Official Corruption Prosecutions for August 2017
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during August 2017 the government reported 51 new official corruption prosecutions. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is up 59.4 percent over the previous month.
The comparisons of the number of defendants charged with official corruption-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 prosecutions of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, the number of filings was up (6.4%). 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 23.6 percent from levels reported in 2012.
The decrease from the levels five years ago in official corruption prosecutions for these matters is shown more clearly in Figure 1. The vertical bars in Figure 1 represent the number of official corruption 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.
Within the broad category of official corruption, cases were classified by prosecutors into more specific types.
Case types within official corruption are
Federal Corruption - Procurement
Federal Corruption - Program
Federal Corruption - Law Enforcement
Federal Corruption - Other
State Corruption
Local Corruption
Other Public Corruption
The largest number of prosecutions of these matters in August 2017 was for "Corruption(Govt Off)-Fed Procurement", accounting for 21.6 percent of prosecutions. Prosecutions were also filed for "Corruption(Govt Off)-Local" (21.6%), "Corruption(Govt Off)-Fed Law Enforcement" (17.6%), "Corruption(Govt Off)-State" (17.6%), "Corruption(Govt Off)-Other" (11.8%), "Corruption(Govt Off)-Fed Program" (5.9%), "Corruption(Govt Off)-Fed Other" (3.9%). See Figure 2.
The lead investigative agency for official corruption prosecutions in August 2017 was FBI accounting for 45 percent of prosecutions referred. Other agencies with substantial numbers of official corruption referrals were: DHS (14% ), Education (14%), HHS (6%). See Figure 3.
Official Corruption Prosecutions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In August 2017, 12 defendants in official corruption 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 August the most frequently cited lead charge was Title 18 U.S.C Section 1028 involving "Aggravated Identity Theft". This was the lead charge for 50 percent of all magistrate filings in August.
Official Corruption Prosecutions in U.S. District Courts
In August 2017, 39 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during August there were an additional 4 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 August.
Top Ranked Lead Charges
Table 2 shows the top lead charges recorded in the prosecutions of official corruption matters filed in U.S. District Court during August 2017.
Lead Charge Count Rank 18 USC 666 - Theft or bribery in programs receiving Fed funds 19 1 More 18 USC 371 - Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US 8 2 More 18 USC 201 - Bribery of public officials and witnesses 3 3 More 18 USC 1341 - Mail Fraud - Frauds and swindles 2 4 More 18 USC 641 - Public money, property or records 1 5 More 18 USC 644 - Banker receiving unauthorized deposit of public mo 1 5 More 18 USC 751 - Escape - Prisoners in custody 1 5 More 18 USC 922 - Firearms; Unlawful acts 1 5 More 18 USC 1001 - Fraud/false statements or entries generally 1 5 More 18 USC 1030 - Fraud and related activity - computers 1 5 More 18 USC 1343 - Fraud by wire, radio, or television 1 5 More 18 USC 1512 - Tampering with a witness, victim, or an informant 1 5 More 18 USC 1709 - Theft of mail matter by officer or employee 1 5 More 18 USC 1956 - Laundering of monetary instruments 1 5 More 18 USC 1957 - Monetary transactions w/property from unlawful act 1 5 More Table 2. Top Charges Filed
"Theft or bribery in programs receiving Fed funds" (Title 18 U.S.C Section 666) was the most frequent recorded lead charge.
Ranked 2nd in frequency was the lead charge "Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 371.
Ranked 3rd was "Bribery of public officials and witnesses" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 201.
Top Ranked Judicial Districts
In August 2017 the Justice Department said the government brought 16.1 official corruption prosecutions for every ten million people in the United States.
Understandably, there is great variation in the number of official corruption 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.
The District of Puerto Rico — with 8 prosecutions — was the most active during August 2017.
The Eastern District of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia) ranked 2nd.
Northern District of Georgia (Atlanta), Eastern District of Michigan (Detroit), District of New Jersey and Western District of Oklahoma (Oklahoma City) 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 official corruption crime cases of this type during August 2017 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank Delgado Hernandez, Pedro Alberto Puer Rico 7 1 More Vazquez, John Michael N. J. 3 2 More Russell, David Lynn Okla, W 3 2 More Mendez, John A. Cal, E 2 4 More Drell, Dee D. La, W 2 4 More Cleland, Robert Hardy Mich, E 2 4 More Bartle, Harvey, III Penn, E 2 4 More Junell, Robert A. Texas, W 2 4 More Madonald, Bruce Gordon Arizona 1 9 More Illston, Susan Yvonne Cal, N 1 9 More Sammartino, Janis Lynn Cal, S 1 9 More Jones, Steve CarMichael Ga, N 1 9 More Walker, Linda T. Ga, N 1 9 More Xinis, Paula Maryland 1 9 More Goldsmith, Mark Allan Mich, E 1 9 More Wingate, Henry Travillion Miss, S 1 9 More Phillips, Mary Elizabeth Mo, W 1 9 More Wimes, Brian Curtis Mo, W 1 9 More Locke, Steven I. N. Y., E 1 9 More Pratter, Gene E.K. Penn, E 1 9 More Pappert, Gerald John Penn, E 1 9 More Cerezo, Carmen Consuelo Puer Rico 1 9 More Hughes, Lynn Nettleton Texas, S 1 9 More Table 4. Top Ten Judges
A total of 16 out of the "top ten" judges were in districts which were in the top ten with the largest number of official corruption filings , while the remaining 7 judges were from other districts. (Because of ties, there were a total of 23 judges in the "top ten" rankings.)
Judge Pedro Alberto Delgado Hernandez in the District of Puerto Rico ranked 1st with 7 defendants in official corruption cases.
Judges John Michael Vazquez in the District of New Jersey and David Lynn Russell in the Western District of Oklahoma (Oklahoma City) ranked 2nd with 3 defendants in official corruption cases.
Report Generated: September 19, 2017
