Government Regulatory Prosecutions for March 2013
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during March 2013 the government reported 227 new government regulatory prosecutions. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is up 27.5% over the previous month.
The comparisons of the number of defendants charged with 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 2013 prosecutions of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, the number of filings was down (-4.9 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 3.7 percent from levels reported in 2008.
The leveling out from the levels five years ago in government regulatory prosecutions for these matters is shown more clearly in Figure 1. The vertical bars in Figure 1 represent the number of government regulatory 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.
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 prosecutions of these matters in March 2013 was for "Other-Regulatory Offenses", accounting for 59 percent of prosecutions. Prosecutions were also filed for "Counterfeiting and Forgery" (20.3%), " Money Laundering-Other" (11.5%), "Money Laundering-Drug" (3.5%), "Customs-Currency Violations" (2.2%). See Figure 2.
The lead investigative agency for government regulatory prosecutions in March 2013 was Interior accounting for 47 percent of prosecutions referred. Other agencies with substantial numbers of government regulatory referrals were: SecServ (16% ), DHS (10%), Agri (7%), IRS (6%). See Figure 3.
Government Regulatory Prosecutions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In March 2013, 145 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 March the most frequently cited lead charge was Title 36 U.S.C Section . involving the "Speeding". This was the lead charge for 22.8 percent of all magistrate filings in March.
Other frequently prosecuted lead charges include: "16 USC 45 - Violations of park regulations; penalty" (13.1%), "18 USC 19 - Petty Offense Defined" (6.2%).
Government Regulatory Prosecutions in U.S. District Courts
In March 2013, 82 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during March there were an additional 20 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 March.
Top Ranked Lead Charges
Table 2 shows the top lead charges recorded in the prosecutions of government regulatory matters filed in U.S. District Court during March 2013.
Lead Charge Count Rank 18 USC 371 - Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US 14 1 More 18 USC 472 - Uttering counterfeit obligations or securities 13 2 More 18 USC 513 - Securities of the States and private entities 9 3 More 18 USC 471 - Obligations or securities of United States 8 4 More 18 USC 1956 - Laundering of monetary instruments 8 4 More 31 USC 5332 - Bulk Cash Smuggling into or out of the United States 7 6 More 31 USC 5324 - Structuring transactions to evade reporting requir 6 7 More 18 USC 510 - Forging endorsements on Treasury checks, bonds se 4 8 More 31 USC 5316 - Exporting and importing monetary instruments( 4 8 More 08 USC 1324 - Bringing in and harboring certain aliens 3 10 More 18 USC 1960 - Prohibition of illegal money transmitting business 3 10 More Table 2: Top charges filed
"Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US" (Title 18 U.S.C Section 371) was the most frequent recorded lead charge.
Ranked 2nd in frequency was the lead charge "Uttering counterfeit obligations or securities" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 472.
Ranked 3rd was "Securities of the States and private entities" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 513.
Top Ranked Judicial Districts
In March 2013 the Justice Department said the government brought 39.9 government regulatory prosecutions for every ten million people in the United States.
Understandably, there is great variation in the number of government regulatory prosecutions that are filed in each of the nation's ninety-four federal judicial districts.
The districts registering the largest number of prosecutions of this type last month are shown in Table 3.
The Southern District of Florida (Miami)—with 12 prosecutions—was the most active during March 2013.
The Western District of Texas (San Antonio) ranked 2nd.
Central District of California (Los Angeles) is 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 of this type during March 2013 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank Junell, Robert A. Texas, W 6 1 More Altonaga, Cecilia M. Fla, S 5 2 More Smith, Rebecca Beach Virg, E 4 3 More Watkins, William Keith Ala, M 3 4 More King, James Lawrence Fla, S 3 4 More Baylson, Michael M. Penn, E 3 4 More Fuller, Mark E. Ala, M 2 7 More Velasco, Bernardo P. Arizona 2 7 More Marshall, Denzil Price, Jr. Ark, E 2 7 More Whelan, Thomas J. Cal, S 2 7 More Williams, Kathleen Mary Fla, S 2 7 More Norgle, Charles Ronald, Sr. Ill, N 2 7 More Singal, George Z. Maine 2 7 More Messitte, Peter Jo Maryland 2 7 More Schiller, Berle M. Penn, E 2 7 More Biery, Samuel Frederick, Jr. Texas, W 2 7 More Keeley, Irene Patricia Murphy W Virg, N 2 7 More Table 4: Top 10 judges
A total of 15 out of the "top ten" judges were in districts which were in the top ten with the largest number of government regulatory filings , while the remaining 2 judges were from other districts. (Because of ties, there were a total of 17 judges in the "top ten" rankings.)
Judge Robert A. Junell in the Western District of Texas (San Antonio) ranked 1st with 6 defendants in government regulatory cases.
Judge Cecilia M. Altonaga in the Southern District of Florida (Miami) ranked 2nd with 5 defendants in government regulatory cases.
Judge Rebecca Beach Smith in the Eastern District of Virginia (Alexandria) ranked 3rd with 4 defendants in government regulatory cases.
Report Generated: May 9, 2013
