Convictions for February 2012
Referring Agency: Internal Revenue Service
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during February 2012 the government reported 122 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 6.2% 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 2012 convictions of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, the number of convictions was up (15.5 percent). 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 40.2 percent from levels reported in 2007.
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 February 2012 was for "Fraud-Tax", accounting for 44.3 percent of convictions. Convictions were also filed for "Withheld by Govt from TRAC (FOIA challen" (14.8%), " Drugs-Organized Crime Task Force" (5.7%), "Fraud-Mortgage" (5.7%), "Corruption(Govt Off)-Local" (4.9%), "Money Laundering-Drug" (4.9%), "Fraud-Other Investment" (3.3%), "Money Laundering-Other" (3.3%), "Fraud-Other Business" (2.5%). See Figure 2.
Convictions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In February 2012, 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 February 2012, 122 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during February 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 February.
Top Ranked Lead Charges
Table 2 shows the top lead charges recorded in the convictions of matters filed in U.S. District Court during February 2012referred by the Internal Revenue Service.
Lead Charge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago 26 USC 7201 - Attempt to evade or defeat tax 22 1 1 2 More 18 USC 1956 - Laundering of monetary instruments 12 2 3 4 More 18 USC 371 - Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US 10 3 4 3 More 26 USC 7206 - Fraud and False statements 9 4 2 1 More 18 USC 287 - False, fictitious or fraudulent claims 8 5 11 5 More 18 USC 1341 - Mail Fraud - Frauds and swindles 7 6 7 12 More 18 USC 1343 - Fraud by wire, radio, or television 6 7 8 9 More 18 USC 666 - Theft or bribery in programs receiving Fed funds 4 8 28 23 More 26 USC 7202 - Willful failure to collect or pay over tax 4 8 11 16 More 18 USC 286 - Conspiracy to defraud the Government claims 3 10 11 6 More 21 USC 841 - Drug Abuse Prevention & Control-Prohibited acts A 3 10 14 10 More 21 USC 846 - Attempt and conspiracy 3 10 10 16 More 31 USC 5324 - Structuring transactions to evade reporting requir 3 10 9 12 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. "Attempt to evade or defeat tax" (Title 26 U.S.C Section 7201) was ranked 1 a year ago, while it was ranked 2 five years ago.
Ranked 2nd in frequency was the lead charge "Laundering of monetary instruments" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 1956. "Laundering of monetary instruments" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 1956 was ranked 3 a year ago, while it was ranked 4 five years ago.
Ranked 3rd was "Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 371. "Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 371 was ranked 4 a year ago, while it was ranked 3 five years ago.
Among these top ten lead charges, the one showing the greatest increase in convictions—up 500 percent—compared to one year ago was Title 18 U.S.C Section 666 that involves " Theft or bribery in programs receiving Fed funds ". Compared to five years ago, the largest increase—875 percent—was registered for convictions under " Attempt and conspiracy " (Title 21 U.S.C Section 846 ).
Again among the top ten lead charges, the one showing the sharpest decline in convictions compared to one year ago—down 20 percent—was Willful failure to collect or pay over tax (Title 26 U.S.C Section 7202 ). Compared to five years ago, the most significant decline in convictions— 21.4 percent—was for convictions where the lead charge was " Conspiracy to defraud the Government claims " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 286 ).
Top Ranked Judicial Districts
In February 2012 the Justice Department said the government obtained 47.7 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 Eastern District of Michigan (Detroit)—with 10 convictions—was the most active during February 2012.
The Western District of Texas (San Antonio) ranked 2nd.
District of Arizona, Eastern District of California (Sacramento) and Southern District of Ohio (Cincinnati) 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 February 2012 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank Murguia, Mary Helen Arizona 4 1 More Borman, Paul D. Mich, E 4 1 More Kopf, Richard George Nebraska 4 1 More Smith, Walter Scott, Jr. Texas, W 4 1 More Thrash, Thomas W., Jr. Ga, N 3 5 More Rosen, Gerald Ellis Mich, E 3 5 More Viken, Jeffrey Lynn S Dakota 3 5 More Clark, Ron Texas, E 3 5 More Fuller, Mark E. Ala, M 2 9 More Moody, James Maxwell Ark, E 2 9 More Carter, Susan Webber Ark, E 2 9 More Hendren, Jimm Larry Ark, W 2 9 More Ishii, Anthony W. Cal, E 2 9 More Mueller, Kimberly Jo Cal, E 2 9 More Cooke, Marcia G. Fla, S 2 9 More Cleland, Robert Hardy Mich, E 2 9 More Maloney, Paul Lewis Mich, W 2 9 More Schiltz, Patrick Joseph Minnesota 2 9 More Martini, William J. N. J. 2 9 More Mordue, Norman A. N. Y., N 2 9 More Caputo, A. Richard Penn, M 2 9 More Lancaster, Gary L. Penn, W 2 9 More Lee, Gerald Bruce Virg, E 2 9 More Table 4: Top 10 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 9 judges were from other districts. (Because of ties, there were a total of 23 judges in the "top ten" rankings.)
Judges Mary Helen Murguia in the District of Arizona, Paul D. Borman in the Eastern District of Michigan (Detroit), Richard George Kopf in the District of Nebraska and Walter Scott Smith, Jr. in the Western District of Texas (San Antonio) ranked 1st with 4 convicted in convictions.
Report Generated: May 8, 2012
