Government Regulatory Convictions for February 2012
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during February 2012 the government reported 157 new government regulatory convictions. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is down 17.8% 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 up (11.6 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 12.3 percent from levels reported in 2007.
The increase 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 February 2012 was for "Other-Regulatory Offenses", accounting for 41.4 percent of convictions. Convictions were also filed for "Counterfeiting and Forgery" (31.2%), " Money Laundering-Drug" (7.6%), "Money Laundering-Other" (6.4%), "Contraband Cigarettes-Trafficking in" (5.7%), "Customs-Currency Violations" (5.1%). See Figure 2.
The lead investigative agency for government regulatory convictions in February 2012 was Interior accounting for 32 percent of convictions. Other agencies with substantial numbers of government regulatory convictions were: SecServ (27% ), DHS (12%), IRS (7%), ATF (4%). See Figure 3.
Government Regulatory Convictions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In February 2012, 57 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 February the most frequently cited lead charge was Title 36 U.S.C Section . involving the "Possession of a controlled substance". This was the lead charge for 14 percent of all magistrate convictions in February.
Other frequently prosecuted lead charges include: "36 CFR 4.21c - Speeding" (10.5%), "18 USC 19 - Petty Offense Defined" (8.8%).
Government Regulatory Convictions in U.S. District Courts
In February 2012, 100 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during February 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 February.
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 February 2012.
Lead Charge Count Rank 18 USC 472 - Uttering counterfeit obligations or securities 17 1 More 18 USC 1956 - Laundering of monetary instruments 13 2 More 18 USC 371 - Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US 10 3 More 18 USC 471 - Obligations or securities of United States 10 3 More 18 USC 2342 - Trafficking in contraband cigarettes Unlawful acts 7 5 More 31 USC 5316 - Exporting and importing monetary instruments( 5 6 More 18 USC 513 - Securities of the States and private entities 4 7 More 18 USC 1028 - Fraud and related activity - id documents 4 7 More 31 USC 5324 - Structuring transactions to evade reporting requir 4 7 More 31 USC 5332 - Bulk Cash Smuggling into or out of the United States 3 10 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 "Laundering of monetary instruments" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 1956.
Ranked 3rd were "Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 371 and "Obligations or securities of United States" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 471.
Top Ranked Judicial Districts
In February 2012 the Justice Department said the government obtained 39.1 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 South Carolina—with 7 convictions—was the most active during February 2012.
The District of Arizona ranked 2nd.
Eastern District of Arkansas (Little Rock), Southern District of California (San Diego), Southern District of Florida (Miami) and Western District of Washington (Seattle) 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 February 2012 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank Robart, James L. Wash, W 4 1 More Anderson, Joseph Fletcher, Jr. S Car 3 2 More Hudson, Henry E. Virg, E 3 2 More Nguyen, Jacqueline Hong-Ngoc Cal, C 2 4 More Smoak, John Richard, Jr. Fla, N 2 4 More Hall, James Randal Ga, S 2 4 More Herrera, Judith C. N Mexico 2 4 More Salas, Esther N. J. 2 4 More Skretny, William M. N. Y., W 2 4 More Van Sickle, Frederick L. Wash, E 2 4 More Table 4: Top 10 judges
A total of 5 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 5 judges were from other districts.
Judge James L. Robart in the Western District of Washington (Seattle) ranked 1st with 4 convicted in government regulatory convictions.
Judges Joseph Fletcher Anderson, Jr. in the District of South Carolina and Henry E. Hudson in the Eastern District of Virginia (Alexandria) ranked 2nd with 3 convicted in government regulatory convictions.
Report Generated: May 8, 2012
