Convictions for July 2009
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during July 2009 the government reported 13232 new convictions. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is up 0.3% 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 2009 convictions of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, the number of convictions was only slightlydown (-0.4 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 52.2 percent from levels reported in 2004.
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 15.7 percent instead of 52.2 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 July 2009 was for "Immigration", accounting for 57.8 percent of convictions. Convictions were also filed for "Drugs-Drug Trafficking" (10.6%), "Weapons-Operation Triggerlock Major " (5.7%), "Drugs-Organized Crime Task Force" (4.5%), "Withheld by Govt from TRAC (FOIA challen" (4.2%), "Other Criminal Prosecutions" (2.2%), "Assimilated Crimes" (2%). See Figure 2.
The lead investigative agency for convictions in July 2009 was DHS accounting for 62 percent of convictions. Other agencies with substantial numbers of convictions were: DEA (9% ), FBI (8%), ATF (6%), Local (2%). See Figure 3.
Convictions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In July 2009, 5981 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 July 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 81.9 percent of all magistrate convictions in July.
Other frequently prosecuted lead charges include: "8 USC 1326 - Reentry of deported alien" (9.3%).
Convictions in U.S. District Courts
In July 2009, 7251 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during July 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 July.
Top Ranked Lead Charges
Table 2 shows the top lead charges recorded in the convictions of matters filed in U.S. District Court during July 2009.
Lead Charge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago 8 USC 1326 - Reentry of deported alien 1,610 1 1 2 More 21 USC 841 - Drug Abuse Prevention + Control-Prohibited acts A 1,054 2 2 1 More 21 USC 846 - Attempt and conspiracy 774 3 3 3 More 18 USC 922 - Firearms; Unlawful acts 633 4 4 4 More 8 USC 1324 - Bringing in and harboring certain aliens 244 5 5 5 More 21 USC 952 - Importation of controlled substances 126 6 10 7 More 8 USC 1325 - Entry of alien at improper time or place; etc. 125 7 6 6 More 18 USC 1546 - Fraud and misuse of visas, permits, and other documents 124 8 7 20 More 18 USC 2113 - Bank robbery and incidental crimes 119 9 8 8 More 18 USC 2252 - Material involving sexual exploitation of minors 109 10 11 18 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 the 2 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 2 a year ago, while it was the 1 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 3 most frequently invoked 5 years ago..
Among these top ten lead charges, the one showing the greatest increase in convictions—up 35.3 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—260.4 percent—was registered for convictions under " Fraud and misuse of visas, permits, and other documents " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 1546 ).
Again among the top ten lead charges, the one showing the sharpest decline in convictions compared to one year ago—down 11.5 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— 34.9 percent—was for convictions 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 July 2009 the Justice Department said the government obtained 2912.5 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 25,701 416 1 5 6 More Cal, S 15,492 401 2 4 4 More Texas, W 14,930 714 3 1 3 More Wyoming 13,106 56 4 77 71 More Mo, E 11,190 269 5 15 19 More D. C. 6,764 33 6 63 36 More S Dakota 6,544 43 7 55 46 More Texas, S 6,400 424 8 2 1 More Ala, S 5,936 40 9 38 73 More Utah 5,629 121 10 17 24 More
Table 3: Top 10 districts (per ten million people)
The District of New Mexico—with 25701 convictions as compared with 2912.5 convictions per ten million population in the United States—was the most active during July 2009. The District of New Mexico was ranked 5 a year ago, while it was ranked 6 five years ago.
The Southern District of California (San Diego) ranked 2nd. The Southern District of California (San Diego) was ranked 4 a year ago, while it was ranked 4 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 3 five years ago.
Recent entrants to the top 10 list were Eastern District of Missouri (St. Louis), now ranked 5th , and Utah at 10th In the same order, these districts ranked 15th and 17th one year ago and 19th and 24th five years ago.
The federal judicial district which showed the greatest growth in the rate of convictions compared to one year ago— 135.7 percent—was Wyoming . This was the same district that had the largest increase— 104 %—when compared with five years ago.
In the last year, the judicial District Court recording the largest drop in the rate of convictions— 27.9 percent—was Southern District of Alabama (Mobile). But over the past five years, Washington, D.C. (Washington) showed the largest drop— 43.7 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 July 2009 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago Brack, Robert C. N Mexico 189 1 1 11 More Cardone, Kathleen Texas, W 96 2 4 18 More Montalvo, Frank Texas, W 95 3 5 16 More Yeakel, Earl Leroy III Texas, W 86 4 46 152 More Briones, David Texas, W 84 5 3 13 More Kazen, George P. Texas, S 75 6 6 3 More Martinez, Philip Ray Texas, W 71 7 2 14 More Tagle, Hilda G. Texas, S 69 8 10 15 More Crane, Randy Texas, S 52 9 7 9 More Hinojosa, Ricardo H. Texas, S 50 10 9 12 More
Table 4: Top 10 judges
All 10 of the "top ten" judges were in districts which were in the top ten with the largest number of convictions per capita.
Judge Robert C. Brack in the District of New Mexico ranked 1st with 189 convicted in convictions. Judge Brackalso appeared in the top ten rankings one year ago(ranked 1).
Judge Kathleen Cardone in the Western District of Texas (San Antonio) ranked 2nd with 96 convicted in convictions. Judge Cardonealso appeared in the top ten rankings one year ago(ranked 4).
Judge Frank Montalvo in the Western District of Texas (San Antonio) ranked 3rd with 95 convicted in convictions. Judge Montalvoalso appeared in the top ten rankings one year ago(ranked 5).
