Convictions for January 2012
Referring Agency: Internal Revenue Service
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during January 2012 the government reported 131 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 14.9% 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 (16.2 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 34.6 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 January 2012 was for "Fraud-Tax", accounting for 38.9 percent of convictions. Convictions were also filed for "Withheld by Govt from TRAC (FOIA challen" (20.6%), " Money Laundering-Other" (6.9%), "Fraud-Federal Program" (5.3%), "Fraud-Mortgage" (5.3%), "Fraud-Financial Institution" (4.6%), "Drugs-Drug Trafficking" (3.1%), "Fraud-Other Investment" (3.1%), "Other Criminal Prosecutions" (3.1%), " Drugs-Organized Crime Task Force" (2.3%). See Figure 2.
Convictions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In January 2012, 2 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 January the most frequently cited lead charge was Title 18 U.S.C Section 1030 involving the "Fraud and related activity - computers". This was the lead charge for 50 percent of all magistrate convictions in January.
Convictions in U.S. District Courts
In January 2012, 129 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during January 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 January.
Top Ranked Lead Charges
Table 2 shows the top lead charges recorded in the convictions of matters filed in U.S. District Court during January 2012referred by the Internal Revenue Service.
Lead Charge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago 26 USC 7206 - Fraud and False statements 23 1 2 1 More 18 USC 371 - Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US 7 2 4 3 More 18 USC 1341 - Mail Fraud - Frauds and swindles 7 2 5 17 More 26 USC 7201 - Attempt to evade or defeat tax 7 2 1 2 More 18 USC 286 - Conspiracy to defraud the Government claims 6 5 12 7 More 31 USC 5324 - Structuring transactions to evade reporting requir 6 5 10 9 More 18 USC 287 - False, fictitious or fraudulent claims 5 7 9 4 More 18 USC 1956 - Laundering of monetary instruments 5 7 3 5 More 18 USC 1344 - Bank Fraud 4 9 7 10 More 18 USC 1751 - Presidential and Presidential staff assassination, 4 9 - - More 21 USC 841 - Drug Abuse Prevention & Control-Prohibited acts A 4 9 14 12 More 26 USC 7203 - Willful failure to file return, supply information 4 9 6 6 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 2 a year ago, while it was ranked 1 five years ago.
Ranked 2nd in frequency were the lead charges "Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 371, "Mail Fraud - Frauds and swindles" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 1341 and "Attempt to evade or defeat tax" under Title 26 U.S.C Section 7201. "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."Mail Fraud - Frauds and swindles" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 1341 was ranked 5 a year ago."Attempt to evade or defeat tax" under Title 26 U.S.C Section 7201 was ranked 1 a year ago, while it was ranked 2 five years ago.
Among these top ten lead charges, the one showing the greatest increase in convictions—up 73.3 percent—compared to one year ago was Title 18 U.S.C Section 286 that involves " Conspiracy to defraud the Government claims ". Compared to five years ago, the largest increase—560 percent—was registered for convictions under " Mail Fraud - Frauds and swindles " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 1341 ).
Again among the top ten lead charges, the one showing the sharpest decline in convictions compared to one year ago—down 36.4 percent—was Bank Fraud (Title 18 U.S.C Section 1344 ). Compared to five years ago, the most significant decline in convictions— 35.7 percent—was for convictions where the lead charge was " Willful failure to file return, supply information " (Title 26 U.S.C Section 7203 ).
Top Ranked Judicial Districts
In January 2012 the Justice Department said the government obtained 50.4 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 District of Arizona—with 17 convictions—was the most active during January 2012.
The District of Maryland ranked 2nd.
Southern District of Ohio (Cincinnati) 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 January 2012 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank Campbell, David G. Arizona 8 1 More Teilborg, James A. Arizona 5 2 More Nickerson, William M. Maryland 4 3 More Jack, Janis Graham Texas, S 4 3 More O'Neill, Lawrence Joseph Cal, E 3 5 More Bloch, Alan Neil Penn, W 3 5 More Greer, J. Ronnie Tenn, E 3 5 More Albritton, William Harold, III Ala, M 2 8 More Silver, Roslyn O. Arizona 2 8 More Ebel, David M. Colorado 2 8 More Robinson, Sue Lewis Delaware 2 8 More Dimitrouleas, William P. Fla, S 2 8 More Quarles, William D., Jr. Maryland 2 8 More Jonker, Robert James Mich, W 2 8 More Pepper, W. Allen, Jr. Miss, N 2 8 More Arcara, Richard Joseph N. Y., W 2 8 More Joyner, J. Curtis Penn, E 2 8 More Biery, Samuel Frederick, Jr. Texas, W 2 8 More Sparks, Sam Texas, W 2 8 More Yeakel, Earl Leroy, III Texas, W 2 8 More Table 4: Top 10 judges
A total of 13 out of the "top ten" judges were in districts which were in the top ten with the largest number of convictions , while the remaining 7 judges were from other districts. (Because of ties, there were a total of 20 judges in the "top ten" rankings.)
Judge David G. Campbell in the District of Arizona ranked 1st with 8 convicted in convictions.
Judge James A. Teilborg in the District of Arizona ranked 2nd with 5 convicted in convictions.
Judges William M. Nickerson in the District of Maryland and Janis Graham Jack in the Southern District of Texas (Houston) ranked 3rd with 4 convicted in convictions.
Report Generated: April 19, 2012
