Official Corruption Prosecutions for July 2012
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during July 2012 the government reported 52 new official corruption prosecutions. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is up 33.3% 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 2012 prosecutions of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, the number of filings was down (-4.7 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 2.9 percent from levels reported in 2007.
The leveling out 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 July 2012 was for "Corruption(Govt Off)-Local", accounting for 30.8 percent of prosecutions. Prosecutions were also filed for "Corruption(Govt Off)-State" (21.2%), " Corruption(Govt Off)-Fed Other" (17.3%), "Corruption(Govt Off)-Fed Procurement" (15.4%), "Corruption(Govt Off)-Fed Program" (7.7%), "Corruption(Govt Off)-Fed Law Enforcement" (3.8%), "Corruption(Govt Off)-Other" (3.8%). See Figure 2.
The lead investigative agency for official corruption prosecutions in July 2012 was FBI accounting for 62 percent of prosecutions referred. Other agencies with substantial numbers of official corruption referrals were: Defense (15% ), Postal (12%), DHS (4%), Columbia (2%). See Figure 3.
Official Corruption Prosecutions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In July 2012, 7 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 July the most frequently cited lead charge was Title 18 U.S.C Section 666 involving the "Theft or bribery in programs receiving Fed funds". This was the lead charge for 57.1 percent of all magistrate filings in July.
Official Corruption Prosecutions in U.S. District Courts
In July 2012, 45 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during July 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 July.
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 July 2012.
Lead Charge Count Rank 18 USC 201 - Bribery of public officials and witnesses 9 1 More 02 USC 441 - Federal Election Campaigns 7 2 More 18 USC 666 - Theft or bribery in programs receiving Fed funds 6 3 More 18 USC 1709 - Theft of mail matter by officer or employee 4 4 More 18 USC 1001 - Fraud/false statements or entries generally 3 5 More 18 USC 1341 - Mail Fraud - Frauds and swindles 3 5 More 18 USC 1343 - Fraud by wire, radio, or television 3 5 More 18 USC 1951 - Hobbs Act 3 5 More 18 USC 241 - Conspiracy against rights 1 9 More 18 USC 242 - Deprivation of rights under color of law 1 9 More 18 USC 287 - False, fictitious or fraudulent claims 1 9 More 18 USC 371 - Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US 1 9 More 18 USC 1344 - Bank Fraud 1 9 More 18 USC 1512 - Tampering with a witness, victim, or an informant 1 9 More 18 USC 1791 - Providing or possessing contraband in prison 1 9 More 18 USC 1956 - Laundering of monetary instruments 1 9 More 18 USC 2243 - Sexual abuse of a minor or ward 1 9 More 18 USC 2252A - Activity relating material constituting/containing chil 1 9 More 21 USC 846 - Attempt and conspiracy 1 9 More Table 2: Top charges filed
"Bribery of public officials and witnesses" (Title 18 U.S.C Section 201) was the most frequent recorded lead charge.
Ranked 2nd in frequency was the lead charge "Federal Election Campaigns" under Title 2 U.S.C Section 441.
Ranked 3rd was "Theft or bribery in programs receiving Fed funds" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 666.
Top Ranked Judicial Districts
In July 2012 the Justice Department said the government brought 19.2 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 Connecticut—with 8 prosecutions—was the most active during July 2012.
The Northern District of Texas (Fort Worth) ranked 2nd.
District of Washington, D.C. (Washington) and District of New Jersey 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 July 2012 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank Arterton, Janet Bond Conn 7 1 More O'Connor, Reed Charles Texas, N 4 2 More Fuller, Mark E. Ala, M 2 3 More Fox, James Carroll N Car, E 2 3 More Rodriguez, Joseph H. N. J. 2 3 More Beistline, Ralph R. Alaska 1 6 More Karlton, Lawrence K. Cal, E 1 6 More Krieger, Marcia S. Colorado 1 6 More Jackson, Richard Brooke Colorado 1 6 More Underhill, Stefan R. Conn 1 6 More Kollar-Kotelly, Colleen D. C. 1 6 More Sullivan, Emmet G. D. C. 1 6 More Howell, Beryl Alaine D. C. 1 6 More Moreno, Federico A. Fla, S 1 6 More Altonaga, Cecilia M. Fla, S 1 6 More Carnes, Julie E. Ga, N 1 6 More Stiehl, William Donald Ill, S 1 6 More Rogers, Richard Dean Kansas 1 6 More Jackson, Brian Anthony La, M 1 6 More Haddon, Sam E. Montana 1 6 More Thompson, Anne Elise N. J. 1 6 More Daniels, George B. N. Y., S 1 6 More Skretny, William M. N. Y., W 1 6 More Payne, James H. Okla, N 1 6 More Cauthron, Robin J. Okla, W 1 6 More Russell, David Lynn Okla, W 1 6 More Aiken, Ann L. Oregon 1 6 More Dalzell, Stewart R. Penn, E 1 6 More Bissoon, Cathy Penn, W 1 6 More Guyton, H. Bruce Tenn, E 1 6 More Junell, Robert A. Texas, W 1 6 More Martinez, Ricardo S. Wash, W 1 6 More Table 4: Top 10 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 16 judges were from other districts. (Because of ties, there were a total of 32 judges in the "top ten" rankings.)
Judge Janet Bond Arterton in the District of Connecticut ranked 1st with 7 defendants in official corruption cases.
Judge Reed Charles O'Connor in the Northern District of Texas (Fort Worth) ranked 2nd with 4 defendants in official corruption cases.
Judges Mark E. Fuller in the Middle District of Alabama (Montgomery), James Carroll Fox in the Eastern District of North Carolina (Raleigh) and Joseph H. Rodriguez in the District of New Jersey ranked 3rd with 2 defendants in official corruption cases.
Report Generated: October 1, 2012
