Prosecutions for November 2017
Referring Agency: Social Security Administration
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during November 2017 the government reported 41 new prosecutions for these matters. Those cases were referred by the Social Security Administration. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is up 86.4 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 up (5.3%). 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 22.5 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 November 2017 was for "Fraud-Federal Program", accounting for 51.2 percent of prosecutions. Prosecutions were also filed for "Theft-Government Property" (24.4%), "Withheld by Govt from TRAC (FOIA challen" (9.8%), "Fraud-Financial Institution" (4.9%), "Corruption(Govt Off)-Fed Program" (2.4%), "Fraud-Health Care" (2.4%), "Fraud-Identity Theft-Other" (2.4%), "Fraud-Tax" (2.4%). See Figure 2.
Prosecutions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In November 2017, 6 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 18 U.S.C Section 641 involving "Public money, property or records". This was the lead charge for 33.3 percent of all magistrate filings in November.
Prosecutions in U.S. District Courts
In November 2017, 35 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during November there were an additional 1 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 prosecutions of matters filed in U.S. District Court during November 2017 referred by the Social Security Administration.
Lead Charge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago 18 USC 641 - Public money, property or records 21 1 1 1 More 42 USC 408 - Fed Old Age, Survivors & Disab Insur -Penalties 10 2 2 2 More 18 USC 1028 - Fraud and related activity - id documents 2 3 10 6 More 18 USC 1001 - Fraud/false statements or entries generally 1 4 5 7 More 18 USC 1343 - Fraud by wire, radio, or television 1 4 3 9 More Table 2. Top Charges Filed
"Public money, property or records" (Title 18 U.S.C Section 641) was the most frequent recorded lead charge. "Public money, property or records" (Title 18 U.S.C Section 641) was ranked 1 a year ago, while it was ranked 1 five years ago.
Ranked 2nd in frequency was the lead charge "Fed Old Age, Survivors & Disab Insur -Penalties" under Title 42 U.S.C Section 408. "Fed Old Age, Survivors & Disab Insur -Penalties" under Title 42 U.S.C Section 408 was ranked 2 a year ago, while it was ranked 2 five years ago.
Ranked 3rd was "Fraud and related activity - id documents" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 1028. "Fraud and related activity - id documents" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 1028 was ranked 10 a year ago, while it was ranked 6 five years ago.
Among these top ten lead charges, the one showing the greatest increase in prosecutions — up 22.7 percent — compared to one year ago was Title 42 U.S.C Section 408 that involves " Fed Old Age, Survivors & Disab Insur -Penalties ". Compared to five years ago, the largest increase — 150 percent — was registered for prosecutions 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 prosecutions compared to one year ago — down 33.3 percent — was " Fraud and related activity - id documents " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 1028 ). This was the same statute that had the largest decrease — 60 % — when compared with five years ago.
Top Ranked Judicial Districts
In November 2017 the Justice Department said the government brought 13.4 prosecutions for every ten million people in the United States.
Understandably, there is great variation in the 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 of this type last month are shown in Table 3.
Judicial District Count Rank Fla, M 3 1 More Kansas 3 1 More Cal, N 2 3 More Cal, S 2 3 More Fla, N 2 3 More Idaho 2 3 More N. Y., N 2 3 More Okla, W 2 3 More Virg, W 2 3 More Fla, S 1 10 More Iowa, S 1 10 More La, W 1 10 More Mass 1 10 More Mich, E 1 10 More Miss, N 1 10 More Nebraska 1 10 More Ohio, S 1 10 More Okla, E 1 10 More Penn, E 1 10 More Penn, W 1 10 More Texas, S 1 10 More Virg, E 1 10 More Wash, E 1 10 More Wisc, E 1 10 More Wyoming 1 10 More Table 3. Top 10 Districts
The Middle District of Florida (Tampa) and District of Kansas — with 3 prosecutions — were the most active during November 2017.
Northern District of California (San Francisco), Southern District of California (San Diego), Northern District of Florida (Pensacola), District of Idaho, Northern District of New York (Syracuse), Western District of Oklahoma (Oklahoma City) and Western District of Virginia (Roanoke) are now ranking 3rd.
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 November 2017 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank Marten, John Thomas Kansas 3 1 More Chen, Edward Milton Cal, N 1 2 More Freeman, Beth Labson Cal, N 1 2 More Moskowitz, Barry Ted Cal, S 1 2 More Curiel, Gonzalo Paul Cal, S 1 2 More Kovachevich, Elizabeth Anne Fla, M 1 2 More Covington, Virginia Maria Hernandez Fla, M 1 2 More Dalton, Roy Bale, Jr. Fla, M 1 2 More Vinson, Clyde Roger Fla, N 1 2 More Walker, Mark Eaton Fla, N 1 2 More Bloom, Beth Francine Fla, S 1 2 More Lodge, Edward J. Idaho 1 2 More Hanna, Patrick J. La, W 1 2 More Battani, Marianne O. Mich, E 1 2 More Brown, Debra Marie Miss, N 1 2 More McAvoy, Thomas James N. Y., N 1 2 More Sharpe, Gary L. N. Y., N 1 2 More Rossiter, Robert F., Jr. Nebraska 1 2 More Watson, Michael H. Ohio, S 1 2 More White, Ronald A. Okla, E 1 2 More Russell, David Lynn Okla, W 1 2 More DeGiusti, Timothy D. Okla, W 1 2 More Smith, Edward George Penn, E 1 2 More Cercone, David S. Penn, W 1 2 More Ellison, Keith P. Texas, S 1 2 More Kiser, Jackson L. Virg, W 1 2 More Dillon, Elizabeth Kay Virg, W 1 2 More Rice, Thomas Owen Wash, E 1 2 More Griesbach, William C. Wisc, E 1 2 More Freudenthal, Nancy Dell Wyoming 1 2 More Table 4. Top Ten Judges
All 30 of the "top ten" judges were in districts which were in the top ten with the largest number of filings. (Because of ties, there were a total of 30 judges in the "top ten" rankings.)
Judge John Thomas Marten in the District of Kansas ranked 1st with 3 defendants in cases.
Judges Edward Milton Chen in the Northern District of California (San Francisco), Beth Labson Freeman in the Northern District of California (San Francisco), Barry Ted Moskowitz in the Southern District of California (San Diego), Gonzalo Paul Curiel in the Southern District of California (San Diego), Elizabeth Anne Kovachevich in the Middle District of Florida (Tampa), Virginia Maria Hernandez Covington in the Middle District of Florida (Tampa), Roy Bale Dalton, Jr. in the Middle District of Florida (T ranked 2nd with 1 defendants in cases.
Report Generated: January 8, 2018
