Narcotics/Drugs Prosecutions for January 2013
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during January 2013 the government reported 1853 new narcotics/drugs prosecutions. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is up 6.1% over the previous month.
The comparisons of the number of defendants charged with narcotics/drugs-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 2013 prosecutions of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, the number of filings was down (-10.6 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 6 percent from levels reported in 2008.
The leveling out from the levels five years ago in narcotics/drugs prosecutions for these matters is shown more clearly in Figure 1. The vertical bars in Figure 1 represent the number of narcotics/drugs 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 narcotics/drugs, cases were classified by prosecutors into more specific types.
Case types within narcotics/drugs are
Drug Trafficking
Simple Drug Possession
Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF)
Major Project Triggerlock Prosecutions (OCDETF)
Other Triggerlock Prosecutions (OCDETF)
The largest number of prosecutions of these matters in January 2013 was for "Drugs-Drug Trafficking", accounting for 79 percent of prosecutions. Prosecutions were also filed for "Drugs-Organized Crime Task Force" (17.8%), " Drugs-Simple Drug Possession" (3.2%). See Figure 2.
The lead investigative agency for narcotics/drugs prosecutions in January 2013 was DEA accounting for 36 percent of prosecutions referred. Other agencies with substantial numbers of narcotics/drugs referrals were: DHS (34% ), FBI (12%), Local (6%), ATF (3%). See Figure 3.
Narcotics/Drugs Prosecutions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In January 2013, 789 defendants in narcotics/drugs 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 January the most frequently cited lead charge was Title 21 U.S.C Section 846 involving the "Attempt and conspiracy". This was the lead charge for 39.2 percent of all magistrate filings in January.
Other frequently prosecuted lead charges include: "21 USC 841 - Drug Abuse Prevention & Control-Prohibited acts A" (38.7%), "21 USC 952 - Importation of controlled substances" (13.9%), "21 USC 844 - Penalty for simple possession" (5.2 %).
Narcotics/Drugs Prosecutions in U.S. District Courts
In January 2013, 1064 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during January there were an additional 544 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 January.
Top Ranked Lead Charges
Table 2 shows the top lead charges recorded in the prosecutions of narcotics/drugs matters filed in U.S. District Court during January 2013.
Lead Charge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago 21 USC 841 - Drug Abuse Prevention & Control-Prohibited acts A 743 1 1 1 More 21 USC 846 - Attempt and conspiracy 604 2 2 2 More 21 USC 952 - Importation of controlled substances 164 3 3 3 More 21 USC 963 - Attempt and conspiracy 19 4 5 4 More 18 USC 924 - Firearms; Penalties 17 5 13 12 More 46 USC 70503 - Possession control substance on vessel subject to jurisdiction of US 12 6 6 9 More 18 USC 922 - Firearms; Unlawful acts 10 7 4 8 More 21 USC 843 - Drug Abuse Prevention & Control-Prohibited acts C 9 8 10 5 More 18 USC 1956 - Laundering of monetary instruments 8 9 9 7 More 21 USC 844 - Penalty for simple possession 6 10 8 6 More Table 2: Top charges filed
"Drug Abuse Prevention & Control-Prohibited acts A" (Title 21 U.S.C Section 841) was the most frequent recorded lead charge. "Drug Abuse Prevention & Control-Prohibited acts A" (Title 21 U.S.C Section 841) was ranked 1 a year ago, while it was ranked 1 five years ago.
Ranked 2nd in frequency was the lead charge "Attempt and conspiracy" under Title 21 U.S.C Section 846. "Attempt and conspiracy" under Title 21 U.S.C Section 846 was ranked 2 a year ago, while it was ranked 2 five years ago.
Ranked 3rd was "Importation of controlled substances" under Title 21 U.S.C Section 952. "Importation of controlled substances" under Title 21 U.S.C Section 952 was ranked 3 a year ago, while it was ranked 3 five years ago.
Among these top ten lead charges, the one showing the greatest increase in prosecutions—up 79.2 percent—compared to one year ago was Title 18 U.S.C Section 924 that involves " Firearms; Penalties ". This was the same statute that had the largest increase—95.5 %—when compared with five years ago.
