Convictions for July 2009
Referring Agency: Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during July 2009 the government reported 840 new convictions for these matters. Those cases were referred by the Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is up 14.1% over the previous month.
The comparisons of the number of defendants convicted 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 2009 convictions of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, the number of convictions was only slightlyup (1.3 percent). Convictions over the past year are still much higher than they were five years ago. Overall, the data show that convictions of this type are up 11.8 percent from levels reported in 2004.
The increase from the levels five years ago in convictions for these matters is shown more clearly in Figure 1. The vertical bars in Figure 1 represent the number of convictions 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.
Cases were classified by prosecutors into more specific types.
The largest number of convictions of these matters in July 2009 was for "Weapons-Operation Triggerlock Major", accounting for 71.2 percent of convictions. Convictions were also filed for "Drugs-Drug Trafficking" (9.9%), " Withheld by Govt from TRAC (FOIA challen" (8%), "Drugs-Organized Crime Task Force" (6.5%), "Violence-Other" (2.3%). See Figure 2.
Convictions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In July 2009, n defendants in 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.
Convictions in U.S. District Courts
In July 2009, 839 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during July there were an additional 0 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 convictions of matters filed in U.S. District Court during July 2009referred by the Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Lead Charge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago 18 USC 922 - Firearms; Unlawful acts 506 1 1 1 More 21 USC 841 - Drug Abuse Prevention + Control-Prohibited acts A 84 2 2 3 More 21 USC 846 - Attempt and conspiracy 59 3 3 4 More 18 USC 924 - Firearms; Penalties 45 4 4 2 More 26 USC 5861 - Tax on Making Firearms - Prohibited acts 24 5 5 5 More 18 USC 1951 - Hobbs Act 13 6 6 8 More 18 USC 371 - Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US 8 7 7 6 More 18 USC 844 - Explosives - Importation and storage of explosives 7 8 9 7 More 18 USC 2119 - Carjacking 4 9 11 15 More 26 USC 5841 - Registration of firearms 3 10 15 10 More
Table 2: Top charges for convictions
"Firearms; Unlawful acts" (Title 18 U.S.C Section 922) was the most frequent recorded lead charge. "Firearms; Unlawful acts" (Title 18 U.S.C Section 922) was ranked 1 a year ago, while it was the 1 most frequently invoked 5 years ago..
Ranked 2nd in frequency was the lead charge "Drug Abuse Prevention + Control-Prohibited acts A" under Title 21 U.S.C Section 841. "Drug Abuse Prevention + Control-Prohibited acts A" under Title 21 U.S.C Section 841 was ranked 2 a year ago, while it was the 3 most frequently invoked 5 years ago..
Ranked 3rd was "Attempt and conspiracy" under Title 21 U.S.C Section 846. "Attempt and conspiracy" under Title 21 U.S.C Section 846 was ranked 3 a year ago, while it was the 4 most frequently invoked 5 years ago..
Among these top ten lead charges, the one showing the greatest increase in convictions—up 250 percent—compared to one year ago was Title 26 U.S.C Section 5841 that involves " Registration of firearms ". Compared to five years ago, the largest increase—160 percent—was registered for convictions under " Hobbs Act " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 1951 ).
Again among the top ten lead charges, the one showing the sharpest decline in convictions compared to one year ago—down 29.1 percent—was Firearms; Penalties (Title 18 U.S.C Section 924 ). This was the same statute that had the largest decrease— 30.1 %—when compared with five years ago.
Top Ranked Judicial Districts
In July 2009 the Justice Department said the government obtained 337 convictions for every ten million people in the United States.
Understandably, there is great variation in the per capita number of convictions in each of the nation's ninety-four federal judicial districts.
The districts registering the largest number of convictions per capita for these matters last month are shown in Table 3. Districts must have at least 5 convictions to receive a ranking.
Judicial District Percapita Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago Mo, E 1,622 39 1 18 6 More Tenn, W 1,408 18 2 27 14 More Wyoming 1,404 6 3 78 47 More La, M 1,256 8 4 60 53 More Ga, S 1,107 13 5 14 61 More Okla, N 1,107 9 5 55 51 More W Virg, N 1,087 8 7 59 73 More Virg, E 1,015 47 8 1 1 More Tenn, E 985 20 9 20 24 More Vermont 967 5 10 72 78 More
Table 3: Top 10 districts (per ten million people)
The Eastern District of Missouri (St. Louis)—with 1622 convictions as compared with 337 convictions per ten million population in the United States—was the most active during July 2009.
The Western District of Tennessee (Memphis) ranked 2nd.
District of Wyoming is now ranking 3rd.
Recent entrants to the top 10 list were Southern District of Georgia (Savannah), now ranked 5th , and Eastern District of Missouri (St. Louis) at 1st In the same order, these districts ranked 14th and 18th one year ago and 61st and 6th five years ago.
The federal judicial district which showed the greatest growth in the rate of convictions compared to one year ago— 168.8 percent—was Wyoming . Compared to five years ago, the district with the largest growth— 124 percent—was Southern District of Georgia (Savannah).
In the last year, the judicial District Court recording the largest drop in the rate of convictions— 37.1 percent—was Southern District of Georgia (Savannah). But over the past five years, Eastern District of Missouri (St. Louis) showed the largest drop— 24 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 crime cases resulting in convictions of this type during July 2009 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank Sachs, Howard Frederic Mo, W 11 1 More Wooten, Terry L. S Car 11 1 More Middlebrooks, Donald M. Fla, S 10 3 More Altonaga, Cecilia M. Fla, S 10 3 More Doty, David Singleton Minnesota 9 5 More Jackson, Carol E. Mo, E 9 5 More Collier, Curtis Lynn Tenn, E 8 7 More Blake, Catherine C. Maryland 7 8 More Dever, James C. III N Car, E 7 8 More Osteen, William Lindsay Jr. N Car, M 7 8 More Thornburg, Lacy Herman N Car, W 7 8 More Mattice, Harry Sandlin Jr. Tenn, E 7 8 More
Table 4: Top 10 judges
A total of 3 out of the "top ten" judges were in districts which were in the top ten with the largest number of convictions per capita, while the remaining 9 judges were from other districts. (Because of ties, there were a total of 12 judges in the "top ten" rankings.)
Judges Howard Frederic Sachs in the Western District of Missouri (Kansas City) and Terry L. Wooten in the District of South Carolina ranked 1st with 11 convicted in convictions.
Judges Donald M. Middlebrooks in the Southern District of Florida (Miami) and Cecilia M. Altonaga in the Southern District of Florida (Miami) ranked 3rd with 10 convicted in convictions.
