Narcotics/Drugs Prosecutions for June 2016
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during June 2016 the government reported 1676 new narcotics/drugs prosecutions. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is down 12.1 percent 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 2016 prosecutions of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, the number of filings was up (2.3%). 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 23.9 percent from levels reported in 2011.
The decrease 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 June 2016 was for "Drugs-Drug Trafficking", accounting for 75.5 percent of prosecutions. Prosecutions were also filed for "Drugs-Organized Crime Task Force" (23%). See Figure 2.
The lead investigative agency for narcotics/drugs prosecutions in June 2016 was DEA accounting for 38 percent of prosecutions referred. Other agencies with substantial numbers of narcotics/drugs referrals were: DHS (30% ), FBI (12%), Local (5%), ATF (4%). See Figure 3.
Narcotics/Drugs Prosecutions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In June 2016, 569 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 June the most frequently cited lead charge was Title 21 U.S.C Section 841 involving "Drug Abuse Prevention & Control-Prohibited acts A". This was the lead charge for 45 percent of all magistrate filings in June.
Other frequently prosecuted lead charges include: "21 USC 846 - Attempt and conspiracy" (33.2%), "21 USC 952 - Importation of controlled substances" (13.7%).
Narcotics/Drugs Prosecutions in U.S. District Courts
In June 2016, 1107 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during June there were an additional 566 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 June.
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 June 2016.
Lead Charge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago 21 USC 841 - Drug Abuse Prevention & Control-Prohibited acts A 893 1 1 1 More 21 USC 846 - Attempt and conspiracy 499 2 2 2 More 21 USC 952 - Importation of controlled substances 133 3 3 3 More 46 USC 70506 - Penalties 35 4 8 34 More 46 USC 70503 - Possession control substance on vessel subject to jurisdiction of US 27 5 5 11 More 18 USC 922 - Firearms; Unlawful acts 22 6 4 6 More 21 USC 963 - Attempt and conspiracy 22 6 6 5 More 18 USC 924 - Firearms; Penalties 7 8 16 10 More 21 USC 843 - Drug Abuse Prevention & Control-Prohibited acts C 4 9 11 7 More 21 USC 856 - Establishment for manufacturing operations 4 9 20 21 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 88.9 percent — compared to one year ago was Title 18 U.S.C Section 924 that involves " Firearms; Penalties ". Compared to five years ago, the largest increase — 1600 percent — was registered for prosecutions under " Penalties " (Title 46 U.S.C Section 70506 ).
Again among the top ten lead charges, the one showing the sharpest decline in prosecutions compared to one year ago — down 17.1 percent — was " Firearms; Unlawful acts " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 922 ). Compared to five years ago, the most significant decline in prosecutions — 53.6 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 June 2016 the Justice Department said the government brought 624.6 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 4,414 128 1 3 4 More N Dakota 3,646 23 2 42 69 More Vermont 3,450 18 3 29 80 More N Mexico 3,280 57 4 5 5 More Arizona 2,548 145 5 2 1 More Texas, W 2,012 117 6 1 2 More W Virg, S 1,972 15 7 33 36 More Alaska 1,843 11 8 72 66 More Texas, N 1,744 104 9 8 53 More La, W 1,550 28 10 77 70 More Table 3. Top 10 Districts (per ten million people)
The Southern District of California (San Diego) — with 4414 prosecutions as compared with 624.6 prosecutions per ten million population in the United States — was the most active during June 2016. The Southern District of California (San Diego) was ranked 3 a year ago, while it was ranked 4 for most frequent use five years ago.
The District of North Dakota ranked 2nd.
District of Vermont is now ranking 3rd.
Recent entrants to the top 10 list were Vermont , now ranked 3rd , and Southern District of West Virginia (Charleston) at 7th In the same order, these districts ranked 29th and 33rd one year ago and 80th and 36th five years ago.
The federal judicial district which showed the greatest growth in the rate of narcotics/drugs prosecutions compared to one year ago — 118.5 percent — was Western District of Louisiana (Shreveport). Compared to five years ago, the district with the largest growth — 402.9 percent — was Northern District of Texas (Fort Worth).
In the last year, the judicial District Court recording the largest drop in the rate of narcotics/drugs prosecutions — 9.8 percent — was Vermont . But over the past five years, Arizona showed the largest drop — 45.1 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 June 2016 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago Junell, Robert A. Texas, W 29 1 1 1 More O'Connor, Reed Charles Texas, N 25 2 110 650 More Delgado Hernandez, Pedro Alberto Puer Rico 23 3 206 - More Woods, Gregory Howard, III N. Y., S 22 4 164 - More Crane, Randy Texas, S 21 5 87 7 More Anello, Michael M. Cal, S 20 6 28 14 More Lynn, Barbara M. Texas, N 19 7 148 - More McBryde, John H. Texas, N 19 7 106 272 More Jones, Robert Edward Oregon 18 9 81 727 More Reidinger, Martin Karl N Car, W 17 10 148 447 More Table 4. Top Ten Judges
A total of 5 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 5 judges were from other districts.
Judge Robert A. Junell in the Western District of Texas (San Antonio) ranked 1st with 29 defendants in narcotics/drugs cases. Judge Junell appeared in the top ten rankings one year (ranked 1) and five years ago (rank 1).
Judge Reed Charles O'Connor in the Northern District of Texas (Fort Worth) ranked 2nd with 25 defendants in narcotics/drugs cases.
Judge Pedro Alberto Delgado Hernandez in the District of Puerto Rico ranked 3rd with 23 defendants in narcotics/drugs cases.
Report Generated: August 5, 2016
