Convictions for February 2015
Referring Agency: Internal Revenue Service
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during February 2015 the government reported 127 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 14.2 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 2015 convictions of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, the number of convictions was up (8.8%). 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 47.1 percent from levels reported in 2010.
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 2015 was for "Fraud-Tax", accounting for 59.8 percent of convictions. Convictions were also filed for "Fraud-Other" (7.9%), "Money Laundering-Other" (6.3%), " Withheld by Govt from TRAC (FOIA challen" (6.3%), "Fraud-Consumer" (4.7%), "Other Criminal Prosecutions" (2.4%). See Figure 2.
Convictions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In February 2015, 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 February the most frequently cited lead charge was Title 26 U.S.C Section 7203 involving "Willful failure to file return, supply information". This was the lead charge for 100 percent of all magistrate convictions in February.
Convictions in U.S. District Courts
In February 2015, 126 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 2015 referred by the Internal Revenue Service.
Lead Charge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago 26 USC 7206 - Fraud and False statements 22 1 1 1 More 18 USC 286 - Conspiracy to defraud the Government claims 16 2 4 6 More 18 USC 371 - Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US 15 3 6 3 More 26 USC 7201 - Attempt to evade or defeat tax 7 4 2 2 More 18 USC 1955 - Prohibition of illegal gambling businesses 6 5 21 21 More 31 USC 5324 - Structuring transactions to evade reporting requir 6 5 7 9 More 18 USC 287 - False, fictitious or fraudulent claims 5 7 3 9 More 18 USC 1956 - Laundering of monetary instruments 5 7 11 4 More 26 USC 7202 - Willful failure to collect or pay over tax 5 7 11 13 More 18 USC 641 - Public money, property or records 4 10 5 30 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. "Fraud and False statements" (Title 26 U.S.C Section 7206) was ranked 1 a year ago, while it was ranked 1 five years ago.
Ranked 2nd in frequency was the lead charge "Conspiracy to defraud the Government claims" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 286. "Conspiracy to defraud the Government claims" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 286 was ranked 4 a year ago, while it was ranked 6 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 6 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 150 percent — compared to one year ago was Title 18 U.S.C Section 1955 that involves " Prohibition of illegal gambling businesses ". Compared to five years ago, the largest increase — 3900 percent — was registered for convictions under " Public money, property or records " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 641 ).
Again among the top ten lead charges, the one showing the sharpest decline in convictions compared to one year ago — down 21.9 percent — was " Attempt to evade or defeat tax " (Title 26 U.S.C Section 7201 ). This was the same statute that had the largest decrease — 4.7 % — when compared with five years ago.
Top Ranked Judicial Districts
In February 2015 the Justice Department said the government obtained 48.2 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 Ark, E 7 1 More Fla, S 7 1 More Ohio, S 7 1 More Minnesota 6 4 More Miss, S 6 4 More N. J. 5 6 More Arizona 4 7 More Cal, C 4 7 More Ill, N 4 7 More Ala, M 3 10 More Ala, N 3 10 More Cal, E 3 10 More Cal, N 3 10 More Cal, S 3 10 More Colorado 3 10 More Mass 3 10 More N Car, E 3 10 More N. Y., N 3 10 More S Car 3 10 More S Dakota 3 10 More Texas, N 3 10 More Table 3. Top 10 Districts
The Eastern District of Arkansas (Little Rock), Southern District of Florida (Miami) and Southern District of Ohio (Cincinnati) — with 7 convictions — were the most active during February 2015.
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 2015 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank Baker, Kristine Gerhard Ark, E 6 1 More Jordan, Daniel Porter, III Miss, S 6 1 More Bowdre, Karon O. Ala, N 3 3 More Campbell, David G. Arizona 3 3 More Koh, Lucy Haeran Cal, N 3 3 More Kane, John L., Jr. Colorado 3 3 More Hillman, Timothy S. Mass 3 3 More Houck, C[harles] Weston S Car 3 3 More Schreier, Karen E. S Dakota 3 3 More Fuller, Mark E. Ala, M 2 10 More Walter, John F. Cal, C 2 10 More O'Neill, Lawrence Joseph Cal, E 2 10 More Houston, John A. Cal, S 2 10 More Lenard, Joan A. Fla, S 2 10 More Middlebrooks, Donald M. Fla, S 2 10 More Reagan, Michael Joseph Ill, S 2 10 More Barker, Sarah Evans Ind, S 2 10 More Frank, Donovan W. Minnesota 2 10 More Flanagan, Louise W. N Car, E 2 10 More Cecchi, Claire Claudia N. J. 2 10 More Mordue, Norman A. N. Y., N 2 10 More Dlott, Susan J. Ohio, S 2 10 More Smith, George Curtis Ohio, S 2 10 More Friot, Stephen P. Okla, W 2 10 More McBryde, John H. Texas, N 2 10 More Table 4. Top Ten Judges
A total of 22 out of the "top ten" judges were in districts which were in the top ten with the largest number of convictions , while the remaining 3 judges were from other districts. (Because of ties, there were a total of 25 judges in the "top ten" rankings.)
Judges Kristine Gerhard Baker in the Eastern District of Arkansas (Little Rock) and Daniel Porter Jordan, III in the Southern District of Mississippi (Jackson) ranked 1st with 6 convicted in convictions.
Judges Karon O. Bowdre in the Northern District of Alabama (Birmingham), David G. Campbell in the District of Arizona, Lucy Haeran Koh in the Northern District of California (San Francisco), John L. Kane, Jr. in the District of Colorado, Timothy S. Hillman in the District of Massachusetts, C[harles] Weston Houck in the District of South Carolina and Karen E. Schreier in the District of South Dakota ranked 3rd with 3 convicted in convictions.
Report Generated: April 7, 2015
