Prosecutions for August 2016

Referring Agency: Internal Revenue Service

Number Latest Month 102
Percent Change from previous month 59.4
Percent Change from 1 year ago -34.2
Percent Change from 5 years ago
(Including Magistrate Court)
-21.4
Percent Change from 5 years ago
(Excluding Magistrate Court)
-22.7
Table 1. Criminal Prosecutions

The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during August 2016 the government reported 102 new prosecutions 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 up 59.4 percent over the previous month.

The comparisons of the number of defendants charged 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 prosecutions of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, the number of filings was down (-34.2%). Prosecutions over the past year are still much lower than they were five years ago. Overall, the data show that prosecutions of this type are down 21.4 percent from levels reported in 2011.

Bar and line plot of FYMON

Figure 1. Monthly Trends in Prosecutions

The decrease from the levels five years ago in prosecutions for these matters is shown more clearly in Figure 1. The vertical bars in Figure 1 represent the number of 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.

Cases were classified by prosecutors into more specific types.

The largest number of prosecutions of these matters in August 2016 was for "Fraud-Tax", accounting for 51 percent of prosecutions. Prosecutions were also filed for "Withheld by Govt from TRAC (FOIA challen" (24.5%), "Drugs-Organized Crime Task Force" (2.9%), "Fraud-Consumer" (2.9%), "Fraud-Identity Theft-Aggravated" (2.9%), "Fraud-Other" (2.9%). See Figure 2.

Pie chart of progcatlabel

Figure 2. Specific Types of Prosecutions

Prosecutions in U.S. Magistrate Courts

Top Ranked Lead Charges

In August 2016, 3 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 August the most frequently cited lead charge was Title 18 U.S.C Section 371 involving "Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US". This was the lead charge for 33.3 percent of all magistrate filings in August.

Prosecutions in U.S. District Courts

In August 2016, 99 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during August there were an additional 1 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 prosecutions of matters filed in U.S. District Court during August 2016 referred by the Internal Revenue Service.

Lead Charge Count Rank  
26 USC 7206 - Fraud and False statements 14 1 More
26 USC 7201 - Attempt to evade or defeat tax 11 2 More
18 USC 371 - Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US 9 3 More
18 USC 286 - Conspiracy to defraud the Government claims 8 4 More
18 USC 287 - False, fictitious or fraudulent claims 8 4 More
18 USC 1349 - Mail Fraud - Attempt and Conspiracy 5 6 More
18 USC 510 - Forging endorsements on Treasury checks, bonds se 3 7 More
18 USC 641 - Public money, property or records 2 8 More
18 USC 1956 - Laundering of monetary instruments 2 8 More
21 USC 846 - Attempt and conspiracy 2 8 More
26 USC 7203 - Willful failure to file return, supply information 2 8 More
Table 2. Top Charges Filed

  • "Fraud and False statements" (Title 26 U.S.C Section 7206) was the most frequent recorded lead charge.

  • Ranked 2nd in frequency was the lead charge "Attempt to evade or defeat tax" under Title 26 U.S.C Section 7201.

  • Ranked 3rd was "Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 371.

Top Ranked Judicial Districts

In August 2016 the Justice Department said the government brought 37.3 prosecutions for every ten million people in the United States.

Understandably, there is great variation in the number of 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.


Judicial District Count Rank  
Cal, C 7 1 More
Ill, N 6 2 More
N. Y., S 6 2 More
Fla, S 5 4 More
N Car, E 5 4 More
Ohio, S 5 4 More
Mich, E 4 7 More
Penn, E 4 7 More
Tenn, W 4 7 More
Texas, N 4 7 More
Table 3. Top 10 Districts

  • The Central District of California (Los Angeles) — with 7 prosecutions — was the most active during August 2016.

  • The Northern District of Illinois (Chicago) and Southern District of New York (Manhattan) ranked 2nd.

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 of this type during August 2016 are shown in Table 4.

Judge Count Rank  
Forrest, Katherine Bolan N. Y., S 4 1 More
Watson, Michael H. Ohio, S 4 1 More
Hurley, Daniel T. K. Fla, S 3 3 More
Fox, James Carroll N Car, E 3 3 More
Hernandez, Marco Antonio Oregon 3 3 More
Schwab, Arthur J. Penn, W 3 3 More
Collyer, Rosemary M. D. C. 2 7 More
Dowdell, John Edward Okla, N 2 7 More
Greer, J. Ronnie Tenn, E 2 7 More
Mays, Samuel H., Jr. Tenn, W 2 7 More
Kinkeade, James E. Texas, N 2 7 More
Table 4. Top Ten Judges

A total of 6 out of the "top ten" judges were in districts which were in the top ten with the largest number of filings , while the remaining 5 judges were from other districts. (Because of ties, there were a total of 11 judges in the "top ten" rankings.)

  • Judges Katherine Bolan Forrest in the Southern District of New York (Manhattan) and Michael H. Watson in the Southern District of Ohio (Cincinnati) ranked 1st with 4 defendants in cases.

  • Judges Daniel T. K. Hurley in the Southern District of Florida (Miami), James Carroll Fox in the Eastern District of North Carolina (Raleigh), Marco Antonio Hernandez in the District of Oregon and Arthur J. Schwab in the Western District of Pennsylvania (Pittsburgh) ranked 3rd with 3 defendants in cases.

Report Generated: October 21, 2016
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Copyright 2016, TRAC Reports, Inc.

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