Narcotics/Drugs Prosecutions for July 2012
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during July 2012 the government reported 2032 new narcotics/drugs prosecutions. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is down 6.4% 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 2012 prosecutions of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, the number of filings was down (-9.9 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 4.2 percent from levels reported in 2007.
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 July 2012 was for "Drugs-Drug Trafficking", accounting for 72.4 percent of prosecutions. Prosecutions were also filed for "Drugs-Organized Crime Task Force" (23.4%), " Drugs-Simple Drug Possession" (4.1%). See Figure 2.
The lead investigative agency for narcotics/drugs prosecutions in July 2012 was DEA accounting for 37 percent of prosecutions referred. Other agencies with substantial numbers of narcotics/drugs referrals were: DHS (29% ), FBI (13%), ATF (7%), Local (5%). See Figure 3.
Narcotics/Drugs Prosecutions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In July 2012, 766 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 July the most frequently cited lead charge was Title 21 U.S.C Section 841 involving the "Drug Abuse Prevention & Control-Prohibited acts A". This was the lead charge for 39.9 percent of all magistrate filings in July.
Other frequently prosecuted lead charges include: "21 USC 846 - Attempt and conspiracy" (31.7%), "21 USC 952 - Importation of controlled substances" (15.8%), "21 USC 844 - Penalty for simple possession" (8.1%).
Narcotics/Drugs Prosecutions in U.S. District Courts
In July 2012, 1266 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during July there were an additional 481 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 narcotics/drugs matters filed in U.S. District Court during July 2012.
Lead Charge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago 21 USC 841 - Drug Abuse Prevention & Control-Prohibited acts A 774 1 1 1 More 21 USC 846 - Attempt and conspiracy 666 2 2 2 More 21 USC 952 - Importation of controlled substances 192 3 3 3 More 21 USC 963 - Attempt and conspiracy 28 4 4 4 More 46 USC 70503 - Possession control substance on vessel subject to jurisdiction of US 18 5 11 7 More 18 USC 922 - Firearms; Unlawful acts 9 6 6 6 More 18 USC 1791 - Providing or possessing contraband in prison 8 7 15 18 More 46 USC 70506 - Penalties 6 8 24 24 More 18 USC 751 - Escape - Prisoners in custody 5 9 - - More 18 USC 924 - Firearms; Penalties 5 9 10 11 More 21 USC 863 - Drug paraphernalia 5 9 - 29 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 400 percent—compared to one year ago was Title 46 U.S.C Section 70506 that involves " Penalties ". This was the same statute that had the largest increase—400 %—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 36.5 percent—was Attempt and conspiracy (Title 21 U.S.C Section 963 ). This was the same statute that had the largest decrease— 48.8 %—when compared with five years ago.
Top Ranked Judicial Districts
In July 2012 the Justice Department said the government brought 682.9 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 7,005 188 1 3 2 More Kansas 4,598 108 2 21 22 More S Dakota 3,545 24 3 85 72 More Texas, W 2,173 111 4 2 1 More W Virg, N 2,143 16 5 20 19 More Arizona 1,965 108 6 1 5 More Ga, S 1,888 23 7 63 62 More Texas, E 1,800 53 8 11 11 More Ark, E 1,654 22 9 49 58 More N Mexico 1,612 27 10 7 7 More Table 3: Top 10 districts (per ten million people)
The Southern District of California (San Diego)—with 7005 prosecutions as compared with 682.9 prosecutions per ten million population in the United States—was the most active during July 2012. The Southern District of California (San Diego) was ranked 3 a year ago, while it was ranked 2 for most frequent use five years ago.
The District of Kansas ranked 2nd.
District of South Dakota is now ranking 3rd.
Recent entrants to the top 10 list were Eastern District of Texas (Tyler), now ranked 8th , and Northern District of West Virginia (Wheeling) at 5th In the same order, these districts ranked 11th and 20th one year ago and 11th and 19th five years ago.
The federal judicial district which showed the greatest growth in the rate of narcotics/drugs prosecutions compared to one year ago— 250 percent—was South Dakota . Compared to five years ago, the district with the largest growth— 123.9 percent—was Kansas .
In the last year, the judicial District Court recording the largest drop in the rate of narcotics/drugs prosecutions— 26.8 percent—was Arizona . But over the past five years, Western District of Texas (San Antonio) showed the largest drop— 32.4 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 July 2012 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago Murguia, Carlos Kansas 65 1 189 295 More Besosa, Francisco Augusto Puer Rico 41 2 137 249 More Vratil, Kathryn Hoefer Kansas 36 3 274 427 More Junell, Robert A. Texas, W 30 4 1 7 More Marrero, Victor N. Y., S 25 5 659 427 More Kovachevich, Elizabeth Anne Fla, M 23 6 219 174 More Smith, G. R. Ga, S 23 6 80 56 More Moses, Alia Texas, W 21 8 5 - More Fuste, Jose Antonio Puer Rico 20 9 274 189 More Lorenz, M. James Cal, S 18 10 41 15 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 Carlos Murguia in the District of Kansas ranked 1st with 65 defendants in narcotics/drugs cases.
Judge Francisco Augusto Besosa in the District of Puerto Rico ranked 2nd with 41 defendants in narcotics/drugs cases.
Judge Kathryn Hoefer Vratil in the District of Kansas ranked 3rd with 36 defendants in narcotics/drugs cases.
Report Generated: October 1, 2012
