Convictions for February 2018
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during February 2018 the government reported 9393 new convictions. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is down 5 percent 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 2018 convictions of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, the number of convictions was up (3%). Convictions over the past year are still much lower than they were five years ago. Overall, the data show that convictions of this type are down 30.4 percent from levels reported in 2013.
The dip 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 decrease in convictions is 15.4 percent instead of 30.4 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 decrease 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 2018 was for "Immigration", accounting for 55.3 percent of convictions. Convictions were also filed for "Drugs-Drug Trafficking" (11.7%), "Weapons-Operation Triggerlock Major" (7.3%), "Drugs-Organized Crime Task Force" (4.8%), "Withheld by Govt from TRAC (FOIA challen" (3.2%), "Project Safe Childhood" (2.4%), "Other Criminal Prosecutions" (2.1%). See Figure 2.
The lead investigative agency for convictions in February 2018 was DHS accounting for 62 percent of convictions. Other agencies with substantial numbers of convictions were: FBI (10% ), DEA (8%), ATF (7%), Interior (2%). See Figure 3.
Convictions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In February 2018, 3329 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 "Entry of alien at improper time or place; etc.". This was the lead charge for 79.3 percent of all magistrate convictions in February.
Other frequently prosecuted lead charges include: "08 USC 1326 - Reentry of deported alien" (11.1%).
Convictions in U.S. District Courts
In February 2018, 6064 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 2018.
Lead Charge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago 08 USC 1326 - Reentry of deported alien 1,567 1 1 1 More 21 USC 841 - Drug Abuse Prevention & Control-Prohibited acts A 842 2 2 2 More 18 USC 922 - Firearms; Unlawful acts 608 3 4 4 More 21 USC 846 - Attempt and conspiracy 554 4 3 3 More 08 USC 1324 - Bringing in and harboring certain aliens 252 5 5 5 More 08 USC 1325 - Entry of alien at improper time or place; etc. 234 6 21 21 More 21 USC 952 - Importation of controlled substances 101 7 6 6 More 18 USC 2252 - Material involving sexual exploitation of minors 90 8 7 7 More 18 USC 1343 - Fraud by wire, radio, or television 65 9 8 11 More 18 USC 641 - Public money, property or records 59 10 9 12 More 18 USC 1546 - Fraud and misuse of visas, permits, and other documents 59 10 14 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 1 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 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 4 a year ago, while it was ranked 4 five years ago.
Among these top ten lead charges, the one showing the greatest increase in convictions — up 317.2 percent — compared to one year ago was Title 8 U.S.C Section 1325 that involves " Entry of alien at improper time or place; etc. ". This was the same statute that had the largest increase — 257.6 % — when compared with five years ago.
Again among the top ten lead charges, the one showing the sharpest decline in convictions compared to one year ago — down 11 percent — was " Public money, property or records " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 641 ). Compared to five years ago, the most significant decline in convictions — 36.6 percent — was for convictions where the lead charge was " Fraud and misuse of visas, permits, and other documents " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 1546 ).
Top Ranked Judicial Districts
In February 2018 the Justice Department said the government obtained 2252 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 21,566 374 1 4 5 More Cal, S 20,134 587 2 5 3 More Texas, W 12,821 758 3 2 1 More S Dakota 7,332 52 4 37 41 More Texas, S 6,106 489 5 1 2 More Nebraska 5,663 90 6 22 33 More N Dakota 5,383 34 7 49 57 More Wyoming 5,124 25 8 62 82 More Tenn, W 4,970 65 9 55 22 More Ill, S 4,560 48 10 64 47 More Table 3. Top 10 Districts (per ten million people)
The District of New Mexico — with 21566 convictions as compared with 2252 convictions per ten million population in the United States — was the most active during February 2018. The District of New Mexico was ranked 4 a year ago, while it was ranked 5 for most frequent use five years ago.
The Southern District of California (San Diego) ranked 2nd. The Southern District of California (San Diego) was ranked 5 a year ago, while it was ranked 3 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 2 a year ago, while it was ranked 1 for most frequent use five years ago.
Recent entrants to the top 10 list were Nebraska , now ranked 6th , and South Dakota at 4th In the same order, these districts ranked 22nd and 37th one year ago and 33rd and 41st five years ago.
The federal judicial district which showed the greatest growth in the rate of convictions compared to one year ago — 72.5 percent — was Southern District of California (San Diego). Compared to five years ago, the district with the largest growth — 23.6 percent — was Nebraska .
In the last year, the judicial District Court recording the largest drop in the rate of convictions — 11.8 percent — was Wyoming . But over the past five years, Western District of Tennessee (Memphis) showed the largest drop — 40.2 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 resulting in convictions of this type during February 2018 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago Brack, Robert C. N Mexico 107 1 1 1 More Lewis, Peter C. Cal, S 102 2 579 698 More Cardone, Kathleen Texas, W 89 3 8 10 More Martinez, Philip Ray Texas, W 88 4 10 8 More Montalvo, Frank Texas, W 84 5 15 10 More Crane, Randy Texas, S 80 6 4 3 More Briones, David Texas, W 74 7 17 6 More Guaderrama, David C. Texas, W 73 8 15 33 More Hinojosa, Ricardo H. Texas, S 64 9 5 5 More Moses, Alia M. Texas, W 57 10 2 2 More Table 4. Top Ten Judges
All 10 of the "top ten" judges were in districts which were in the top ten with the largest number of convictions per capit.
Judge Robert C. Brack in the District of New Mexico ranked 1st with 107 convicted in convictions. Judge Brack appeared in the top ten rankings one year (ranked 1) and five years ago (rank 1).
Judge Peter C. Lewis in the Southern District of California (San Diego) ranked 2nd with 102 convicted in convictions.
Judge Kathleen Cardone in the Western District of Texas (San Antonio) ranked 3rd with 89 convicted in convictions. Judge Cardone appeared in the top ten rankings one year (ranked 8) and five years ago (rank 10).
Report Generated: March 26, 2018
