Convictions for December 2016

Referring Agency: Internal Revenue Service

Number Latest Month 87
Percent Change from previous month 11.5
Percent Change from 1 year ago -7.6
Percent Change from 5 years ago
(Including Magistrate Court)
0.6
Percent Change from 5 years ago
(Excluding Magistrate Court)
1.1
Table 1. Criminal Convictions

The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during December 2016 the government reported 87 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 11.5 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 down (-7.6%). 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 0.6 percent from levels reported in 2011.

Bar and line plot of FYMON

Figure 1. Monthly Trends in Convictions

The leveling out 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 December 2016 was for "Fraud-Tax", accounting for 63.2 percent of convictions. Convictions were also filed for "Withheld by Govt from TRAC (FOIA challen" (10.3%), "Drugs-Organized Crime Task Force" (5.7%), "Fraud-Other" (3.4%), "Corruption(Govt Off)-Local" (2.3%), "Fraud-Identity Theft-Aggravated" (2.3%), "Fraud-Mortgage" (2.3%), "Fraud-Other Business" (2.3%), "Fraud-Securities" (2.3%), "Theft-Government Property" (2.3%). See Figure 2.

Pie chart of progcatlabel

Figure 2. Specific Types of Convictions

Convictions in U.S. Magistrate Courts

Top Ranked Lead Charges

In December 2016, no 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.

Convictions in U.S. District Courts

In December 2016, 87 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during December 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 December.

Top Ranked Lead Charges

Table 2 shows the top lead charges recorded in the convictions of matters filed in U.S. District Court during December 2016 referred by the Internal Revenue Service.

Lead Charge Count Rank  
26 USC 7201 - Attempt to evade or defeat tax 18 1 More
26 USC 7206 - Fraud and False statements 12 2 More
18 USC 286 - Conspiracy to defraud the Government claims 9 3 More
18 USC 641 - Public money, property or records 8 4 More
18 USC 287 - False, fictitious or fraudulent claims 5 5 More
18 USC 1029 - Fraud and related activity - access devices 4 6 More
18 USC 1343 - Fraud by wire, radio, or television 3 7 More
21 USC 846 - Attempt and conspiracy 3 7 More
26 USC 7202 - Willful failure to collect or pay over tax 3 7 More
18 USC 371 - Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US 2 10 More
18 USC 1028 - Fraud and related activity - id documents 2 10 More
18 USC 1956 - Laundering of monetary instruments 2 10 More
26 USC 7203 - Willful failure to file return, supply information 2 10 More
Table 2. Top Charges for Convictions

  • "Attempt to evade or defeat tax" (Title 26 U.S.C Section 7201) was the most frequent recorded lead charge.

  • Ranked 2nd in frequency was the lead charge "Fraud and False statements" under Title 26 U.S.C Section 7206.

  • Ranked 3rd was "Conspiracy to defraud the Government claims" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 286.

Top Ranked Judicial Districts

In December 2016 the Justice Department said the government obtained 32.5 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.


Judicial District Count Rank  
Cal, E 6 1 More
Fla, S 5 2 More
Conn 4 3 More
Kansas 4 3 More
N. J. 4 3 More
Texas, W 4 3 More
Cal, N 3 7 More
Fla, M 3 7 More
Ind, S 3 7 More
Penn, W 3 7 More
Tenn, W 3 7 More
Table 3. Top 10 Districts

  • The Eastern District of California (Sacramento) — with 6 convictions — was the most active during December 2016.

  • The Southern District of Florida (Miami) ranked 2nd.

  • District of Connecticut, District of Kansas, District of New Jersey and Western District of Texas (San Antonio) 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 crime cases resulting in convictions of this type during December 2016 are shown in Table 4.

Judge Count Rank  
Donato, James Cal, N 3 1 More
Schwab, Arthur J. Penn, W 3 1 More
England, Morrison C., Jr. Cal, E 2 3 More
Mueller, Kimberly Jo Cal, E 2 3 More
Thompson, Alvin W. Conn 2 3 More
Covington, Virginia Maria Hernandez Fla, M 2 3 More
Middlebrooks, Donald M. Fla, S 2 3 More
Cooke, Marcia G. Fla, S 2 3 More
Barker, Sarah Evans Ind, S 2 3 More
Murguia, Carlos Kansas 2 3 More
Crabtree, Daniel Dale Kansas 2 3 More
Starrett, Keith Miss, S 2 3 More
Eagles, Catherine Caldwell N Car, M 2 3 More
Thompson, Anne Elise N. J. 2 3 More
Fowlkes, John Thomas, Jr. Tenn, W 2 3 More
Cardone, Kathleen Texas, W 2 3 More
Table 4. Top Ten Judges

A total of 14 out of the "top ten" judges were in districts which were in the top ten with the largest number of convictions , while the remaining 2 judges were from other districts. (Because of ties, there were a total of 16 judges in the "top ten" rankings.)

  • Judges James Donato in the Northern District of California (San Francisco) and Arthur J. Schwab in the Western District of Pennsylvania (Pittsburgh) ranked 1st with 3 convicted in convictions.

  • Judges Morrison C. England, Jr. in the Eastern District of California (Sacramento), Kimberly Jo Mueller in the Eastern District of California (Sacramento), Alvin W. Thompson in the District of Connecticut, Virginia Maria Hernandez Covington in the Middle District of Florida (Tampa), Donald M. Middlebrooks in the Southern District of Florida (Miami), Marcia G. Cooke in the Southern District of Florida (Miami), Sarah Evans Barker in the Southern District of Indiana (Indianapolis), Carlos Murguia in the D ranked 3rd with 2 convicted in convictions.

Report Generated: January 20, 2017
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