Prosecutions for February 2008
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during February 2008 the government reported 13527 new prosecutions. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is up 45.2% 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 2008 prosecutions of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, the number of filings was up (19.1 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 28.8 percent from levels reported in 2003.
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 February 2008 was for "Immigration", accounting for 53.6 percent of prosecutions. Prosecutions were also filed for "Drugs-Drug Trafficking" (15.5%), " Weapons-Operation Triggerlock Major" (5.5%), "Other Criminal Prosecutions" (3.4%), "Assimilated Crimes" (2.6%), "Withheld by Govt from TRAC (FOIA challen" (2.5%), "Drugs-Organized Crime Task Force" (2.4%). See Figure 2.
The lead investigative agency for prosecutions in February 2008 was DHS accounting for 60 percent of prosecutions referred. Other agencies with substantial numbers of referrals were: FBI (9% ), DEA (8%), ATF (6%), Interior (3%). See Figure 3.
Prosecutions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In February 2008, 56 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 February 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 52.7 percent of all magistrate filings in February.
Other frequently prosecuted lead charges include: "8 USC 1326 - Reentry of deported alien" (16.6%), "21 USC 841 - Drug Abuse Prevention + Control-Prohibited acts A" (5.8%).
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 February 2008.
Lead Charge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago 8 USC 1326 - Reentry of deported alien 1,078 1 2 3 More 21 USC 841 - Drug Abuse Prevention + Control-Prohibited acts A 1,064 2 1 1 More 18 USC 922 - Firearms; Unlawful acts 559 3 4 4 More 21 USC 846 - Attempt and conspiracy 472 4 3 2 More 8 USC 1324 - Bringing in and harboring certain aliens 309 5 5 5 More 18 USC 2113 - Bank robbery and incidental crimes 129 6 7 8 More 18 USC 2252 - Material involving sexual exploitation of minors 126 7 9 18 More 8 USC 1325 - Entry of alien at improper time or place; etc. 116 8 14 6 More 18 USC 371 - Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US 103 9 8 10 More 18 USC 1962 - RICO - prohibited activities 95 10 43 26 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 2 a year ago, while it was the 3 most frequently invoked 5 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 1 a year ago, while it was the 1 most frequently invoked 5 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 4 a year ago, while it was the 4 most frequently invoked 5 years ago..
Among these top ten lead charges, the one showing the greatest increase in prosecutions—up 54.5 percent—compared to one year ago was Title 18 U.S.C Section 1962 that involves " RICO - prohibited activities ". Compared to five years ago, the largest increase—80.1 percent—was registered for prosecutions under " Material involving sexual exploitation of minors " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 2252 ).
Again among the top ten lead charges, the one showing the sharpest decline in prosecutions compared to one year ago—down 24.1 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— 48.6 percent—was for filings where the lead charge was " Entry of alien at improper time or place; etc. " (Title 8 U.S.C Section 1325 ).
Top Ranked Judicial Districts
In February 2008 the Justice Department said the government brought 2399.2 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 Cal, S 14,624 378 1 4 4 More Texas, W 13,961 668 2 1 2 More N Mexico 13,077 213 3 6 6 More Montana 6,987 55 4 47 55 More Nebraska 6,922 102 5 21 23 More Mo, E 6,517 157 6 13 20 More Ala, S 6,474 44 7 63 68 More Texas, S 6,342 423 8 2 1 More Tenn, W 5,611 72 9 25 34 More D. C. 5,365 26 10 78 38 More
Table 3: Top 10 districts (per ten million people)
The Southern District of California (San Diego)—with 14624 prosecutions as compared with 2399.2 prosecutions per ten million population in the United States—was the most active during February 2008. The Southern District of California (San Diego) was ranked 4 a year ago, while it was ranked 4 five years ago.
The Western District of Texas (San Antonio) ranked 2nd. The Western District of Texas (San Antonio) was ranked 1 a year ago, while it was ranked 2 five years ago.
District of New Mexico is now ranking 3rd. The District of New Mexico was ranked 6 a year ago, while it was ranked 6 five years ago.
Recent entrants to the top 10 list were Eastern District of Missouri (St. Louis), now ranked 6th , and Nebraska at 5th In the same order, these districts ranked 13th and 21st one year ago and 20th and 23rd five years ago.
The federal judicial district which showed the greatest growth in the rate of prosecutions compared to one year ago— 41.4 percent—was Southern District of Alabama (Mobile). This was the same district that had the largest increase— 42.1 %—when compared with five years ago.
In the last year, the judicial District Court recording the largest drop in the rate of prosecutions— 13.5 percent—was Western District of Tennessee (Memphis). But over the past five years, Washington, D.C. (Washington) showed the largest drop— 59.5 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 February 2008 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago Martinez, Philip Ray Texas, W 109 1 6 2 More Montalvo, Frank Texas, W 99 2 5 830 More Cardone, Kathleen Texas, W 92 3 7 815 More Brack, Robert C. N Mexico 87 4 2 678 More Briones, David Texas, W 79 5 4 1 More Crane, Randy Texas, S 69 6 8 7 More Garaufis, Nicholas N. Y., E 67 7 270 133 More Alvarez, Micaela Texas, S 61 8 1 - More Kazen, George P. Texas, S 60 9 3 6 More Junell, Robert A. Texas, W 56 10 11 184 More
Table 4: Top 10 judges
A total of 9 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 1 judges were from other districts.
Judge Philip Ray Martinez in the Western District of Texas (San Antonio) ranked 1st with 109 defendants in cases. Judge Martinez appeared in the top ten rankings one year (ranked 6) and five years ago (rank 2).
Judge Frank Montalvo in the Western District of Texas (San Antonio) ranked 2nd with 99 defendants in cases. Judge Montalvoalso appeared in the top ten rankings one year ago(ranked 5).
Judge Kathleen Cardone in the Western District of Texas (San Antonio) ranked 3rd with 92 defendants in cases. Judge Cardonealso appeared in the top ten rankings one year ago(ranked 7).
