Prosecutions for March 2018

Referring Agency: Drug Enforcement Administration

Number Latest Month 1,107
Percent Change from previous month 26.9
Percent Change from 1 year ago 9.4
Percent Change from 5 years ago
(Including Magistrate Court)
-12.0
Percent Change from 5 years ago
(Excluding Magistrate Court)
-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.

Bar and line plot of FYMON

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.

Pie chart of progcatlabel

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.

Lead Charge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago  
21 USC 841 - Drug Abuse Prevention & Control-Prohibited acts A 425 1 1 1 More
21 USC 846 - Attempt and conspiracy 258 2 2 2 More
18 USC 922 - Firearms; Unlawful acts 22 3 3 3 More
21 USC 952 - Importation of controlled substances 19 4 11 4 More
46 USC 70506 - Penalties 6 5 6 15 More
18 USC 924 - Firearms; Penalties 5 6 9 8 More
21 USC 843 - Drug Abuse Prevention & Control-Prohibited acts C 5 6 8 7 More
46 USC 70503 - Possession control substance on vessel subject to jurisdiction of US 5 6 4 13 More
18 USC 1951 - Hobbs Act 3 10 9 22 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 "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.


Judicial District Percapita Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago  
La, M 6,035 42 1 73 74 More
New Hamp 2,787 31 2 40 88 More
Okla, W 2,214 39 3 67 74 More
Texas, W 1,844 109 4 1 2 More
Okla, E 1,764 11 5 87 78 More
Ark, E 1,683 23 6 21 30 More
Cal, S 1,475 43 7 12 13 More
Maine 1,442 16 8 40 60 More
Texas, S 1,149 92 9 2 1 More
N Dakota 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.

Judge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago  
Pitman, Robert Texas, W 44 1 65 - More
Counts, Walter David, III Texas, W 40 2 - - More
Palk, Scott Lawrence Okla, W 32 3 - - More
Laplante, Joseph Normand New Hamp 30 4 145 - More
Jackson, Brian Anthony La, M 21 5 - 342 More
Settle, Benjamin Hale Wash, W 21 5 10 407 More
Ellison, Keith P. Texas, S 19 7 431 570 More
Dick, Shelly Deckert La, M 15 8 516 - More
Schwab, Arthur J. Penn, W 15 8 516 261 More
Baker, Kristine Gerhard Ark, E 13 10 187 33 More
Table 4. Top Ten Judges

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
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Copyright 2018, TRAC Reports, Inc.

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