Prosecutions for July 2012
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during July 2012 the government reported 14497 new prosecutions. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is up 1.2% 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 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 (1.8 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 47.7 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 prosecutions is 0.5 percent instead of 47.7 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 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 July 2012 was for "Immigration", accounting for 58.4 percent of prosecutions. Prosecutions were also filed for "Drugs-Drug Trafficking" (10.2%), " Withheld by Govt from TRAC (FOIA challen" (6.8%), "Weapons-Operation Triggerlock Major" (4.5%), "Drugs-Organized Crime Task Force" (3.3%), "Other Criminal Prosecutions" (2.5%). See Figure 2.
The lead investigative agency for prosecutions in July 2012 was DHS accounting for 65 percent of prosecutions referred. Other agencies with substantial numbers of referrals were: FBI (9% ), DEA (7%), ATF (5%), Interior (3%). See Figure 3.
Prosecutions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In July 2012, 9485 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 52.2 percent of all magistrate filings in July.
Other frequently prosecuted lead charges include: "08 USC 1326 - Reentry of deported alien" (24.1%).
Prosecutions in U.S. District Courts
In July 2012, 5012 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during July there were an additional 2128 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 prosecutions of matters filed in U.S. District Court during July 2012.
Lead Charge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago 08 USC 1326 - Reentry of deported alien 1,697 1 1 2 More 21 USC 841 - Drug Abuse Prevention & Control-Prohibited acts A 798 2 2 1 More 21 USC 846 - Attempt and conspiracy 686 3 3 3 More 18 USC 922 - Firearms; Unlawful acts 569 4 4 4 More 08 USC 1324 - Bringing in and harboring certain aliens 233 5 5 5 More 21 USC 952 - Importation of controlled substances 193 6 6 6 More 18 USC 1546 - Fraud and misuse of visas, permits, and other documents 119 7 9 15 More 18 USC 641 - Public money, property or records 106 8 13 13 More 18 USC 2252 - Material involving sexual exploitation of minors 94 9 8 9 More 18 USC 1349 - Mail Fraud - Attempt and Conspiracy 80 10 10 54 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 5.1 percent—compared to one year ago was Title 8 U.S.C Section 1324 that involves " Bringing in and harboring certain aliens ". Compared to five years ago, the largest increase—507.3 percent—was registered for prosecutions under " Mail Fraud - Attempt and Conspiracy " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 1349 ).
Again among the top ten lead charges, the one showing the sharpest decline in prosecutions compared to one year ago—down 45.2 percent—was Mail Fraud - Attempt and Conspiracy (Title 18 U.S.C Section 1349 ). Compared to five years ago, the most significant decline in prosecutions— 31.6 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 July 2012 the Justice Department said the government brought 2790.8 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 23,511 631 1 4 4 More N Mexico 16,659 279 2 5 5 More S Dakota 11,374 77 3 47 49 More Texas, W 10,824 553 4 1 2 More Arizona 9,515 523 5 2 3 More Texas, S 8,161 572 6 3 1 More Ill, S 7,536 80 7 54 61 More Wyoming 7,055 32 8 72 69 More N Dakota 7,050 38 9 69 70 More Kansas 6,471 152 10 25 26 More Table 3: Top 10 districts (per ten million people)
The Southern District of California (San Diego)—with 23511 prosecutions as compared with 2790.8 prosecutions per ten million population in the United States—was the most active during July 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.
District of South Dakota is now ranking 3rd.
Recent entrants to the top 10 list were Kansas , now ranked 10th , and South Dakota at 3rd In the same order, these districts ranked 25th and 47th one year ago and 26th and 49th five years ago.
The federal judicial district which showed the greatest growth in the rate of prosecutions compared to one year ago— 68.2 percent—was Kansas . This was the same district that had the largest increase— 90 percent—when compared with five years ago.
In the last year, the judicial District Court recording the largest drop in the rate of prosecutions— 28.9 percent—was Wyoming . This was the same district that had the largest increase— 17.4 percent—when compared with five years ago.
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 July 2012 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago Moses, Alia Texas, W 132 1 1 - More Brack, Robert C. N Mexico 122 2 16 4 More Hayes, William Q. Cal, S 75 3 24 15 More Murguia, Carlos Kansas 71 4 175 272 More Alvarez, Micaela Texas, S 70 5 11 3 More Junell, Robert A. Texas, W 70 5 2 13 More Hinojosa, Ricardo H. Texas, S 67 7 7 11 More Crane, Randy Texas, S 67 7 4 9 More Ramos, Nelva Gonzales Texas, S 60 9 - - More Battaglia, Anthony M. Cal, S 58 10 36 985 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 filings per capita.
Judge Alia Moses in the Western District of Texas (San Antonio) ranked 1st with 132 defendants in cases. Judge Mosesalso appeared in the top ten rankings one year ago(ranked 1).
Judge Robert C. Brack in the District of New Mexico ranked 2nd with 122 defendants in cases.
Judge William Q. Hayes in the Southern District of California (San Diego) ranked 3rd with 75 defendants in cases.
Report Generated: October 1, 2012
