Prosecutions for March 2018
Referring Agency: Drug Enforcement Administration
1,107 |
26.9 |
9.4 |
-12.0 |
-17.6 |
Table 1. Criminal Prosecutions
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during March 2018 the government reported 1107 new prosecutions for these matters. Those cases were referred by the Drug Enforcement Administration.
According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is up 26.9 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 (9.4%).
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 12 percent from levels reported in 2013.
Figure 1. Monthly Trends in Prosecutions
The decrease 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 March 2018 was for "Drugs-Drug Trafficking", accounting for 48.3 percent of prosecutions. Prosecutions were also filed for "Withheld by Govt from TRAC (FOIA challen" (29.3%), "Drugs-Organized Crime Task Force" (14.9%), "Weapons-Operation Triggerlock Major" (4.8%).
See Figure 2.
Figure 2. Specific Types of Prosecutions
Prosecutions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In March 2018, 234 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 March 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 56.4 percent of all magistrate filings in March.
Other frequently prosecuted lead charges include: "21 USC 846 - Attempt and conspiracy" (23.5%).
Prosecutions in U.S. District Courts
In March 2018, 873 defendants in new cases
for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during March there
were an additional 212 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 March.
Top Ranked Lead Charges
Table 2 shows the top lead charges recorded in the prosecutions of matters
filed in U.S. District Court during March 2018 referred by the Drug Enforcement Administration.
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 "Firearms; Unlawful acts" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 922.
"Firearms; Unlawful acts" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 922 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 40.7 percent — compared to one year ago was Title 18 U.S.C Section 922
that involves " Firearms; Unlawful acts ".
Compared to five years ago, the largest increase — 700 percent — was registered for
prosecutions under " Possession control substance on vessel subject to jurisdiction of US " (Title 46 U.S.C Section 70503 ).
Again among the top ten lead charges, the one showing the sharpest
decline in prosecutions compared to one year ago — down 65.2 percent — was
" Hobbs Act " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 1951 ).
Compared to five years ago, the most significant decline in prosecutions — 42.1 percent — was
for filings where the lead charge was " Firearms; Penalties " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 924 ).
Top Ranked Judicial Districts
In March 2018 the Justice Department said the government brought 402.9 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.
6,035 |
42 |
1 |
73 |
74 |
More |
2,787 |
31 |
2 |
40 |
88 |
More |
2,214 |
39 |
3 |
67 |
74 |
More |
1,844 |
109 |
4 |
1 |
2 |
More |
1,764 |
11 |
5 |
87 |
78 |
More |
1,683 |
23 |
6 |
21 |
30 |
More |
1,475 |
43 |
7 |
12 |
13 |
More |
1,442 |
16 |
8 |
40 |
60 |
More |
1,149 |
92 |
9 |
2 |
1 |
More |
1,108 |
7 |
10 |
57 |
52 |
More |
Table 3. Top 10 Districts (per ten million people)
The Middle District of Louisiana (Baton Rouge) — with 6035 prosecutions as compared with 402.9 prosecutions per ten million population in the United States — was the most active during March 2018.
The District of New Hampshire ranked 2nd.
Western District of Oklahoma (Oklahoma City) is now ranking 3rd.
Recent entrants to the top 10 list were
Southern District of California (San Diego), now ranked
7th
, and Eastern District of Arkansas (Little Rock)
at 6th
In the same order, these districts ranked 12th and 21st one year ago and 13th and 30th five years ago.
The federal judicial district which showed the greatest growth
in the rate of prosecutions compared to one year ago — 275 percent — was
Eastern District of Oklahoma (Muskogee).
Compared to five years ago, the district with the largest growth — 500 percent — was
New Hampshire .
In the last year, the judicial District Court recording the
largest drop in the rate of prosecutions — 24.4 percent — was
Maine .
But over the past five years,
Southern District of Texas (Houston)
showed the largest drop — 25.8 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 March 2018 are shown in Table 4.
A total of 8 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 2 judges were from other districts.
Judge Robert Pitman in the Western District of Texas (San Antonio) ranked 1st with 44 defendants in cases.
Judge Walter David Counts, III in the Western District of Texas (San Antonio) ranked 2nd with 40 defendants in cases.
Judge Scott Lawrence Palk in the Western District of Oklahoma (Oklahoma City) ranked 3rd with 32 defendants in cases.
Report Generated: April 26, 2018