Convictions for September 2017
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during September 2017 the government reported 9662 new convictions. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is down 12 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 2017 convictions of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, the number of convictions was down (-3.7%). Convictions over the past year are still much lower than they were five years ago. Overall, the data show that convictions of this type are down 30.9 percent from levels reported in 2012.
The dip 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 decrease in convictions is 16.3 percent instead of 30.9 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 decrease 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 September 2017 was for "Immigration", accounting for 49.3 percent of convictions. Convictions were also filed for "Drugs-Drug Trafficking" (12%), "Weapons-Operation Triggerlock Major" (7.4%), "Drugs-Organized Crime Task Force" (5.4%), "Withheld by Govt from TRAC (FOIA challen" (3.6%), "Assimilated Crimes" (2.9%), "Project Safe Childhood" (2.8%), "Other Criminal Prosecutions" (2.2%). See Figure 2.
The lead investigative agency for convictions in September 2017 was DHS accounting for 55 percent of convictions. Other agencies with substantial numbers of convictions were: FBI (11% ), DEA (10%), ATF (7%), Interior (3%). See Figure 3.
Convictions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In September 2017, 3686 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 September 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 67.1 percent of all magistrate convictions in September.
Other frequently prosecuted lead charges include: "08 USC 1326 - Reentry of deported alien" (17.3%).
Convictions in U.S. District Courts
In September 2017, 5976 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during September 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 September.
Top Ranked Lead Charges
Table 2 shows the top lead charges recorded in the convictions of matters filed in U.S. District Court during September 2017.
Lead Charge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago 08 USC 1326 - Reentry of deported alien 1,278 1 1 1 More 21 USC 841 - Drug Abuse Prevention & Control-Prohibited acts A 867 2 2 2 More 21 USC 846 - Attempt and conspiracy 661 3 3 3 More 18 USC 922 - Firearms; Unlawful acts 653 4 4 4 More 08 USC 1324 - Bringing in and harboring certain aliens 210 5 5 5 More 18 USC 1343 - Fraud by wire, radio, or television 113 6 8 13 More 18 USC 2252 - Material involving sexual exploitation of minors 104 7 7 7 More 21 USC 952 - Importation of controlled substances 76 8 6 6 More 18 USC 1951 - Hobbs Act 70 9 12 15 More 18 USC 2113 - Bank robbery and incidental crimes 67 10 11 10 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 "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 37.3 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 — 30.3 percent — was registered for convictions under " Hobbs Act " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 1951 ).
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 " Importation of controlled substances " (Title 21 U.S.C Section 952 ). This was the same statute that had the largest decrease — 38.8 % — when compared with five years ago.
Top Ranked Judicial Districts
In September 2017 the Justice Department said the government obtained 2219.3 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 23,988 416 1 3 5 More Cal, S 10,941 319 2 5 4 More S Dakota 8,883 63 3 38 43 More Texas, W 6,732 398 4 1 1 More Texas, S 6,730 539 5 2 3 More N Dakota 5,700 36 6 50 65 More N. Y., S 5,442 238 7 24 11 More Wyoming 5,124 25 8 67 63 More Wash, E 5,000 66 9 43 70 More D. C. 4,933 28 10 62 66 More Table 3. Top 10 Districts (per ten million people)
The District of New Mexico — with 23988 convictions as compared with 2219.3 convictions per ten million population in the United States — was the most active during September 2017. The District of New Mexico was ranked 3 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 5 a year ago, while it was ranked 4 for most frequent use five years ago.
District of South Dakota is now ranking 3rd.
Recent entrants to the top 10 list were Southern District of New York (Manhattan), now ranked 7th , and South Dakota at 3rd In the same order, these districts ranked 24th and 38th one year ago and 11th and 43rd five years ago.
The federal judicial district which showed the greatest growth in the rate of convictions compared to one year ago — 196.2 percent — was Southern District of New York (Manhattan). This was the same district that had the largest increase — 49.3 percent — when compared with five years ago.
In the last year, the judicial District Court recording the largest drop in the rate of convictions — 30.6 percent — was New Mexico . But over the past five years, Southern District of California (San Diego) showed the largest drop — 39.4 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 September 2017 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago Johnson, William Paul N Mexico 105 1 4 89 More Alvarez, Micaela Texas, S 85 2 10 9 More Brack, Robert C. N Mexico 63 3 2 2 More Hinojosa, Ricardo H. Texas, S 62 4 20 5 More Crane, Randy Texas, S 59 5 9 4 More Gonzales, Kenneth John N Mexico 57 6 3 - More Cardone, Kathleen Texas, W 51 7 15 8 More Saldana, Diana Texas, S 47 8 12 51 More Hanen, Andrew S. Texas, S 43 9 7 18 More Junell, Robert A. Texas, W 41 10 30 3 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 William Paul Johnson in the District of New Mexico ranked 1st with 105 convicted in convictions. Judge Johnson also appeared in the top ten rankings one year ago (ranked 4).
Judge Micaela Alvarez in the Southern District of Texas (Houston) ranked 2nd with 85 convicted in convictions. Judge Alvarez appeared in the top ten rankings one year (ranked 10) and five years ago (rank 9).
Judge Robert C. Brack in the District of New Mexico ranked 3rd with 63 convicted in convictions. Judge Brack appeared in the top ten rankings one year (ranked 2) and five years ago (rank 2).
Report Generated: November 22, 2017
