Prosecutions for February 2017
Referring Agency: Internal Revenue Service
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during February 2017 the government reported 83 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 28.4 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 2017 prosecutions of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, the number of filings was down (-9.8%). Prosecutions over the past year are still much lower than they were five years ago. Overall, the data show that prosecutions of this type are down 20.1 percent from levels reported in 2012.
The decrease 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 2017 was for "Fraud-Tax", accounting for 43.4 percent of prosecutions. Prosecutions were also filed for "Withheld by Govt from TRAC (FOIA challen" (30.1%), "Fraud-Other" (7.2%), "Money Laundering-Other" (4.8%), "Fraud-Identity Theft-Other" (3.6%), "Fraud-Federal Program" (2.4%), "Fraud-Identity Theft-Aggravated" (2.4%), "Money Laundering-Drug" (2.4%). See Figure 2.
Prosecutions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In February 2017, 10 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 371 involving "Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US". This was the lead charge for 30 percent of all magistrate filings in February.
Prosecutions in U.S. District Courts
In February 2017, 73 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 prosecutions of matters filed in U.S. District Court during February 2017 referred by the Internal Revenue Service.
Lead Charge Count Rank 26 USC 7206 - Fraud and False statements 8 1 More 26 USC 7201 - Attempt to evade or defeat tax 7 2 More 18 USC 371 - Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US 6 3 More 18 USC 287 - False, fictitious or fraudulent claims 4 4 More 18 USC 641 - Public money, property or records 3 5 More 18 USC 1341 - Mail Fraud - Frauds and swindles 3 5 More 18 USC 1343 - Fraud by wire, radio, or television 3 5 More 18 USC 1956 - Laundering of monetary instruments 3 5 More 18 USC 286 - Conspiracy to defraud the Government claims 2 9 More 18 USC 1028 - Fraud and related activity - id documents 2 9 More 18 USC 1029 - Fraud and related activity - access devices 2 9 More 18 USC 1344 - Bank Fraud 2 9 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 "Attempt to evade or defeat tax" under Title 26 U.S.C Section 7201.
Ranked 3rd was "Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 371.
Top Ranked Judicial Districts
In February 2017 the Justice Department said the government brought 27.3 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 Fla, S 9 1 More Fla, M 5 2 More N. Y., E 3 3 More Ohio, S 3 3 More Penn, W 3 3 More Texas, N 3 3 More Texas, S 3 3 More Fla, N 2 8 More Ill, N 2 8 More La, W 2 8 More Maryland 2 8 More Mass 2 8 More Minnesota 2 8 More Mo, W 2 8 More N. J. 2 8 More Ohio, N 2 8 More Utah 2 8 More Wash, W 2 8 More Table 3. Top 10 Districts
The Southern District of Florida (Miami) — with 9 prosecutions — was the most active during February 2017.
The Middle District of Florida (Tampa) ranked 2nd.
Eastern District of New York (Brooklyn), Southern District of Ohio (Cincinnati), Western District of Pennsylvania (Pittsburgh), Northern District of Texas (Fort Worth) and Southern District of Texas (Houston) 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 of this type during February 2017 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank Moreno, Federico A. Fla, S 4 1 More Dimitrouleas, William P. Fla, S 3 2 More Walker, Mark Eaton Fla, N 2 3 More Kay, Kathleen La, W 2 3 More Hurley, Denis Reagan N. Y., E 2 3 More Kinkeade, James E. Texas, N 2 3 More Benson, Dee Vance Utah 2 3 More Jones, Richard A. Wash, W 2 3 More Watkins, William Keith Ala, M 1 9 More Campbell, David G. Arizona 1 9 More England, Morrison C., Jr. Cal, E 1 9 More Underhill, Stefan R. Conn 1 9 More Merryday, Steven Douglas Fla, M 1 9 More Sharp, George Kendall Fla, M 1 9 More Steele, John E. Fla, M 1 9 More Honeywell, Charlene Vanessa Edwards Fla, M 1 9 More Mendoza, Carlos Eduardo Fla, M 1 9 More Rosenberg, Robin Lee Fla, S 1 9 More Seabright, J[ohn] Michael Hawaii 1 9 More Winmill, B. Lynn Idaho 1 9 More Der-Yeghiayan, Samuel Ill, N 1 9 More Chang, Edmond E-Min Ill, N 1 9 More Blake, Catherine C. Maryland 1 9 More Russell, George Levi, III Maryland 1 9 More Montgomery, Ann D. Minnesota 1 9 More Menendez, Katherine M. Minnesota 1 9 More Wingate, Henry Travillion Miss, S 1 9 More Sippel, Rodney W. Mo, E 1 9 More Phillips, Mary Elizabeth Mo, W 1 9 More Bough, Stephen Rogers Mo, W 1 9 More Reidinger, Martin Karl N Car, W 1 9 More Kugler, Robert B. N. J. 1 9 More Arleo, Madeline C. N. J. 1 9 More Vitaliano, Eric Nicholas N. Y., E 1 9 More Forrest, Katherine Bolan N. Y., S 1 9 More Gossett, F.A. Nebraska 1 9 More McCafferty, Landya B. New Hamp 1 9 More Gaughan, Patricia Anne Ohio, N 1 9 More Zouhary, Jack Ohio, N 1 9 More Dlott, Susan J. Ohio, S 1 9 More Graham, James L. Ohio, S 1 9 More Sargus, Edmund A., Jr. Ohio, S 1 9 More Heaton, Joe L. Okla, W 1 9 More Mosman, Michael W. Oregon 1 9 More DuBois, Jan Ely Penn, E 1 9 More Hornak, Mark Raymond Penn, W 1 9 More Crenshaw, Waverly David, Jr. Tenn, M 1 9 More Breen, J. Daniel Tenn, W 1 9 More Boyle, Jane J. Texas, N 1 9 More Ellison, Keith P. Texas, S 1 9 More Rosenthal, Lee Hyman Texas, S 1 9 More Bennett, Alfred Homer Texas, S 1 9 More Junell, Robert A. Texas, W 1 9 More Trumble, Robert W. W Virg, N 1 9 More Table 4. Top Ten Judges
A total of 35 out of the "top ten" judges were in districts which were in the top ten with the largest number of filings , while the remaining 19 judges were from other districts. (Because of ties, there were a total of 54 judges in the "top ten" rankings.)
Judge Federico A. Moreno in the Southern District of Florida (Miami) ranked 1st with 4 defendants in cases.
Judge William P. Dimitrouleas in the Southern District of Florida (Miami) ranked 2nd with 3 defendants in cases.
Judges Mark Eaton Walker in the Northern District of Florida (Pensacola), Kathleen Kay in the Western District of Louisiana (Shreveport), Denis Reagan Hurley in the Eastern District of New York (Brooklyn), James E. Kinkeade in the Northern District of Texas (Fort Worth), Dee Vance Benson in the District of Utah and Richard A. Jones in the Western District of Washington (Seattle) ranked 3rd with 2 defendants in cases.
Report Generated: March 20, 2017
