compared to one year ago — 3.3 percent — was South Dakota . Compared to five years ago, the district with the largest growth — 17.1 percent — was North Dakota .

In the last year, the judicial District Court recording the largest drop in the rate of convictions — 20.9 percent — was Wyoming .  This was the same district that had the largest increase — 53.6 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 November 2015 are shown in Table 4.

Judge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago  
Gonzales, Kenneth John N Mexico 89 1 2 - More
Moses, Alia Texas, W 86 2 5 75 More
Brack, Robert C. N Mexico 82 3 1 1 More
Alvarez, Micaela Texas, S 59 4 8 3 More
Ramos, Nelva Gonzales Texas, S 57 5 9 - More
Crane, Randy Texas, S 40 6 7 6 More
Wake, Neil Vincent Arizona 38 7 31 44 More
Soto, James Alan Arizona 36 8 27 - More
Boyle, Jane J. Texas, N 36 8 199 299 More
Kazen, George P. Texas, S 36 8 25 2 More
Table 4. Top Ten Judges

A total of 9 out of the "top ten" judges were in districts which were in the top ten with the largest number of convictions per capita, while the remaining 1 judges were from other districts.

  • Judge Kenneth John Gonzales in the District of New Mexico ranked 1st with 89 convicted in convictions. Judge Gonzales also appeared in the top ten rankings one year ago (ranked 2).

  • Judge Alia Moses in the Western District of Texas (San Antonio) ranked 2nd with 86 convicted in convictions. Judge Moses also appeared in the top ten rankings one year ago (ranked 5).

  • Judge Robert C. Brack in the District of New Mexico ranked 3rd with 82 convicted in convictions. Judge Brack appeared in the top ten rankings one year (ranked 1) and five years ago (rank 1).

Report Generated: January 20, 2016
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