Convictions for April 2016
Referring Agency: Internal Revenue Service
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during April 2016 the government reported 151 new convictions for these matters. Those cases were referred by the Internal Revenue Service. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is down 20.5 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 2016 convictions of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, the number of convictions was only slightly up (0.7%). 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 25.4 percent from levels reported in 2011.
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 April 2016 was for "Fraud-Tax", accounting for 49.7 percent of convictions. Convictions were also filed for "Withheld by Govt from TRAC (FOIA challen" (10.6%), "Fraud-Other" (6%), "Drugs-Organized Crime Task Force" (5.3%), "Money Laundering-Other" (3.3%), "Terrorism-Domestic" (3.3%), "Fraud-Federal Program" (2.6%), "Fraud-Identity Theft-Aggravated" (2.6%), "Fraud-Identity Theft-Other" (2.6%). See Figure 2.
Convictions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In April 2016, 1 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 April the most frequently cited lead charge was Title 18 U.S.C Section 641 involving "Public money, property or records". This was the lead charge for 100 percent of all magistrate convictions in April.
Convictions in U.S. District Courts
In April 2016, 150 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during April 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 April.
Top Ranked Lead Charges
Table 2 shows the top lead charges recorded in the convictions of matters filed in U.S. District Court during April 2016 referred by the Internal Revenue Service.
Lead Charge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago 26 USC 7206 - Fraud and False statements 21 1 1 1 More 18 USC 286 - Conspiracy to defraud the Government claims 17 2 3 9 More 26 USC 7201 - Attempt to evade or defeat tax 14 3 2 2 More 18 USC 371 - Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US 10 4 5 3 More 18 USC 1349 - Mail Fraud - Attempt and Conspiracy 9 5 23 28 More 18 USC 287 - False, fictitious or fraudulent claims 8 6 4 5 More 18 USC 1341 - Mail Fraud - Frauds and swindles 8 6 12 11 More 21 USC 846 - Attempt and conspiracy 7 8 12 14 More 18 USC 1343 - Fraud by wire, radio, or television 5 9 7 8 More 18 USC 641 - Public money, property or records 4 10 6 28 More 18 USC 1028 - Fraud and related activity - id documents 4 10 11 18 More 18 USC 1956 - Laundering of monetary instruments 4 10 8 4 More Table 2. Top Charges for Convictions
"Fraud and False statements" (Title 26 U.S.C Section 7206) was the most frequent recorded lead charge. "Fraud and False statements" (Title 26 U.S.C Section 7206) was ranked 1 a year ago, while it was ranked 1 five years ago.
Ranked 2nd in frequency was the lead charge "Conspiracy to defraud the Government claims" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 286. "Conspiracy to defraud the Government claims" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 286 was ranked 3 a year ago, while it was ranked 9 five years ago.
Ranked 3rd was "Attempt to evade or defeat tax" under Title 26 U.S.C Section 7201. "Attempt to evade or defeat tax" under Title 26 U.S.C Section 7201 was ranked 2 a year ago, while it was ranked 2 five years ago.
Among these top ten lead charges, the one showing the greatest increase in convictions — up 160 percent — compared to one year ago was Title 18 U.S.C Section 1349 that involves " Mail Fraud - Attempt and Conspiracy ". Compared to five years ago, the largest increase — 4100 percent — was registered for convictions under " Public money, property or records " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 641 ).
Again among the top ten lead charges, the one showing the sharpest decline in convictions compared to one year ago — down 31.9 percent — was " Conspiracy to defraud the Government claims " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 286 ). Compared to five years ago, the most significant decline in convictions — 42.1 percent — was for convictions where the lead charge was " Laundering of monetary instruments " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 1956 ).
Top Ranked Judicial Districts
In April 2016 the Justice Department said the government obtained 56.5 convictions for every ten million people in the United States.
Understandably, there is great variation in the number of 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 Southern District of Florida (Miami) — with 16 convictions — was the most active during April 2016.
The Northern District of Texas (Fort Worth) ranked 2nd.
Eastern District of California (Sacramento) 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 crime cases resulting in convictions of this type during April 2016 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank Lewis, Mary Geiger S Car 5 1 More Lynn, Barbara M. Texas, N 5 1 More Dimitrouleas, William P. Fla, S 4 3 More Cogan, Brian Mark N. Y., E 4 3 More Solis, Jorge Antonio Texas, N 4 3 More O'Neill, Lawrence Joseph Cal, E 3 6 More Seeborg, Richard G. Cal, N 3 6 More Friedman, Bernard A. Mich, E 3 6 More Mendez, John A. Cal, E 2 9 More Mueller, Kimberly Jo Cal, E 2 9 More Zloch, William J. Fla, S 2 9 More Martinez, Jose E. Fla, S 2 9 More Gayles, Darrin Phillip Fla, S 2 9 More Drell, Dee D. La, W 2 9 More Nelson, Susan Richard Minnesota 2 9 More Kugler, Robert B. N. J. 2 9 More Griesa, Thomas Poole N. Y., S 2 9 More Jones, Robert Edward Oregon 2 9 More Simon, Michael Howard Oregon 2 9 More Schiller, Berle M. Penn, E 2 9 More Schreier, Karen E. S Dakota 2 9 More Godbey, David C. Texas, N 2 9 More Martinez, Philip Ray Texas, W 2 9 More Jones, James Parker Virg, W 2 9 More Bryan, Robert Jensen Wash, W 2 9 More Stadtmueller, Joseph Peter Wisc, E 2 9 More Table 4. Top Ten Judges
A total of 18 out of the "top ten" judges were in districts which were in the top ten with the largest number of convictions , while the remaining 8 judges were from other districts. (Because of ties, there were a total of 26 judges in the "top ten" rankings.)
Judges Mary Geiger Lewis in the District of South Carolina and Barbara M. Lynn in the Northern District of Texas (Fort Worth) ranked 1st with 5 convicted in convictions.
Judges William P. Dimitrouleas in the Southern District of Florida (Miami), Brian Mark Cogan in the Eastern District of New York (Brooklyn) and Jorge Antonio Solis in the Northern District of Texas (Fort Worth) ranked 3rd with 4 convicted in convictions.
Report Generated: June 10, 2016
