Prosecutions for February 2015

Referring Agency: Internal Revenue Service

Number Latest Month 118
Percent Change from previous month -1.7
Percent Change from 1 year ago -15.5
Percent Change from 5 years ago (Including Magistrate Court) 23.6
Percent Change from 5 years ago (Excluding Magistrate Court) 24.1
Table 1. Criminal Prosecutions

The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during February 2015 the government reported 118 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 down 1.7 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 2015 prosecutions of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, the number of filings was down (-15.5%). Prosecutions over the past year are still much higher than they were five years ago. Overall, the data show that prosecutions of this type are up 23.6 percent from levels reported in 2010.

Bar and line plot of FYMON

Figure 1. Monthly Trends in Prosecutions

The increase 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 February 2015 was for "Fraud-Tax", accounting for 41.5 percent of prosecutions. Prosecutions were also filed for "Withheld by Govt from TRAC (FOIA challen" (33.1%), " Fraud-Identity Theft-Aggravated" (5.9%), "Other Criminal Prosecutions" (5.1%), "Fraud-Other" (3.4%), "Fraud-Mortgage" (2.5%), "Money Laundering-Other" (2.5%). See Figure 2.

Pie chart of progcatlabel

Figure 2. Specific Types of Prosecutions

Prosecutions in U.S. Magistrate Courts

Top Ranked Lead Charges

In February 2015, 5 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 February the most frequently cited lead charge was Title 18 U.S.C Section 286 involving "Conspiracy to defraud the Government claims". This was the lead charge for 20 percent of all magistrate filings in February.

Prosecutions in U.S. District Courts

In February 2015, 113 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during February there were an additional 2 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 prosecutions of matters filed in U.S. District Court during February 2015 referred by the Internal Revenue Service.

Lead Charge Count Rank  
26 USC 7206 - Fraud and False statements 14 1 More
18 USC 286 - Conspiracy to defraud the Government claims 10 2 More
18 USC 287 - False, fictitious or fraudulent claims 8 3 More
26 USC 7201 - Attempt to evade or defeat tax 7 4 More
18 USC 371 - Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US 4 5 More
18 USC 1343 - Fraud by wire, radio, or television 4 5 More
18 USC 1029 - Fraud and related activity - access devices 3 7 More
18 USC 1349 - Mail Fraud - Attempt and Conspiracy 3 7 More
26 USC 7202 - Willful failure to collect or pay over tax 3 7 More
31 USC 5324 - Structuring transactions to evade reporting requir 3 7 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 "Conspiracy to defraud the Government claims" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 286.

  • Ranked 3rd was "False, fictitious or fraudulent claims" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 287.

Top Ranked Judicial Districts

In February 2015 the Justice Department said the government brought 44 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  
Tenn, E 10 1 More
Ohio, N 9 2 More
Utah 9 2 More
N. Y., E 8 4 More
Mo, E 6 5 More
Ohio, S 6 5 More
Cal, E 5 7 More
Penn, E 5 7 More
Iowa, N 4 9 More
Fla, S 3 10 More
Ill, N 3 10 More
N. Y., N 3 10 More
Penn, W 3 10 More
Table 3. Top 10 Districts

  • The Eastern District of Tennessee (Knoxville) — with 10 prosecutions — was the most active during February 2015.

  • The Northern District of Ohio (Cleveland) and District of Utah 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 February 2015 are shown in Table 4.

Judge Count Rank  
Reeves, Pamela Lynn Tenn, E 10 1 More
Kimball, Dale A. Utah 8 2 More
Reade, Linda R. Iowa, N 4 3 More
Sippel, Rodney W. Mo, E 4 3 More
Mueller, Kimberly Jo Cal, E 3 5 More
Rice, Walter Herbert Ohio, S 3 5 More
Beistline, Ralph R. Alaska 2 7 More
Holmes, Paul Kinloch, III Ark, W 2 7 More
Arguello, Christine M. Colorado 2 7 More
Zloch, William J. Fla, S 2 7 More
Kendall, Virginia Mary Ill, N 2 7 More
Perry, Catherine D. Mo, E 2 7 More
Wexler, Leonard D. N. Y., E 2 7 More
Matsumoto, Kiyo A. N. Y., E 2 7 More
Sharpe, Gary L. N. Y., N 2 7 More
Gwin, James S. Ohio, N 2 7 More
Helmick, Jeffrey James Ohio, N 2 7 More
Savage, Timothy J. Penn, E 2 7 More
Table 4. Top Ten Judges

A total of 15 out of the "top ten" judges were in districts which were in the top ten with the largest number of filings , while the remaining 3 judges were from other districts. (Because of ties, there were a total of 18 judges in the "top ten" rankings.)

  • Judge Pamela Lynn Reeves in the Eastern District of Tennessee (Knoxville) ranked 1st with 10 defendants in cases.

  • Judge Dale A. Kimball in the District of Utah ranked 2nd with 8 defendants in cases.

  • Judges Linda R. Reade in the Northern District of Iowa (Cedar Rapids) and Rodney W. Sippel in the Eastern District of Missouri (St. Louis) ranked 3rd with 4 defendants in cases.

Report Generated: April 7, 2015
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