Convictions for October 2018
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during October 2018 the government reported 15558 new convictions. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is up 2.4 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 (62.1%). 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 23.8 percent from levels reported in 2013.
Figure 1. Monthly Trends in Convictions
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 October 2018 was for "Immigration", accounting for 73.5 percent of convictions. Convictions were also filed for "Drugs-Drug Trafficking" (6.6%), "Weapons-Operation Triggerlock Major" (4.2%), "Drugs-Organized Crime Task Force" (3.2%). See Figure 2.
The lead investigative agency for convictions in October 2018 was DHS accounting for 77 percent of convictions. Other agencies with substantial numbers of convictions were: FBI (6% ), DEA (5%), ATF (4%), Local (1%). See Figure 3.
Convictions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In October 2018, 9093 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 "Entry of alien at improper time or place; etc.". This was the lead charge for 88.7 percent of all magistrate convictions in October.
Other frequently prosecuted lead charges include: "08 USC 1326 - Reentry of deported alien" (7.4%).
Convictions in U.S. District Courts
In October 2018, 6465 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during October 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 October.
Top Ranked Lead Charges
Table 2 shows the top lead charges recorded in the convictions of matters filed in U.S. District Court during October 2018.
Lead Charge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago 08 USC 1326 - Reentry of deported alien 2,165 1 1 1 More 21 USC 841 - Drug Abuse Prevention & Control-Prohibited acts A 763 2 2 2 More 18 USC 922 - Firearms; Unlawful acts 585 3 4 4 More 21 USC 846 - Attempt and conspiracy 453 4 3 3 More 08 USC 1324 - Bringing in and harboring certain aliens 290 5 5 5 More 21 USC 952 - Importation of controlled substances 227 6 6 6 More 18 USC 2252 - Material involving sexual exploitation of minors 104 7 7 7 More 08 USC 1325 - Entry of alien at improper time or place; etc. 77 8 14 20 More 18 USC 1951 - Hobbs Act 76 9 10 16 More 18 USC 2113 - Bank robbery and incidental crimes 66 10 9 11 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 42.5 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 — 78.6 % — 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 6.2 percent — was " Attempt and conspiracy " (Title 21 U.S.C Section 846 ). This was the same statute that had the largest decrease — 16 % — when compared with five years ago.
Top Ranked Judicial Districts
In October 2018 the Justice Department said the government obtained 2381.8 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 26,149 455 1 4 4 More Cal, S 19,531 573 2 5 3 More Texas, W 16,023 964 3 1 2 More Vermont 7,697 40 4 85 83 More Texas, S 6,686 543 5 2 1 More N Dakota 6,037 38 6 63 72 More S Dakota 5,331 38 7 23 24 More Nebraska 5,125 82 8 19 30 More Alaska 4,852 29 9 85 83 More Wyoming 4,764 23 10 72 75 More Table 3. Top 10 Districts (per ten million people)
The District of New Mexico — with 26149 convictions as compared with 2381.8 convictions per ten million population in the United States — was the most active during October 2018. The District of New Mexico was ranked 4 a year ago, while it was ranked 4 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 1 a year ago, while it was ranked 2 for most frequent use five years ago.
Recent entrants to the top 10 list were Nebraska , now ranked 8th , and South Dakota at 7th In the same order, these districts ranked 19th and 23rd one year ago and 30th and 24th five years ago.
The federal judicial district which showed the greatest growth in the rate of convictions compared to one year ago — 45.7 percent — was Vermont . Compared to five years ago, the district with the largest growth — 46.9 percent — was Western District of Texas (San Antonio).
In the last year, the judicial District Court recording the largest drop in the rate of convictions — 19.6 percent — was South Dakota . This was the same district that had the largest increase — 29.3 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 resulting in convictions of this type during October 2018 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago Zainey, Jay C. Texas, W 266 1 231 - More Counts, Walter David, III Texas, W 152 2 - - More Cardone, Kathleen Texas, W 102 3 7 15 More Ramos, Nelva Gonzales Texas, S 79 4 18 7 More Hinojosa, Ricardo H. Texas, S 76 5 2 3 More Alvarez, Micaela Texas, S 69 6 5 6 More Armijo, M. Christina N Mexico 68 7 69 54 More Bencivengo, Cathy Ann Cal, S 59 8 29 32 More Gonzales, Kenneth John N Mexico 59 8 6 57 More Montalvo, Frank Texas, W 57 10 9 7 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 Jay C. Zainey in the Western District of Texas (San Antonio) ranked 1st with 266 convicted in convictions.
Judge Walter David Counts, III in the Western District of Texas (San Antonio) ranked 2nd with 152 convicted in convictions.
Judge Kathleen Cardone in the Western District of Texas (San Antonio) ranked 3rd with 102 convicted in convictions. Judge Cardone also appeared in the top ten rankings one year ago (ranked 7).
Report Generated: December 6, 2018
