Weapons Convictions for November 2017
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during November 2017 the government reported 602 new weapons convictions. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is down 1.6 percent over the previous month.
The comparisons of the number of defendants convicted for weapons-related offenses 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 convictions of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, the number of convictions was up (21.8%). 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 7.9 percent from levels reported in 2012.
The leveling out from the levels five years ago in weapons convictions for these matters is shown more clearly in Figure 1. The vertical bars in Figure 1 represent the number of weapons 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.
Within the broad category of weapons, cases were classified by prosecutors into more specific types.
Case types within weapons are
Armed Career Criminal Act
Firearms/Triggerlock
Other Operation Triggerlock Prosecutions
The largest number of convictions of these matters in November 2017 was for "Weapons-Operation Triggerlock Major", accounting for 100 percent of convictions. See Figure 2.
The lead investigative agency for weapons convictions in November 2017 was ATF accounting for 68 percent of convictions. Other agencies with substantial numbers of weapons convictions were: FBI (11% ), Local (7%), DEA (5%), DHS (4%). See Figure 3.
Weapons Convictions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In November 2017, no defendants in weapons 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.
Weapons Convictions in U.S. District Courts
In November 2017, 602 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 weapons matters filed in U.S. District Court during November 2017.
Lead Charge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago 18 USC 922 - Firearms; Unlawful acts 525 1 1 1 More 18 USC 924 - Firearms; Penalties 25 2 2 2 More 21 USC 841 - Drug Abuse Prevention & Control-Prohibited acts A 12 3 3 4 More 18 USC 1951 - Hobbs Act 9 4 4 3 More 21 USC 846 - Attempt and conspiracy 6 5 7 6 More 18 USC 1962 - RICO - prohibited activities 5 6 17 16 More 18 USC 2119 - Carjacking 4 7 8 10 More 26 USC 5861 - Tax on Making Firearms - Prohibited acts 4 7 5 5 More 18 USC 2 - Aiding and Abetting 2 9 19 26 More 18 USC 371 - Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US 2 9 6 8 More 18 USC 3583 - Term of supervised release after imprisonment 2 9 8 14 More Table 2. Top Charges for Convictions
"Firearms; Unlawful acts" (Title 18 U.S.C Section 922) was the most frequent recorded lead charge. "Firearms; Unlawful acts" (Title 18 U.S.C Section 922) was ranked 1 a year ago, while it was ranked 1 five years ago.
Ranked 2nd in frequency was the lead charge "Firearms; Penalties" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 924. "Firearms; Penalties" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 924 was ranked 2 a year ago, while it was ranked 2 five years ago.
Ranked 3rd was "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 3 a year ago, while it was ranked 4 five years ago.
Among these top ten lead charges, the one showing the greatest increase in convictions — up 866.7 percent — compared to one year ago was Title 18 U.S.C Section 1962 that involves " RICO - prohibited activities ". This was the same statute that had the largest increase — 480 % — 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 28.6 percent — was " Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 371 ). This was the same statute that had the largest decrease — 48.7 % — when compared with five years ago.
Top Ranked Judicial Districts
In November 2017 the Justice Department said the government obtained 223.6 weapons convictions for every ten million people in the United States.
Understandably, there is great variation in the per capita number of weapons 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 weapons convictions to receive a ranking.
Judicial District Percapita Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago Wyoming 1,640 8 1 49 55 More N Car, M 1,220 30 2 6 9 More Mo, E 1,188 29 3 1 17 More Montana 1,151 10 4 24 60 More Ala, S 1,137 8 5 35 22 More Texas, W 863 51 6 4 2 More Tenn, W 841 11 7 20 6 More W Virg, N 646 5 8 68 67 More N Mexico 634 11 9 27 24 More Tenn, E 599 13 10 9 9 More Table 3. Top 10 Districts (per ten million people)
The District of Wyoming — with 1640 convictions as compared with 223.6 convictions per ten million population in the United States — was the most active during November 2017.
The Middle District of North Carolina (Greensboro) ranked 2nd. The Middle District of North Carolina (Greensboro) was ranked 6 a year ago, while it was ranked 9 for most frequent use five years ago.
Eastern District of Missouri (St. Louis) is now ranking 3rd. The Eastern District of Missouri (St. Louis) was ranked 1 a year ago.
Recent entrants to the top 10 list were Western District of Tennessee (Memphis), now ranked 7th , and Montana at 4th In the same order, these districts ranked 20th and 24th one year ago and 6th and 60th five years ago.
The federal judicial district which showed the greatest growth in the rate of weapons convictions compared to one year ago — 98.9 percent — was Western District of Texas (San Antonio). Compared to five years ago, the district with the largest growth — 147.6 percent — was Montana .
In the last year, the judicial District Court recording the largest drop in the rate of weapons convictions — 11.5 percent — was Wyoming . But over the past five years, Western District of Tennessee (Memphis) showed the largest drop — 1.2 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 weapons crime cases resulting in convictions of this type during November 2017 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago Junell, Robert A. Texas, W 25 1 6 54 More Eagles, Catherine Caldwell N Car, M 10 2 17 12 More Autrey, Henry Edward Mo, E 7 3 21 43 More Cummings, Samuel Ray Texas, N 7 3 230 76 More Pitman, Robert Texas, W 7 3 512 - More Osteen, William Lindsay, Jr. N Car, M 6 6 17 7 More Hendricks, Bruce Howe S Car 6 6 21 - More DeGuilio, Jon Ernest Ind, N 5 8 3 214 More Fleissig, Audrey Goldstein Mo, E 5 8 61 164 More Watters, Susan Pamela Montana 5 8 2 - More Schroeder, Thomas D. N Car, M 5 8 230 269 More Kaplan, Lewis A. N. Y., S 5 8 393 - More Table 4. Top Ten Judges
A total of 8 out of the "top ten" judges were in districts which were in the top ten with the largest number of weapons convictions per capita, while the remaining 4 judges were from other districts. (Because of ties, there were a total of 12 judges in the "top ten" rankings.)
Judge Robert A. Junell in the Western District of Texas (San Antonio) ranked 1st with 25 convicted in weapons convictions. Judge Junell also appeared in the top ten rankings one year ago (ranked 6).
Judge Catherine Caldwell Eagles in the Middle District of North Carolina (Greensboro) ranked 2nd with 10 convicted in weapons convictions.
Judges Henry Edward Autrey in the Eastern District of Missouri (St. Louis), Samuel Ray Cummings in the Northern District of Texas (Fort Worth) and Robert Pitman in the Western District of Texas (San Antonio) ranked 3rd with 7 convicted in weapons convictions.
Report Generated: January 8, 2018
