Convictions for February 2012
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during February 2012 the government reported 12446 new convictions. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is down 3.1% over the previous month.
The comparisons of the number of defendants convicted 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 convictions of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, the number of convictions was up (10.1 percent). Convictions over the past year are still much higher than they were five years ago. Overall, the data show that convictions of this type are up 52.7 percent from levels reported in 2007.
The growth in these cases is partly related to increases in the matters filed in U.S. Magistrate Courts. If magistrate cases are excluded and only Federal District Court cases are counted, the overall increase in convictions is 16.8 percent instead of 52.7 percent. The evidence suggests that part of the difference may be the result of improvements in the recording of the magistrate cases by the Justice Department.
The increase from the levels five years ago in convictions for these matters is shown more clearly in Figure 1. The vertical bars in Figure 1 represent the number of convictions 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 convictions of these matters in February 2012 was for "Immigration", accounting for 56.9 percent of convictions. Convictions were also filed for "Drugs-Drug Trafficking" (11.9%), " Weapons-Operation Triggerlock Major" (4.9%), "Drugs-Organized Crime Task Force" (4.7%), "Withheld by Govt from TRAC (FOIA challen" (4%), "Other Criminal Prosecutions" (2.5%). See Figure 2.
The lead investigative agency for convictions in February 2012 was DHS accounting for 63 percent of convictions. Other agencies with substantial numbers of convictions were: DEA (9% ), FBI (8%), ATF (6%), Interior (2%). See Figure 3.
Convictions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In February 2012, 5258 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 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 65.6 percent of all magistrate convictions in February.
Other frequently prosecuted lead charges include: "08 USC 1326 - Reentry of deported alien" (22%).
Convictions in U.S. District Courts
In February 2012, 7188 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during February there were an additional 0 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 February.
Top Ranked Lead Charges
Table 2 shows the top lead charges recorded in the convictions of matters filed in U.S. District Court during February 2012.
Lead Charge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago 08 USC 1326 - Reentry of deported alien 1,871 1 1 2 More 21 USC 841 - Drug Abuse Prevention & Control-Prohibited acts A 1,085 2 2 1 More 21 USC 846 - Attempt and conspiracy 722 3 3 3 More 18 USC 922 - Firearms; Unlawful acts 546 4 4 4 More 08 USC 1324 - Bringing in and harboring certain aliens 282 5 5 5 More 21 USC 952 - Importation of controlled substances 149 6 9 6 More 18 USC 1546 - Fraud and misuse of visas, permits, and other documents 118 7 6 12 More 18 USC 2252 - Material involving sexual exploitation of minors 114 8 8 15 More 18 USC 2113 - Bank robbery and incidental crimes 88 9 7 7 More 18 USC 371 - Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US 85 10 11 9 More Table 2: Top charges for convictions
"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 convictions—up 57.9 percent—compared to one year ago was Title 21 U.S.C Section 952 that involves " Importation of controlled substances ". Compared to five years ago, the largest increase—93.3 percent—was registered for convictions 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 convictions compared to one year ago—down 16.5 percent—was Bank robbery and incidental crimes (Title 18 U.S.C Section 2113 ). Compared to five years ago, the most significant decline in convictions— 31.1 percent—was for convictions where the lead charge was " Bringing in and harboring certain aliens " (Title 8 U.S.C Section 1324 ).
Top Ranked Judicial Districts
In February 2012 the Justice Department said the government obtained 2809.6 convictions for every ten million people in the United States.
Understandably, there is great variation in the per capita number of convictions in each of the nation's ninety-four federal judicial districts.
The districts registering the largest number of convictions per capita for these matters last month are shown in Table 3. Districts must have at least 5 convictions to receive a ranking.
Judicial District Percapita Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago N Mexico 26,691 447 1 5 5 More Texas, W 16,832 860 2 2 1 More Cal, S 13,860 372 3 4 4 More Arizona 13,463 740 4 3 3 More Texas, S 7,833 549 5 1 2 More D. C. 7,404 37 6 68 39 More La, M 6,557 43 7 88 87 More Wyoming 6,394 29 8 39 67 More Ark, E 5,791 77 9 56 69 More Vermont 5,597 29 10 87 84 More Table 3: Top 10 districts (per ten million people)
The District of New Mexico—with 26691 convictions as compared with 2809.6 convictions per ten million population in the United States—was the most active during February 2012. The District of New Mexico was ranked 5 a year ago, while it was ranked 5 for most frequent use five years ago.
The Western District of Texas (San Antonio) ranked 2nd. The Western District of Texas (San Antonio) was ranked 2 a year ago, while it was ranked 1 for most frequent use five years ago.
Southern District of California (San Diego) is now ranking 3rd. 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.
Recent entrants to the top 10 list were Wyoming , now ranked 8th , and Eastern District of Arkansas (Little Rock) at 9th In the same order, these districts ranked 39th and 56th one year ago and 67th and 69th five years ago.
The federal judicial district which showed the greatest growth in the rate of convictions compared to one year ago— 93.8 percent—was Vermont . Compared to five years ago, the district with the largest growth— 147.2 percent—was Arizona .
In the last year, the judicial District Court recording the largest drop in the rate of convictions— 42.1 percent—was Wyoming . But over the past five years, Washington, D.C. (Washington) showed the largest drop— 34.4 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 resulting in convictions of this type during February 2012 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago Moses, Alia Texas, W 220 1 13 - More Brack, Robert C. N Mexico 91 2 5 4 More Crane, Randy Texas, S 88 3 4 10 More Junell, Robert A. Texas, W 85 4 3 12 More Conway, John Edwards N Mexico 84 5 21 15 More Hinojosa, Ricardo H. Texas, S 72 6 6 8 More Parker, James Aubrey N Mexico 70 7 33 22 More Alvarez, Micaela Texas, S 70 7 1 2 More Martone, Frederick J. Arizona 66 9 117 64 More Briones, David Texas, W 66 9 10 5 More Cardone, Kathleen Texas, W 66 9 7 6 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 convictions per capita. (Because of ties, there were a total of 11 judges in the "top ten" rankings.)
Judge Alia Moses in the Western District of Texas (San Antonio) ranked 1st with 220 convicted in convictions.
Judge Robert C. Brack in the District of New Mexico ranked 2nd with 91 convicted in convictions. Judge Brack appeared in the top ten rankings one year (ranked 5) and five years ago (rank 4).
Judge Randy Crane in the Southern District of Texas (Houston) ranked 3rd with 88 convicted in convictions. Judge Crane appeared in the top ten rankings one year (ranked 4) and five years ago (rank 10).
Report Generated: May 8, 2012
