Prosecutions for August 2012
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during August 2012 the government reported 14284 new prosecutions. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is down 1.3% 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 2012 prosecutions of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, the number of filings was only slightly up (2 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 45.6 percent from levels reported in 2007.
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 August 2012 was for "Immigration", accounting for 56.9 percent of prosecutions. Prosecutions were also filed for "Drugs-Drug Trafficking" (10.1%), " Withheld by Govt from TRAC (FOIA challen" (8.5%), "Weapons-Operation Triggerlock Major" (4%), "Drugs-Organized Crime Task Force" (3%), "Assimilated Crimes" (2.8%), "Other Criminal Prosecutions" (2.8%). See Figure 2.
The lead investigative agency for prosecutions in August 2012 was DHS accounting for 63 percent of prosecutions referred. Other agencies with substantial numbers of referrals were: DEA (9% ), FBI (8%), ATF (5%), Defense (3%). See Figure 3.
Prosecutions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In August 2012, 9036 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 August the most frequently cited lead charge was Title 8 U.S.C Section 1325 involving the "Entry of alien at improper time or place; etc.". This was the lead charge for 51.5 percent of all magistrate filings in August.
Other frequently prosecuted lead charges include: "08 USC 1326 - Reentry of deported alien" (22.8%).
Prosecutions in U.S. District Courts
In August 2012, 5248 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during August there were an additional 2126 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 August.
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 2012.
Lead Charge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago 08 USC 1326 - Reentry of deported alien 1,841 1 1 2 More 21 USC 841 - Drug Abuse Prevention & Control-Prohibited acts A 877 2 2 1 More 21 USC 846 - Attempt and conspiracy 623 3 3 3 More 18 USC 922 - Firearms; Unlawful acts 499 4 4 4 More 08 USC 1324 - Bringing in and harboring certain aliens 204 5 5 5 More 21 USC 952 - Importation of controlled substances 171 6 6 6 More 18 USC 371 - Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US 103 7 7 8 More 18 USC 1546 - Fraud and misuse of visas, permits, and other documents 98 8 9 15 More 18 USC 2252 - Material involving sexual exploitation of minors 97 9 8 9 More 18 USC 2113 - Bank robbery and incidental crimes 93 10 10 7 More Table 2: Top charges filed
"Reentry of deported alien" (Title 8 U.S.C Section 1326) was the most frequent recorded lead charge. "Reentry of deported alien" (Title 8 U.S.C Section 1326) was ranked 1 a year ago, while it was ranked 2 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 1 five 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 ranked 3 five years ago.
Among these top ten lead charges, the one showing the greatest increase in prosecutions—up 1.8 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—62.6 percent—was registered for prosecutions under " Reentry of deported alien " (Title 8 U.S.C Section 1326 ).
Again among the top ten lead charges, the one showing the sharpest decline in prosecutions compared to one year ago—down 24 percent—was Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US (Title 18 U.S.C Section 371 ). Compared to five years ago, the most significant decline in prosecutions— 33.8 percent—was for filings where the lead charge was " Bringing in and harboring certain aliens " (Title 8 U.S.C Section 1324 ).
Top Ranked Judicial Districts
In August 2012 the Justice Department said the government brought 2882.3 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 Cal, S 20,493 550 1 4 4 More N Mexico 16,540 277 2 5 5 More Texas, W 12,761 652 3 1 2 More S Dakota 11,669 79 4 42 48 More Texas, S 9,831 689 5 3 1 More Arizona 7,478 411 6 2 3 More N Dakota 5,937 32 7 68 75 More Nebraska 5,611 84 8 34 36 More Ark, W 5,194 56 9 78 76 More Ill, S 4,899 52 10 57 65 More Table 3: Top 10 districts (per ten million people)
The Southern District of California (San Diego)—with 20493 prosecutions as compared with 2882.3 prosecutions per ten million population in the United States—was the most active during August 2012. The Southern District of California (San Diego) was ranked 4 a year ago, while it was ranked 4 for most frequent use five years ago.
The District of New Mexico ranked 2nd. The District of New Mexico was ranked 5 a year ago, while it was ranked 5 for most frequent use five years ago.
Western District of Texas (San Antonio) is now ranking 3rd. The Western District of Texas (San Antonio) was ranked 1 a year ago, while it was ranked 2 for most frequent use five years ago.
Recent entrants to the top 10 list were Nebraska , now ranked 8th , and South Dakota at 4th In the same order, these districts ranked 34th and 42nd one year ago and 36th and 48th five years ago.
The federal judicial district which showed the greatest growth in the rate of prosecutions compared to one year ago— 27 percent—was South Dakota . Compared to five years ago, the district with the largest growth— 60 percent—was North Dakota .
In the last year, the judicial District Court recording the largest drop in the rate of prosecutions— 28.1 percent—was Arizona . But over the past five years, Nebraska showed the largest drop— 1.2 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 2012 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago Brack, Robert C. N Mexico 180 1 27 2 More Moses, Alia Texas, W 167 2 1 - More Junell, Robert A. Texas, W 93 3 6 12 More Garcia Marmolejo, Marina Texas, S 75 4 - - More Tagle, Hilda G. Texas, S 68 5 18 13 More Ramos, Nelva Gonzales Texas, S 67 6 - - More Montalvo, Frank Texas, W 67 6 10 4 More Hinojosa, Ricardo H. Texas, S 66 8 7 10 More Hanen, Andrew S. Texas, S 65 9 18 11 More Crane, Randy Texas, S 59 10 4 5 More Saldana, Diana Texas, S 59 10 37 986 More Table 4: Top 10 judges
All 11 of the "top ten" judges were in districts which were in the top ten with the largest number of filings per capita. (Because of ties, there were a total of 11 judges in the "top ten" rankings.)
Judge Robert C. Brack in the District of New Mexico ranked 1st with 180 defendants in cases.
Judge Alia Moses in the Western District of Texas (San Antonio) ranked 2nd with 167 defendants in cases. Judge Mosesalso appeared in the top ten rankings one year ago(ranked 1).
Judge Robert A. Junell in the Western District of Texas (San Antonio) ranked 3rd with 93 defendants in cases. Judge Junellalso appeared in the top ten rankings one year ago(ranked 6).
Report Generated: November 19, 2012
