Convictions for August 2016
Referring Agency: Internal Revenue Service
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during August 2016 the government reported 125 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 up 11.6 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 up (5.9%). 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 29.6 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 August 2016 was for "Fraud-Tax", accounting for 48.8 percent of convictions. Convictions were also filed for "Withheld by Govt from TRAC (FOIA challen" (18.4%), "Fraud-Financial Institution" (5.6%), "Fraud-Identity Theft-Other" (4.8%), "Drugs-Organized Crime Task Force" (3.2%), "Fraud-Identity Theft-Aggravated" (3.2%), "Drugs-Drug Trafficking" (2.4%), "Fraud-Federal Program" (2.4%), "Other Criminal Prosecutions" (2.4%). See Figure 2.
Convictions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In August 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 August 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 August.
Convictions in U.S. District Courts
In August 2016, 124 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 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 16 1 More 18 USC 286 - Conspiracy to defraud the Government claims 15 2 More 26 USC 7201 - Attempt to evade or defeat tax 11 3 More 18 USC 287 - False, fictitious or fraudulent claims 7 4 More 18 USC 641 - Public money, property or records 7 4 More 18 USC 1029 - Fraud and related activity - access devices 5 6 More 18 USC 371 - Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US 4 7 More 18 USC 1349 - Mail Fraud - Attempt and Conspiracy 4 7 More 18 USC 1028 - Fraud and related activity - id documents 3 9 More 18 USC 1028A - Aggravated Identity Theft 3 9 More 18 USC 1343 - Fraud by wire, radio, or television 3 9 More 18 USC 1344 - Bank Fraud 3 9 More 18 USC 1956 - Laundering of monetary instruments 3 9 More 21 USC 846 - Attempt and conspiracy 3 9 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.
Ranked 2nd in frequency was the lead charge "Conspiracy to defraud the Government claims" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 286.
Ranked 3rd was "Attempt to evade or defeat tax" under Title 26 U.S.C Section 7201.
Top Ranked Judicial Districts
In August 2016 the Justice Department said the government obtained 46.3 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.
Judicial District Count Rank Fla, S 11 1 More Fla, M 9 2 More N. Y., E 9 2 More Ill, N 8 4 More Texas, W 8 4 More N. Y., S 6 6 More Ken, E 5 7 More N Car, M 4 8 More Alaska 3 9 More Cal, E 3 9 More D. C. 3 9 More Mich, E 3 9 More Mo, W 3 9 More Tenn, E 3 9 More Texas, E 3 9 More Texas, S 3 9 More Table 3. Top 10 Districts
The Southern District of Florida (Miami) — with 11 convictions — was the most active during August 2016.
The Middle District of Florida (Tampa) and Eastern District of New York (Brooklyn) 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 resulting in convictions of this type during August 2016 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank Sparks, Sam Texas, W 6 1 More Bloom, Beth Francine Fla, S 5 2 More Byron, Paul Gregory Fla, M 4 3 More Reeves, Danny C. Ken, E 4 3 More Gleason, Sharon Louise Alaska 3 5 More Seibel, Cathy N. Y., S 3 5 More Mueller, Kimberly Jo Cal, E 2 7 More Miller, Jeffrey T. Cal, S 2 7 More Kovachevich, Elizabeth Anne Fla, M 2 7 More Williams, Kathleen Mary Fla, S 2 7 More Tydingco-Gatewood, Frances M. Guam 2 7 More Shadid, James Edward Ill, C 2 7 More Leinenweber, Harry Daniel Ill, N 2 7 More Simon, Philip P. Ind, N 2 7 More Britt, William Earl N Car, E 2 7 More Spatt, Arthur Donald N. Y., E 2 7 More Martinez, Philip Ray Texas, W 2 7 More Groh, Gina Marie W Virg, N 2 7 More Table 4. Top Ten Judges
A total of 12 out of the "top ten" judges were in districts which were in the top ten with the largest number of convictions , while the remaining 6 judges were from other districts. (Because of ties, there were a total of 18 judges in the "top ten" rankings.)
Judge Sam Sparks in the Western District of Texas (San Antonio) ranked 1st with 6 convicted in convictions.
Judge Beth Francine Bloom in the Southern District of Florida (Miami) ranked 2nd with 5 convicted in convictions.
Judges Paul Gregory Byron in the Middle District of Florida (Tampa) and Danny C. Reeves in the Eastern District of Kentucky (Lexington) ranked 3rd with 4 convicted in convictions.
Report Generated: October 21, 2016
