Convictions for May 2012
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during May 2012 the government reported 14565 new convictions. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is up 14.6% 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 (10.6 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 61.6 percent from levels reported in 2007.
The substantial 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 17.6 percent instead of 61.6 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 May 2012 was for "Immigration", accounting for 63 percent of convictions. Convictions were also filed for "Drugs-Drug Trafficking" (11.1%), "Weapons-Operation Triggerlock Major" ( 4.4%), "Drugs-Organized Crime Task Force" (4.2%), "Withheld by Govt from TRAC (FOIA challen" (3.3%). See Figure 2.
The lead investigative agency for convictions in May 2012 was DHS accounting for 70 percent of convictions. Other agencies with substantial numbers of convictions were: DEA (7% ), FBI (6%), ATF (5%), Defense (2%). See Figure 3.
Convictions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In May 2012, 7716 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 May 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 71.6 percent of all magistrate convictions in May.
Other frequently prosecuted lead charges include: "08 USC 1326 - Reentry of deported alien" (18.6%).
Convictions in U.S. District Courts
In May 2012, 6849 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during May 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 May.
Top Ranked Lead Charges
Table 2 shows the top lead charges recorded in the convictions of matters filed in U.S. District Court during May 2012.
Lead Charge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago 08 USC 1326 - Reentry of deported alien 1,680 1 1 2 More 21 USC 841 - Drug Abuse Prevention & Control-Prohibited acts A 942 2 2 1 More 21 USC 846 - Attempt and conspiracy 941 3 3 3 More 18 USC 922 - Firearms; Unlawful acts 525 4 4 4 More 08 USC 1324 - Bringing in and harboring certain aliens 197 5 5 5 More 18 USC 2252 - Material involving sexual exploitation of minors 131 6 6 12 More 18 USC 371 - Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US 117 7 10 9 More 21 USC 952 - Importation of controlled substances 113 8 9 7 More 18 USC 1546 - Fraud and misuse of visas, permits, and other documents 98 9 8 11 More 18 USC 2113 - Bank robbery and incidental crimes 82 10 7 6 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 56.7 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—106.6 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 16.3 percent—was Bank robbery and incidental crimes (Title 18 U.S.C Section 2113 ). This was the same statute that had the largest decrease— 27.2 %—when compared with five years ago.
Top Ranked Judicial Districts
In May 2012 the Justice Department said the government obtained 2677.1 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 22,272 373 1 5 5 More Arizona 15,246 838 2 3 4 More Cal, S 14,084 378 3 4 3 More Texas, W 12,898 659 4 2 1 More N Dakota 10,760 58 5 68 80 More Ala, S 7,125 49 6 49 64 More S Dakota 6,204 42 7 54 53 More Texas, S 5,992 420 8 1 2 More Vermont 5,790 30 9 90 86 More N. Y., N 5,074 143 10 31 38 More Table 3: Top 10 districts (per ten million people)
The District of New Mexico—with 22272 convictions as compared with 2677.1 convictions per ten million population in the United States—was the most active during May 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 District of Arizona ranked 2nd. The District of Arizona was ranked 3 a year ago, while it was ranked 4 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 3 for most frequent use five years ago.
Recent entrants to the top 10 list were Northern District of New York (Syracuse), now ranked 10th , and Southern District of Alabama (Mobile) at 6th In the same order, these districts ranked 31st and 49th one year ago and 38th and 64th five years ago.
The federal judicial district which showed the greatest growth in the rate of convictions compared to one year ago— 170.4 percent—was Vermont . Compared to five years ago, the district with the largest growth— 286.6 percent—was Arizona .
In the last year, the judicial District Court recording the largest drop in the rate of convictions— 26.7 percent—was Southern District of Texas (Houston). But over the past five years, showed the largest drop— 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 May 2012 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago Brack, Robert C. N Mexico 188 1 8 4 More Moses, Alia Texas, W 138 2 2 - More Collins, Raner Christercunean Arizona 96 3 5 58 More Bury, David C. Arizona 93 4 7 61 More Martinez, Philip Ray Texas, W 91 5 17 7 More Junell, Robert A. Texas, W 83 6 6 13 More Hinojosa, Ricardo H. Texas, S 82 7 9 12 More Jorgenson, Cindy K. Arizona 79 8 11 138 More Briones, David Texas, W 77 9 14 6 More Conway, John Edwards N Mexico 76 10 16 17 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 188 convicted in convictions. Judge Brack appeared in the top ten rankings one year (ranked 8) and five years ago (rank 4).
Judge Alia Moses in the Western District of Texas (San Antonio) ranked 2nd with 138 convicted in convictions. Judge Mosesalso appeared in the top ten rankings one year ago(ranked 2).
Judge Raner Christercunean Collins in the District of Arizona ranked 3rd with 96 convicted in convictions. Judge Collinsalso appeared in the top ten rankings one year ago(ranked 5).
Report Generated: July 31, 2012
