Government Regulatory Convictions for August 2012
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during August 2012 the government reported 175 new government regulatory convictions. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is down 10.7% over the previous month.
The comparisons of the number of defendants convicted for government regulatory-related offenses 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 down (-2.1 percent). 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 7 percent from levels reported in 2007.
The leveling out from the levels five years ago in government regulatory convictions for these matters is shown more clearly in Figure 1. The vertical bars in Figure 1 represent the number of government regulatory 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.
Within the broad category of government regulatory, cases were classified by prosecutors into more specific types.
Case types within government regulatory are
Counterfeiting and Forgery
Customs Violations - Duty
Customs Violations - Currency
Energy Pricing and Related Fraud
Health and Safety Violations - Employees
Health and Safety Violations - General Public
Copyright Violations
Trafficking in Contraband Cigarettes
Energy Violations - Nuclear Waste Issues
Money Laundering/Structuring (Narcotics)
Money Laundering/Structuring (Other)
Export Enforcement General
Other Government Regulatory Offenses
The largest number of convictions of these matters in August 2012 was for "Other-Regulatory Offenses", accounting for 44.6 percent of convictions. Convictions were also filed for "Counterfeiting and Forgery" (33.1%), " Money Laundering-Other" (7.4%), "Customs-Currency Violations" (6.3%), "Contraband Cigarettes-Trafficking in" (2.9%), "Money Laundering-Drug" (2.9%). See Figure 2.
The lead investigative agency for government regulatory convictions in August 2012 was Interior accounting for 38 percent of convictions. Other agencies with substantial numbers of government regulatory convictions were: SecServ (25% ), DHS (14%), Postal (6%), IRS (3%). See Figure 3.
Government Regulatory Convictions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In August 2012, 59 defendants in government regulatory 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 August the most frequently cited lead charge was Title 18 U.S.C Section 19 involving the "Petty Offense Defined". This was the lead charge for 18.6 percent of all magistrate convictions in August.
Other frequently prosecuted lead charges include: "36 CFR 2.35b2 - Possession of a controlled substance" (16.9%), "36 CFR 2.35a2ii - Possession of alcohol by a minor" (10.2%), "36 CFR 4.21c - Speeding" (8.5%).
Government Regulatory Convictions in U.S. District Courts
In August 2012, 116 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during August 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 August.
Top Ranked Lead Charges
Table 2 shows the top lead charges recorded in the convictions of government regulatory matters filed in U.S. District Court during August 2012.
Lead Charge Count Rank 18 USC 472 - Uttering counterfeit obligations or securities 16 1 More 18 USC 471 - Obligations or securities of United States 14 2 More 31 USC 5332 - Bulk Cash Smuggling into or out of the United States 12 3 More 18 USC 371 - Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US 10 4 More 18 USC 513 - Securities of the States and private entities 10 4 More 18 USC 1956 - Laundering of monetary instruments 8 6 More 18 USC 2320 - Trafficking in counterfeit goods or services 5 7 More 31 USC 5324 - Structuring transactions to evade reporting requir 5 7 More 21 USC 844 - Penalty for simple possession 4 9 More 36 CFR 2.35b2 - Possession of a controlled substance 4 9 More Table 2: Top charges for convictions
"Uttering counterfeit obligations or securities" (Title 18 U.S.C Section 472) was the most frequent recorded lead charge.
Ranked 2nd in frequency was the lead charge "Obligations or securities of United States" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 471.
Ranked 3rd was "Bulk Cash Smuggling into or out of the United States" under Title 31 U.S.C Section 5332.
Top Ranked Judicial Districts
In August 2012 the Justice Department said the government obtained 45.3 government regulatory convictions for every ten million people in the United States.
Understandably, there is great variation in the number of government regulatory convictions in each of the nation's ninety-four federal judicial districts.
The districts registering the largest number of convictions of this type last month are shown in Table 3.
The District of Wyoming—with 11 convictions—was the most active during August 2012.
The Eastern District of Washington (Spokane) ranked 2nd.
Southern District of California (San Diego) and District of South Carolina are now ranking 3rd.
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 government regulatory crime cases resulting in convictions of this type during August 2012 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank Suko, Lonny R. Wash, E 6 1 More Darrow, Sara Lynn Ill, C 3 2 More Kapala, Frederick J. Ill, N 3 2 More Cox, Sean Francis Mich, E 3 2 More Collier, Curtis Lynn Tenn, E 3 2 More O'Grady, Liam Virg, E 3 2 More Kiser, Jackson L. Virg, W 3 2 More Johnson, Alan Bond Wyoming 3 2 More Huff, Marilyn L. Cal, S 2 9 More Whelan, Thomas J. Cal, S 2 9 More Van Tatenhove, Gregory Frederick Ken, E 2 9 More Jackson, Brian Anthony La, M 2 9 More Autrey, Henry Edward Mo, E 2 9 More Irizarry, Dora L. N. Y., E 2 9 More Dowd, David Dudley, Jr. Ohio, N 2 9 More Childs, Julianna Michelle S Car 2 9 More Cummings, Samuel Ray Texas, N 2 9 More Gist, Richard D. Wyoming 2 9 More Skavdahl, Scott W. Wyoming 2 9 More Table 4: Top 10 judges
A total of 10 out of the "top ten" judges were in districts which were in the top ten with the largest number of government regulatory convictions , while the remaining 9 judges were from other districts. (Because of ties, there were a total of 19 judges in the "top ten" rankings.)
Judge Lonny R. Suko in the Eastern District of Washington (Spokane) ranked 1st with 6 convicted in government regulatory convictions.
Judges Sara Lynn Darrow in the Central District of Illinois (Springfield), Frederick J. Kapala in the Northern District of Illinois (Chicago), Sean Francis Cox in the Eastern District of Michigan (Detroit), Curtis Lynn Collier in the Eastern District of Tennessee (Knoxville), Liam O'Grady in the Eastern District of Virginia (Alexandria), Jackson L. Kiser in the Western District of Virginia (Roanoke) and Alan Bond Johnson in the District of Wyoming ranked 2nd with 3 convicted in government regulatory convictions.
Report Generated: November 19, 2012