Again among the top ten lead charges, the one showing the sharpest decline in prosecutions compared to one year ago—down 51.9 percent—was Possession control substance on vessel subject to jurisdiction of US (Title 46 U.S.C Section 70503 ). Compared to five years ago, the most significant decline in prosecutions— 60.7 percent—was for filings where the lead charge was " Drug Abuse Prevention & Control-Prohibited acts C " (Title 21 U.S.C Section 843 ).
Top Ranked Judicial Districts
In January 2013 the Justice Department said the government brought 628.5 narcotics/drugs prosecutions for every ten million people in the United States.
Understandably, there is great variation in the per capita number of narcotics/drugs prosecutions that are filed in each of the nation's ninety-four federal judicial districts.
The districts registering the largest number of prosecutions per capita for these matters last month are shown in Table 3. Districts must have at least 5 narcotics/drugs prosecutions to receive a ranking.
Judicial District Percapita Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago Cal, S 5,365 144 1 1 3 More N. Y., S 3,108 133 2 8 12 More Wyoming 2,425 11 3 84 32 More Miss, N 2,381 22 4 85 85 More W Virg, S 2,338 18 5 53 40 More N Mexico 2,329 39 6 7 7 More Ga, S 2,134 26 7 78 61 More Arizona 2,110 116 8 2 5 More Texas, W 1,977 101 9 3 1 More Ala, S 1,745 12 10 41 33 More Table 3: Top 10 districts (per ten million people)
The Southern District of California (San Diego)—with 5365 prosecutions as compared with 628.5 prosecutions per ten million population in the United States—was the most active during January 2013. The Southern District of California (San Diego) was ranked 1 a year ago, while it was ranked 3 for most frequent use five years ago.
The Southern District of New York (Manhattan) ranked 2nd. The Southern District of New York (Manhattan) was ranked 8 a year ago.
District of Wyoming is now ranking 3rd.
Recent entrants to the top 10 list were Southern District of Alabama (Mobile), now ranked 10th , and Southern District of West Virginia (Charleston) at 5th In the same order, these districts ranked 41st and 53rd one year ago and 33rd and 40th five years ago.
The federal judicial district which showed the greatest growth in the rate of narcotics/drugs prosecutions compared to one year ago— 328 percent—was Southern District of Georgia (Savannah). Compared to five years ago, the district with the largest growth— 104.5 percent—was Northern District of Mississippi (Oxford).
In the last year, the judicial District Court recording the largest drop in the rate of narcotics/drugs prosecutions— 50.1 percent—was Arizona . But over the past five years, Wyoming showed the largest drop— 80.5 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 narcotics/drugs crime cases of this type during January 2013 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago Tauro, Joseph Louis Mass 30 1 722 481 More Engelmayer, Paul Adam N. Y., S 26 2 328 - More Keenan, John Fontaine N. Y., S 25 3 365 653 More Smith, G. R. Ga, S 24 4 575 43 More Zagel, James Block Ill, N 23 5 328 579 More Randa, Rudolph Thomas Wisc, E 23 5 144 481 More Velasco, Bernardo P. Arizona 21 7 82 439 More Rodriguez, Xavier Texas, W 20 8 34 49 More Houston, John A. Cal, S 18 9 14 23 More Sands, W[illie] Louis Ga, M 18 9 95 122 More Table 4: Top 10 judges
A total of 6 out of the "top ten" judges were in districts which were in the top ten with the largest number of narcotics/drugs filings per capita, while the remaining 4 judges were from other districts.
Judge Joseph Louis Tauro in the District of Massachusetts ranked 1st with 30 defendants in narcotics/drugs cases.
Judge Paul Adam Engelmayer in the Southern District of New York (Manhattan) ranked 2nd with 26 defendants in narcotics/drugs cases.
Judge John Fontaine Keenan in the Southern District of New York (Manhattan) ranked 3rd with 25 defendants in narcotics/drugs cases.
Report Generated: March 5, 2013
