Prosecutions for October 2012
Table 1: Criminal Prosecutions
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during October 2012 the government reported 13764 new prosecutions.
According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is up 4.5% 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 up (4 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 43.4 percent from levels reported in 2007.
Figure 1: Monthly trends in prosecutions
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 October 2012 was for "Immigration", accounting for 52.1 percent of prosecutions. Prosecutions were also filed for "Drugs-Drug Trafficking" (11.8%), "
Withheld by Govt from TRAC (FOIA challen" (8%), "Drugs-Organized Crime Task Force" (4.7%), "Weapons-Operation Triggerlock Major" (4.5%), "Assimilated Crimes" (3.7%), "Other Criminal Prosecutions" (2.9%).
See Figure 2.
The lead investigative agency for prosecutions in October 2012
was DHS accounting for 59 percent of prosecutions referred.
Other agencies with substantial numbers of referrals were:
FBI (9% ), DEA (8%), ATF (7%), Defense (3%).
See Figure 3.
Figure 2: Specific types of prosecutions
Figure 3: Prosecutions by investigative agency
Prosecutions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In October 2012, 8353 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 October 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 42.1 percent of all magistrate filings in October.
Other frequently prosecuted lead charges include: "08 USC 1326 - Reentry of deported alien" (26.7%).
Prosecutions in U.S. District Courts
In October 2012, 5411 defendants in new cases
for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during October there
were an additional 2004 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 October.
Top Ranked Lead Charges
Table 2 shows the top lead charges recorded in the prosecutions of matters
filed in U.S. District Court during October 2012.
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 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 "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 21 percent—compared to one year ago was Title 18 U.S.C Section 1956
that involves " Laundering of monetary instruments
".
Compared to five years ago, the largest increase—49.1 percent—was registered for
prosecutions 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 prosecutions compared to one year ago—down 21.6 percent—was
Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US
(Title 18 U.S.C Section 371 ).
Compared to five years ago, the most significant decline in prosecutions— 27.5 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 October 2012 the Justice Department said the government brought 2898.3 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.
19,167 |
321 |
1 |
5 |
5 |
More |
17,400 |
467 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
More |
13,329 |
681 |
3 |
1 |
2 |
More |
10,487 |
735 |
4 |
4 |
1 |
More |
9,276 |
50 |
5 |
66 |
71 |
More |
7,977 |
54 |
6 |
45 |
56 |
More |
7,787 |
428 |
7 |
2 |
3 |
More |
7,204 |
36 |
8 |
57 |
83 |
More |
5,961 |
41 |
9 |
47 |
40 |
More |
5,795 |
38 |
10 |
85 |
87 |
More |
Table 3: Top 10 districts (per ten million people)
The District of New Mexico—with 19167 prosecutions as compared with 2898.3 prosecutions per ten million population in the United States—was the most active during October 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 Southern District of California (San Diego) ranked 2nd.
The Southern District of California (San Diego) was ranked 3 a year ago, while it was ranked 4 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 1 a year ago, while it was ranked 2 for most frequent use five years ago.
Recent entrants to the top 10 list were
South Dakota , now ranked
6th
, and Southern District of Alabama (Mobile)
at 9th
In the same order, these districts ranked 45th and 47th one year ago and 56th and 40th five years ago.
The federal judicial district which showed the greatest growth
in the rate of prosecutions compared to one year ago— 42.7 percent—was
South Dakota .
Compared to five years ago, the district with the largest growth— 72.3 percent—was
Middle District of Louisiana (Baton Rouge).
In the last year, the judicial District Court recording the
largest drop in the rate of prosecutions— 36.3 percent—was
Washington, D.C. (Washington).
But over the past five years,
Southern District of Alabama (Mobile)
showed the largest drop— 36.1 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 of this type during October 2012 are shown in Table 4.
A total of 8 out of the "top ten" judges were in districts which were in the top ten with the largest number of filings per capita, while the remaining 3 judges were from other districts.
(Because of ties, there were a total of 11 judges in the "top ten" rankings.)
Judge Robert C. Brack in the District of New Mexico ranked 1st with 200 defendants in cases.
Judge Alia Moses in the Western District of Texas (San Antonio) ranked 2nd with 139 defendants in cases.
Judge Mosesalso appeared in the top ten rankings one year ago(ranked 1).
Judge Robert A. Junell in the Western District of Texas (San Antonio) ranked 3rd with 100 defendants in cases.
Judge Junellalso appeared in the top ten rankings one year ago(ranked 2).
Report Generated: February 6, 2013