Prosecutions for October 2018
Referring Agency: Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during October 2018 the government reported 905 new prosecutions 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 5.4 percent over the previous month.
The comparisons of the number of defendants charged 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 2018 prosecutions of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, the number of filings was up (11.9%). Prosecutions over the past year are still much higher than they were five years ago. Overall, the data show that prosecutions of this type are up 31.2 percent from levels reported in 2013.
The growth in these cases is partly related to increases in the matters filed in U.S. Magistrate Courts. If magistrate cases are excluded and only Federal District Court cases are counted, the overall increase in prosecutions is 24.2 percent instead of 31.2 percent. The evidence suggests that part of the difference may be the result of improvements in the recording of the magistrate cases by the Justice Department.
Figure 1. Monthly Trends in Prosecutions
The increase from the levels five years ago in prosecutions for these matters is shown more clearly in Figure 1. The vertical bars in Figure 1 represent the number of 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.
Cases were classified by prosecutors into more specific types.
The largest number of prosecutions of these matters in October 2018 was for "Weapons-Operation Triggerlock Major", accounting for 60.2 percent of prosecutions. Prosecutions were also filed for "Withheld by Govt from TRAC (FOIA challen" (19%), "Drugs-Drug Trafficking" (13%), "Violence-Other" (3.8%). See Figure 2.
Prosecutions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In October 2018, 137 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.
In the magistrate courts in October the most frequently cited lead charge was Title 18 U.S.C Section 922 involving "Firearms; Unlawful acts". This was the lead charge for 55.5 percent of all magistrate filings in October.
Other frequently prosecuted lead charges include: "21 USC 841 - Drug Abuse Prevention & Control-Prohibited acts A" (9.5%).
Prosecutions in U.S. District Courts
In October 2018, 768 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during October there were an additional 104 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 matters filed in U.S. District Court during October 2018 referred by the Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Lead Charge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago 18 USC 922 - Firearms; Unlawful acts 474 1 1 1 More 21 USC 841 - Drug Abuse Prevention & Control-Prohibited acts A 75 2 2 2 More 18 USC 924 - Firearms; Penalties 40 3 4 5 More 21 USC 846 - Attempt and conspiracy 32 4 3 3 More 18 USC 1951 - Hobbs Act 30 5 5 4 More 18 USC 1962 - RICO - prohibited activities 19 6 7 14 More 26 USC 5861 - Tax on Making Firearms - Prohibited acts 10 8 6 6 More 18 USC 2119 - Carjacking 5 9 11 8 More 18 USC 371 - Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US 4 10 9 7 More 18 USC 554 - Smuggling goods from the United States 4 10 12 19 More Table 2. Top Charges Filed
"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 ranked 1 five 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 ranked 2 five years ago.
Ranked 3rd was "Firearms; Penalties" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 924. "Firearms; Penalties" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 924 was ranked 4 a year ago, while it was ranked 5 five years ago.
Among these top ten lead charges, the one showing the greatest increase in prosecutions — up 157.5 percent — compared to one year ago was Title U.S.C Section that involves "Other US Code Section ". This was the same statute that had the largest increase — 5050 % — 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 53.8 percent — was " Smuggling goods from the United States " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 554 ). Compared to five years ago, the most significant decline in prosecutions — 37.2 percent — was for filings where the lead charge was " Attempt and conspiracy " (Title 21 U.S.C Section 846 ).
Top Ranked Judicial Districts
In October 2018 the Justice Department said the government brought 321.3 prosecutions for every ten million people in the United States.
Understandably, there is great variation in the per capita number of 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 prosecutions to receive a ranking.
Judicial District Percapita Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago Ga, S 1,815 24 1 28 18 More Tenn, W 1,759 23 2 3 19 More Ark, E 1,535 21 3 17 74 More Montana 1,371 12 4 35 67 More Vermont 1,347 7 5 76 55 More Miss, N 1,186 11 6 72 75 More Alaska 1,004 6 7 56 69 More N Car, M 966 24 8 16 2 More N Car, E 920 31 9 6 10 More Miss, S 898 14 10 45 67 More Table 3. Top 10 Districts (per ten million people)
The Southern District of Georgia (Savannah) — with 1815 prosecutions as compared with 321.3 prosecutions per ten million population in the United States — was the most active during October 2018.
The Western District of Tennessee (Memphis) ranked 2nd. The Western District of Tennessee (Memphis) was ranked 3 a year ago.
Eastern District of Arkansas (Little Rock) is now ranking 3rd.
Recent entrants to the top 10 list were Middle District of North Carolina (Greensboro), now ranked 8th , and Eastern District of Arkansas (Little Rock) at 3rd In the same order, these districts ranked 16th and 17th one year ago and 2nd and 74th five years ago.
The federal judicial district which showed the greatest growth in the rate of prosecutions compared to one year ago — 86.8 percent — was Southern District of Mississippi (Jackson). Compared to five years ago, the district with the largest growth — 800 percent — was Eastern District of Arkansas (Little Rock).
In the last year, the judicial District Court recording the largest drop in the rate of prosecutions — 11.8 percent — was Western District of Tennessee (Memphis). But over the past five years, Vermont showed the largest drop — 34.8 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 of this type during October 2018 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago Watson, Michael H. Ohio, S 21 1 79 306 More Dever, James C., III N Car, E 11 2 6 8 More Coogler, L. Scott Ala, N 9 3 5 41 More Lipman, Sheryl Halle Tenn, W 9 3 1 - More Limbaugh, Stephen Nathaniel, Jr. Mo, E 8 5 30 23 More Flanagan, Louise W. N Car, E 8 5 162 20 More Gelpi, Gustavo Antonio, Jr. Puer Rico 8 5 102 79 More Crenshaw, Waverly David, Jr. Tenn, M 8 5 7 - More Jones, James Parker Virg, W 8 5 68 156 More Watters, Susan Pamela Montana 7 10 15 394 More Delgado Hernandez, Pedro Alberto Puer Rico 7 10 50 - More Fowlkes, John Thomas, Jr. Tenn, W 7 10 3 110 More Cummings, Samuel Ray Texas, N 7 10 18 110 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 filings per capita, while the remaining 8 judges were from other districts. (Because of ties, there were a total of 13 judges in the "top ten" rankings.)
Judge Michael H. Watson in the Southern District of Ohio (Cincinnati) ranked 1st with 21 defendants in cases.
Judge James C. Dever, III in the Eastern District of North Carolina (Raleigh) ranked 2nd with 11 defendants in cases. Judge Dever appeared in the top ten rankings one year (ranked 6) and five years ago (rank 8).
Judges L. Scott Coogler in the Northern District of Alabama (Birmingham) and Sheryl Halle Lipman in the Western District of Tennessee (Memphis) ranked 3rd with 9 defendants in cases. Judge Coogler also appeared in the top ten rankings one year ago (ranked 5).Judge Lipman also appeared in the top ten rankings one year ago (ranked 1).
Report Generated: December 6, 2018
