Narcotics/Drugs Prosecutions for October 2012
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during October 2012 the government reported 2328 new narcotics/drugs prosecutions. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is up 16.5% 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 (-10.8 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 4.8 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 October 2012 was for "Drugs-Drug Trafficking", accounting for 69.5 percent of prosecutions. Prosecutions were also filed for "Drugs-Organized Crime Task Force" (27.8%), " Drugs-Simple Drug Possession" (2.7%). See Figure 2.
The lead investigative agency for narcotics/drugs prosecutions in October 2012 was DEA accounting for 36 percent of prosecutions referred. Other agencies with substantial numbers of narcotics/drugs referrals were: DHS (29% ), FBI (12%), ATF (10%), Local (4%). See Figure 3.
Narcotics/Drugs Prosecutions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In October 2012, 860 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 October 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 42.2 percent of all magistrate filings in October.
Other frequently prosecuted lead charges include: "21 USC 841 - Drug Abuse Prevention & Control-Prohibited acts A" (36.2%), "21 USC 952 - Importation of controlled substances" (14.9%), "21 USC 844 - Penalty for simple possession" (5.7 %).
Narcotics/Drugs Prosecutions in U.S. District Courts
In October 2012, 1468 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during October there were an additional 526 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 October.
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 October 2012.
Lead Charge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago 21 USC 841 - Drug Abuse Prevention & Control-Prohibited acts A 1,031 1 1 1 More 21 USC 846 - Attempt and conspiracy 664 2 2 2 More 21 USC 952 - Importation of controlled substances 143 3 3 3 More 18 USC 1956 - Laundering of monetary instruments 55 4 8 9 More 18 USC 922 - Firearms; Unlawful acts 17 5 5 7 More 21 USC 963 - Attempt and conspiracy 14 6 4 4 More 18 USC 1791 - Providing or possessing contraband in prison 7 7 14 15 More 18 USC 924 - Firearms; Penalties 6 8 12 11 More 21 USC 844 - Penalty for simple possession 5 9 7 5 More 46 USC 70506 - Penalties 5 9 12 14 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 160.5 percent—compared to one year ago was Title 18 U.S.C Section 1956 that involves " Laundering of monetary instruments ". Compared to five years ago, the largest increase—242.9 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 33.3 percent—was Penalty for simple possession (Title 21 U.S.C Section 844 ). This was the same statute that had the largest decrease— 56.8 %—when compared with five years ago.
Top Ranked Judicial Districts
In October 2012 the Justice Department said the government brought 779.4 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 4,993 134 1 2 3 More W Virg, N 3,750 28 2 32 18 More N Dakota 3,154 17 3 84 70 More Texas, W 2,877 147 4 3 1 More N Mexico 2,269 38 5 7 6 More Ala, S 2,181 15 6 42 26 More Mo, W 2,145 55 7 40 30 More Texas, S 2,097 147 8 4 2 More Arizona 1,874 103 9 1 5 More Montana 1,846 15 10 65 59 More Table 3: Top 10 districts (per ten million people)
The Southern District of California (San Diego)—with 4993 prosecutions as compared with 779.4 prosecutions per ten million population in the United States—was the most active during October 2012. The Southern District of California (San Diego) was ranked 2 a year ago, while it was ranked 3 for most frequent use five years ago.
The Northern District of West Virginia (Wheeling) ranked 2nd.
District of North Dakota is now ranking 3rd.
Recent entrants to the top 10 list were Northern District of West Virginia (Wheeling), now ranked 2nd , and Western District of Missouri (Kansas City) at 7th In the same order, these districts ranked 32nd and 40th one year ago and 18th and 30th five years ago.
The federal judicial district which showed the greatest growth in the rate of narcotics/drugs prosecutions compared to one year ago— 176 percent—was North Dakota . Compared to five years ago, the district with the largest growth— 49.8 percent—was Arizona .
In the last year, the judicial District Court recording the largest drop in the rate of narcotics/drugs prosecutions— 53.3 percent—was Arizona . But over the past five years, Southern District of Alabama (Mobile) showed the largest drop— 69.1 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 October 2012 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago Dominguez, Daniel R. Puer Rico 75 1 6 278 More Fuste, Jose Antonio Puer Rico 69 2 43 278 More Cerezo, Carmen Consuelo Puer Rico 55 3 433 518 More Lake, Simeon Timothy, III Texas, S 38 4 578 235 More Gee, Dolly Maizie Cal, C 34 5 - - More Junell, Robert A. Texas, W 34 5 1 6 More Alvarez, Micaela Texas, S 32 7 21 12 More Ishii, Anthony W. Cal, E 23 8 70 28 More Savage, Timothy J. Penn, E 21 9 312 335 More Garcia, Orlando Luis Texas, W 20 10 46 43 More Table 4: Top 10 judges
A total of 4 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 6 judges were from other districts.
Judge Daniel R. Dominguez in the District of Puerto Rico ranked 1st with 75 defendants in narcotics/drugs cases. Judge Dominguezalso appeared in the top ten rankings one year ago(ranked 6).
Judge Jose Antonio Fuste in the District of Puerto Rico ranked 2nd with 69 defendants in narcotics/drugs cases.
Judge Carmen Consuelo Cerezo in the District of Puerto Rico ranked 3rd with 55 defendants in narcotics/drugs cases.
Report Generated: February 6, 2013
