Convictions for September 2014
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during September 2014 the government reported 15711 new convictions. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is up 19.7 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 (2.7%). Convictions over the past year are still much higher than they were five years ago. Overall, the data show that convictions of this type are up 2.1 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 September 2014 was for "Immigration", accounting for 59 percent of convictions. Convictions were also filed for "Drugs-Drug Trafficking" (9.9%), "Drugs-Organized Crime Task Force" ( 5.6%), "Weapons-Operation Triggerlock Major" (4.3%), "Withheld by Govt from TRAC (FOIA challen" (3.6%), "Other Criminal Prosecutions" (2%). See Figure 2.
The lead investigative agency for convictions in September 2014 was DHS accounting for 66 percent of convictions. Other agencies with substantial numbers of convictions were: DEA (8% ), FBI (8%), ATF (5%), Local (2%). See Figure 3.
Convictions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In September 2014, 7705 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 September 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 74.5 percent of all magistrate convictions in September.
Other frequently prosecuted lead charges include: "08 USC 1326 - Reentry of deported alien" (17.4%).
Convictions in U.S. District Courts
In September 2014, 8006 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during September 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 September.
Top Ranked Lead Charges
Table 2 shows the top lead charges recorded in the convictions of matters filed in U.S. District Court during September 2014.
Lead Charge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago 08 USC 1326 - Reentry of deported alien 1,779 1 1 1 More 21 USC 841 - Drug Abuse Prevention & Control-Prohibited acts A 1,114 2 2 2 More 21 USC 846 - Attempt and conspiracy 993 3 3 3 More 18 USC 922 - Firearms; Unlawful acts 660 4 4 4 More 08 USC 1324 - Bringing in and harboring certain aliens 253 5 5 5 More 18 USC 2252 - Material involving sexual exploitation of minors 124 6 7 9 More 21 USC 952 - Importation of controlled substances 121 7 6 6 More 18 USC 641 - Public money, property or records 116 8 9 15 More 18 USC 1343 - Fraud by wire, radio, or television 110 9 12 16 More 18 USC 2113 - Bank robbery and incidental crimes 107 10 11 8 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 9 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 — 43.7 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 9.9 percent — was " Drug Abuse Prevention & Control-Prohibited acts A " (Title 21 U.S.C Section 841 ). Compared to five years ago, the most significant decline in convictions — 27 percent — was for convictions where the lead charge was " Importation of controlled substances " (Title 21 U.S.C Section 952 ).
Top Ranked Judicial Districts
In September 2014 the Justice Department said the government obtained 3060.5 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 Cal, S 15,671 438 1 3 3 More N Mexico 12,601 219 2 4 4 More Texas, W 12,254 673 3 1 1 More D. C. 8,540 45 4 68 66 More Texas, S 8,340 619 5 2 2 More Arizona 7,325 400 6 5 5 More Wyoming 7,286 35 7 76 44 More Texas, E 6,980 214 8 19 24 More N. Y., S 5,656 243 9 11 7 More Utah 5,464 130 10 31 18 More Table 3. Top 10 Districts (per ten million people)
The Southern District of California (San Diego) — with 15671 convictions as compared with 3060.5 convictions per ten million population in the United States — was the most active during September 2014. The Southern District of California (San Diego) was ranked 3 a year ago, while it was ranked 3 for most frequent use five years ago.
The District of New Mexico ranked 2nd. The District of New Mexico 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 Southern District of New York (Manhattan), now ranked 9th , and Eastern District of Texas (Tyler) at 8th In the same order, these districts ranked 11th and 19th one year ago and 7th and 24th five years ago.
The federal judicial district which showed the greatest growth in the rate of convictions compared to one year ago — 67 percent — was Arizona . Compared to five years ago, the district with the largest growth — 45.4 percent — was Eastern District of Texas (Tyler).
In the last year, the judicial District Court recording the largest drop in the rate of convictions — 21 percent — was Southern District of California (San Diego). But over the past five years, Wyoming showed the largest drop — 45.4 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 September 2014 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago Junell, Robert A. Texas, W 119 1 9 10 More Hanen, Andrew S. Texas, S 104 2 5 12 More Garcia-Gregory, Jay A. Puer Rico 98 3 61 137 More Alvarez, Micaela Texas, S 88 4 6 3 More Schell, Richard A. Texas, E 87 5 103 137 More Cerezo, Carmen Consuelo Puer Rico 83 6 56 164 More Hinojosa, Ricardo H. Texas, S 82 7 3 11 More Dominguez, Daniel R. Puer Rico 80 8 39 172 More Reeves, Danny C. Texas, W 75 9 45 - More Garcia, Orlando Luis Texas, W 71 10 40 41 More Table 4. Top Ten Judges
A total of 7 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 3 judges were from other districts.
Judge Robert A. Junell in the Western District of Texas (San Antonio) ranked 1st with 119 convicted in convictions. Judge Junell appeared in the top ten rankings one year (ranked 9) and five years ago (rank 10).
Judge Andrew S. Hanen in the Southern District of Texas (Houston) ranked 2nd with 104 convicted in convictions. Judge Hanen also appeared in the top ten rankings one year ago (ranked 5).
Judge Jay A. Garcia-Gregory in the District of Puerto Rico ranked 3rd with 98 convicted in convictions.
Report Generated: November 6, 2014
