Prosecutions for August 2007
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during August 2007 the government reported 9937 new prosecutions. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is up 19.4% 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 2007 prosecutions of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, the number of filings was up (4.6 percent). 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 15.4 percent from levels reported in 2002.
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. 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 August 2007 was for "Immigration", accounting for 36.5 percent of prosecutions. Prosecutions were also filed for "Drugs-Drug Trafficking" (16.9%), " Weapons-Operation Triggerlock Major" (7.4%), "Assimilated Crimes" (6.2%), "Other Criminal Prosecutions" (4.7%), "Withheld by Govt from TRAC (FOIA challen" (3.9%), "Drugs-Organized Crime Task Force" (3.6%), "Other-Not Specified" (2.2%). See Figure 2.
The lead investigative agency for prosecutions in August 2007 was DHS accounting for 43 percent of prosecutions referred. Other agencies with substantial numbers of referrals were: DEA (12% ), FBI (11%), ATF (8%), Defense (6%). See Figure 3.
Prosecutions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In August 2007, 51 percent of cases for these matters took place in U.S. Magistrate Courts which handle less serious misdemeanor cases, including what are called "petty offenses." In the magistrate courts in August the most frequently cited lead charge was Title 8 U.S.C Section 1326 involving the "Reentry of deported alien". This was the lead charge for 24.4 percent of all magistrate filings in August.
Other frequently prosecuted lead charges include: "8 USC 1325 - Entry of alien at improper time or place; etc." (21.1%), "18 USC 13 - Laws of States Adopted in Federal jurisdiction" (9.1%), " 21 USC 841 - Drug Abuse Prevention + Control-Prohibited acts A" (8.6%).
Prosecutions in U.S. District Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
Table 2 shows the top lead charges recorded in the prosecutions of matters filed in U.S. District Court during August 2007.
Lead Charge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago 21 USC 841 - Drug Abuse Prevention + Control-Prohibited acts A 719 1 1 1 More 8 USC 1326 - Reentry of deported alien 572 2 2 3 More 21 USC 846 - Attempt and conspiracy 558 3 3 2 More 18 USC 922 - Firearms; Unlawful acts 524 4 4 4 More 8 USC 1324 - Bringing in and harboring certain aliens 149 5 5 5 More 18 USC 2113 - Bank robbery and incidental crimes 107 6 6 8 More 18 USC 2252 - Material involving sexual exploitation of minors 97 7 10 15 More 18 USC 371 - Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US 86 8 8 11 More 18 USC 1035 - False claims relating to health care matters 85 9 80 151 More 18 USC 641 - Public money, property or records 81 10 16 13 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 the 1 most frequently invoked 5 years ago..
Ranked 2nd in frequency was the lead charge "Reentry of deported alien" under Title 8 U.S.C Section 1326. "Reentry of deported alien" under Title 8 U.S.C Section 1326 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 2 most frequently invoked 5 years ago..
Among these top ten lead charges, the one showing the greatest increase in prosecutions—up 221.4 percent—compared to one year ago was Title 18 U.S.C Section 1035 that involves " False claims relating to health care matters ". This was the same statute that had the largest increase—800 %—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 12.6 percent—was Bank robbery and incidental crimes (Title 18 U.S.C Section 2113 ). This was the same statute that had the largest decrease— 31.6 %—when compared with five years ago.
Top Ranked Judicial Districts
In August 2007 the Justice Department said the government brought 1985.2 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 Texas, W 7,415 340 1 2 2 More S Dakota 7,316 47 2 50 72 More W Virg, N 6,160 45 3 60 71 More Tenn, E 5,662 112 4 36 29 More Texas, S 5,617 354 5 1 1 More Cal, S 5,564 143 6 3 4 More Ga, S 4,857 56 7 62 53 More N Mexico 4,792 76 8 5 5 More Montana 4,790 37 9 55 46 More Idaho 4,306 50 10 69 66 More
Table 3: Top 10 districts (per ten million people)
The Western District of Texas (San Antonio)—with 7415 prosecutions as compared with .prosecutions per ten million population in the United States—was the most active during August 2007. The Western District of Texas (San Antonio) was ranked 2 a year ago, while it was ranked 2 five years ago.
The District of South Dakota ranked 2nd.
Northern District of West Virginia (Wheeling) is now ranking 3rd.
Recent entrants to the top 10 list were Eastern District of Tennessee (Knoxville), now ranked 4th , and South Dakota at 2nd In the same order, these districts ranked 36th and 50th one year ago and 29th and 72nd five years ago.
The federal judicial district which showed the greatest growth in the rate of prosecutions compared to one year ago— 18.1 percent—was Southern District of California (San Diego). Compared to five years ago, the district with the largest growth— 56.1 percent—was South Dakota .
In the last year, the judicial District Court recording the largest drop in the rate of prosecutions— 7.2 percent—was New Mexico . But over the past five years, Southern District of Georgia (Savannah) showed the largest drop— 18.9 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 August 2007 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago Garcia-Gregory, Jay A. Puer Rico 85 1 124 99 More Crane, Randy Texas, S 80 2 9 17 More Collier, Curtis Lynn Tenn, E 61 3 27 94 More Junell, Robert A. Texas, W 47 4 8 504 More Perez-Gimenez, Juan Manuel Puer Rico 46 5 172 285 More Hinojosa, Ricardo H. Texas, S 44 6 12 7 More Montalvo, Frank Texas, W 44 6 4 809 More Thornburg, Lacy Herman N Car, W 40 8 20 48 More Crone, Marcia A. Texas, E 40 8 254 - More Briones, David Texas, W 39 10 6 1 More
Table 4: Top 10 judges
A total of 6 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 4 judges were from other districts.
Judge Jay A. Garcia-Gregory in the District of Puerto Rico ranked 1st with 85 defendants in cases.
Judge Randy Crane in the Southern District of Texas (Houston) ranked 2nd with 80 defendants in cases. Judge Cranealso appeared in the top ten rankings one year ago(ranked 9).
Judge Curtis Lynn Collier in the Eastern District of Tennessee (Knoxville) ranked 3rd with 61 defendants in cases.
