Prosecutions for October 2017

Referring Agency: Drug Enforcement Administration

Number Latest Month 850
Percent Change from previous month -7.4
Percent Change from 1 year ago 3.3
Percent Change from 5 years ago
(Including Magistrate Court)
-16.4
Percent Change from 5 years ago
(Excluding Magistrate Court)
-21.7
Table 1. Criminal Prosecutions

The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during October 2017 the government reported 850 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 down 7.4 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 2017 prosecutions of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, the number of filings was up (3.3%). 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 16.4 percent from levels reported in 2012.

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 October 2017 was for "Drugs-Drug Trafficking", accounting for 51.6 percent of prosecutions. Prosecutions were also filed for "Withheld by Govt from TRAC (FOIA challen" (28%), "Drugs-Organized Crime Task Force" (15.3%), "Weapons-Operation Triggerlock Major" (2.1%). See Figure 2.

Pie chart of progcatlabel

Figure 2. Specific Types of Prosecutions

Prosecutions in U.S. Magistrate Courts

Top Ranked Lead Charges

In October 2017, 228 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 21 U.S.C Section 841 involving "Drug Abuse Prevention & Control-Prohibited acts A". This was the lead charge for 52.6 percent of all magistrate filings in October.

Other frequently prosecuted lead charges include: "21 USC 846 - Attempt and conspiracy" (25.4%).

Prosecutions in U.S. District Courts

In October 2017, 622 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during October there were an additional 167 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 2017 referred by the Drug Enforcement Administration.

Lead Charge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago  
21 USC 841 - Drug Abuse Prevention & Control-Prohibited acts A 336 1 1 1 More
21 USC 846 - Attempt and conspiracy 170 2 2 2 More
18 USC 922 - Firearms; Unlawful acts 17 3 3 3 More
46 USC 70503 - Possession control substance on vessel subject to jurisdiction of US 9 4 4 9 More
46 USC 70506 - Penalties 7 5 4 9 More
21 USC 963 - Attempt and conspiracy 5 6 10 4 More
18 USC 1956 - Laundering of monetary instruments 4 7 8 5 More
18 USC 371 - Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US 2 8 22 14 More
18 USC 924 - Firearms; Penalties 2 8 9 8 More
21 USC 843 - Drug Abuse Prevention & Control-Prohibited acts C 2 8 7 12 More
21 USC 844 - Penalty for simple possession 2 8 17 17 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 200 percent — compared to one year ago was Title U.S.C Section that involves "Other US Code Section ". Compared to five years ago, the largest increase — 242.1 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 57.1 percent — was " Drug Abuse Prevention & Control-Prohibited acts C " (Title 21 U.S.C Section 843 ). Compared to five years ago, the most significant decline in prosecutions — 50 percent — was for filings where the lead charge was " Penalty for simple possession " (Title 21 U.S.C Section 844 ).

Top Ranked Judicial Districts

In October 2017 the Justice Department said the government brought 293 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  
N Mexico 2,076 36 1 2 5 More
Alaska 1,834 11 2 71 83 More
N Dakota 1,267 8 3 34 74 More
Ken, E 980 18 4 19 25 More
Miss, S 897 14 5 23 24 More
Ala, S 853 6 6 76 85 More
Texas, N 812 49 7 4 11 More
Texas, W 761 45 8 1 2 More
Cal, S 755 22 9 14 12 More
Arizona 710 41 10 7 31 More
Table 3. Top 10 Districts (per ten million people)

  • The District of New Mexico — with 2076 prosecutions as compared with 293 prosecutions per ten million population in the United States — was the most active during October 2017. The District of New Mexico was ranked 2 a year ago, while it was ranked 5 for most frequent use five years ago.

  • The District of Alaska ranked 2nd.

  • District of North Dakota is now ranking 3rd.

Recent entrants to the top 10 list were Southern District of California (San Diego), now ranked 9th , and Eastern District of Kentucky (Lexington) at 4th In the same order, these districts ranked 14th and 19th one year ago and 12th and 25th five years ago.

The federal judicial district which showed the greatest growth in the rate of prosecutions compared to one year ago — 123.7 percent — was Southern District of California (San Diego). Compared to five years ago, the district with the largest growth — 131.6 percent — was North Dakota .

In the last year, the judicial District Court recording the largest drop in the rate of prosecutions — 35.3 percent — was Southern District of Alabama (Mobile).  But over the past five years, Southern District of Mississippi (Jackson) showed the largest drop — 24.7 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 2017 are shown in Table 4.

Judge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago  
Campbell, David G. Arizona 25 1 270 180 More
Junell, Robert A. Texas, W 23 2 1 1 More
Brack, Robert C. N Mexico 20 3 6 12 More
Fitzwater, Sidney Allen Texas, N 15 4 15 288 More
McBryde, John H. Texas, N 13 5 2 70 More
Mariani, Robert David Penn, M 12 6 320 85 More
Boyle, Jane J. Texas, N 12 6 50 480 More
Crone, Marcia A. Texas, E 11 8 8 6 More
Mazzant, Amos L. Texas, E 11 8 79 - More
Starrett, Keith Miss, S 10 10 270 480 More
Table 4. Top Ten Judges

A total of 7 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 3 judges were from other districts.

  • Judge David G. Campbell in the District of Arizona ranked 1st with 25 defendants in cases.

  • Judge Robert A. Junell in the Western District of Texas (San Antonio) ranked 2nd with 23 defendants in cases. Judge Junell appeared in the top ten rankings one year (ranked 1) and five years ago (rank 1).

  • Judge Robert C. Brack in the District of New Mexico ranked 3rd with 20 defendants in cases. Judge Brack also appeared in the top ten rankings one year ago (ranked 6).

Report Generated: November 28, 2017
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