Official Corruption Prosecutions for December 2007
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during December 2007 the government reported 50 new official corruption prosecutions. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is up 22% 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 2007 prosecutions of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, the number of filings was down (-8 percent). 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 14.8 percent from levels reported in 2002.
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. 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 December 2007 was for "Corruption(Govt Off)-Local", accounting for 28 percent of prosecutions. Prosecutions were also filed for "Corruption(Govt Off)-Fed Procurement" (22%), " Corruption(Govt Off)-Fed Program" (22%), "Corruption(Govt Off)-Fed Law Enforcmnt." (12%), "Corruption(Govt Off)-Fed Other" (10%), "Corruption(Govt Off)-State" (4%), "Corruption(Govt Off)-Other" (2%). See Figure 2.
The lead investigative agency for official corruption prosecutions in December 2007 was FBI accounting for 60 percent of prosecutions referred. Other agencies with substantial numbers of official corruption referrals were: HUD (12% ), Postal (6%), Agri (4%), Defense (4%). See Figure 3.
Official Corruption Prosecutions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In December 2007, 16 percent of official corruption cases for these matters took place in U.S. Magistrate Courts which handle less serious misdemeanor cases, including what are called "petty offenses." In the magistrate courts in December the most frequently cited lead charge was Title 18 U.S.C Section 201 involving the "Bribery of public officials and witnesses". This was the lead charge for 25 percent of all magistrate filings in December.
Official Corruption Prosecutions in U.S. District Courts
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 December 2007.
Lead Charge Count Rank 18 USC 666 - Theft or bribery in programs receiving Fed funds 10 1 More 18 USC 1951 - Hobbs Act 6 2 More 18 USC 201 - Bribery of public officials and witnesses 5 3 More 21 USC 841 - Drug Abuse Prevention + Control-Prohibited acts A 5 3 More 18 USC 1341 - Mail Fraud - Frauds and swindles 4 5 More 18 USC 641 - Public money, property or records 3 6 More 18 USC 287 - False, fictitious or fraudulent claims 2 7 More 18 USC 510 - Forging endorsements on Treasury checks, bonds se 1 8 More 18 USC 922 - Firearms; Unlawful acts 1 8 More 18 USC 1028 - Fraud and related activity - id documents 1 8 More 18 USC 1030 - Fraud and related activity - computers 1 8 More 18 USC 1621 - Perjury generally 1 8 More 18 USC 1703 - Delay or destruction of mail or newspapers 1 8 More 18 USC 1791 - Providing or possessing contraband in prison 1 8 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 "Hobbs Act" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 1951.
Ranked 3rd were "Bribery of public officials and witnesses" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 201 and "Drug Abuse Prevention + Control-Prohibited acts A" under Title 21 U.S.C Section 841.
Top Ranked Judicial Districts
In December 2007 the Justice Department said the government brought 16.8 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.
Judicial District Count Rank Fla, M 7 1 More N. J. 5 2 More Ohio, S 5 2 More Mo, E 4 4 More N. Y., S 3 5 More Ark, E 2 6 More Penn, W 2 6 More Puer Rico 2 6 More Wash, W 2 6 More Ga, M 1 10 More Guam 1 10 More Ken, E 1 10 More La, W 1 10 More N. Y., E 1 10 More Penn, E 1 10 More Tenn, W 1 10 More Texas, N 1 10 More Wisc, E 1 10 More Wyoming 1 10 More
Table 3: Top 10 districts
The Middle District of Florida (Tampa)—with 7 prosecutions—was the most active during December 2007.
The District of New Jersey and Southern District of Ohio (Cincinnati) ranked 2nd.
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 December 2007 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank Bucklew, Susan C. Fla, M 5 1 More Marbley, Algenon L. Ohio, S 5 1 More Simandle, Jerome B. N. J. 3 3 More Moody, James M. Ark, E 2 4 More Hodges, William Terrell Fla, M 2 4 More Limbaugh, Stephen Nathaniel Mo, E 2 4 More Fuste, Jose Antonio Puer Rico 2 4 More Lawson, Hugh Ga, M 1 8 More Bunning, David L. Ken, E 1 8 More Shaw, Charles Alexander Mo, E 1 8 More Sippel, Rodney W. Mo, E 1 8 More Thompson, Anne Elise N. J. 1 8 More Walls, William H. N. J. 1 8 More Keenan, John Fontaine N. Y., S 1 8 More Robreno, Eduardo C. Penn, E 1 8 More Cohill, Maurice Blanchard Jr. Penn, W 1 8 More Conti, Joy Flowers Penn, W 1 8 More McCalla, Jon Phipps Tenn, W 1 8 More Fitzwater, Sidney Allen Texas, N 1 8 More Burgess, Franklin D. Wash, W 1 8 More Stadtmueller, Joseph Peter Wisc, E 1 8 More
Table 4: Top 10 judges
All 21 of the "top ten" judges were in districts which were in the top ten with the largest number of official corruption filings . (Because of ties, there were a total of 21 judges in the "top ten" rankings.)
Judges Susan C. Bucklew in the Middle District of Florida (Tampa) and Algenon L. Marbley in the Southern District of Ohio (Cincinnati) ranked 1st with 5 defendants in official corruption cases.
Judge Jerome B. Simandle in the District of New Jersey ranked 3rd with 3 defendants in official corruption cases.
