Convictions for June 2015

Referring Agency: Internal Revenue Service

Number Latest Month 136
Percent Change from previous month 28.3
Percent Change from 1 year ago 1.6
Percent Change from 5 years ago (Including Magistrate Court) 41.5
Percent Change from 5 years ago (Excluding Magistrate Court) 44.7
Table 1. Criminal Convictions

The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during June 2015 the government reported 136 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 28.3 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 only slightly up (1.6%). 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 41.5 percent from levels reported in 2010.

Bar and line plot of FYMON

Figure 1. Monthly Trends in Convictions

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 June 2015 was for "Fraud-Tax", accounting for 60.3 percent of convictions. Convictions were also filed for "Withheld by Govt from TRAC (FOIA challen" (7.4%), " Drugs-Organized Crime Task Force" (5.1%), "Money Laundering-Other" (2.9%), "Theft-Government Property" (2.9%), "Drugs-Drug Trafficking" (2.2%), "Fraud-Advance Fee Schemes" (2.2%). See Figure 2.

Pie chart of progcatlabel

Figure 2. Specific Types of Convictions

Convictions in U.S. Magistrate Courts

Top Ranked Lead Charges

In June 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 June 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 June.

Convictions in U.S. District Courts

In June 2015, 135 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during June 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 June.

Top Ranked Lead Charges

Table 2 shows the top lead charges recorded in the convictions of matters filed in U.S. District Court during June 2015 referred by the Internal Revenue Service.

Lead Charge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago  
26 USC 7206 - Fraud and False statements 30 1 1 1 More
18 USC 286 - Conspiracy to defraud the Government claims 14 2 5 5 More
26 USC 7201 - Attempt to evade or defeat tax 13 3 2 2 More
18 USC 371 - Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US 10 4 6 3 More
18 USC 287 - False, fictitious or fraudulent claims 9 5 3 8 More
18 USC 1343 - Fraud by wire, radio, or television 7 6 11 12 More
18 USC 1349 - Mail Fraud - Attempt and Conspiracy 7 6 14 13 More
18 USC 641 - Public money, property or records 3 8 9 23 More
18 USC 1028 - Fraud and related activity - id documents 3 8 7 30 More
18 USC 1956 - Laundering of monetary instruments 3 8 10 4 More
21 USC 841 - Drug Abuse Prevention & Control-Prohibited acts A 3 8 19 30 More
21 USC 846 - Attempt and conspiracy 3 8 17 10 More
31 USC 5324 - Structuring transactions to evade reporting requir 3 8 4 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 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 5 a year ago, while it was ranked 5 five years ago.

  • Ranked 3rd was "Attempt to evade or defeat tax" under Title 26 U.S.C Section 7201. "Attempt to evade or defeat tax" under Title 26 U.S.C Section 7201 was ranked 2 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 142.9 percent — compared to one year ago was Title 21 U.S.C Section 846 that involves " Attempt and conspiracy ". Compared to five years ago, the largest increase — 1600 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 60 percent — was " Fraud and related activity - id documents " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 1028 ). Compared to five years ago, the most significant decline in convictions — 25 percent — was for convictions where the lead charge was " Laundering of monetary instruments " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 1956 ).

Top Ranked Judicial Districts

In June 2015 the Justice Department said the government obtained 51.6 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  
Arizona 8 1 More
Fla, M 6 2 More
Mich, E 6 2 More
Penn, W 6 2 More
Virg, E 5 5 More
Conn 4 6 More
Fla, S 4 6 More
N. Y., E 4 6 More
N. Y., W 4 6 More
Oregon 4 6 More
R. I. 4 6 More
Tenn, E 4 6 More
Tenn, M 4 6 More
Virg, W 4 6 More
W Virg, N 4 6 More
Table 3. Top 10 Districts

  • The District of Arizona — with 8 convictions — was the most active during June 2015.

  • The Middle District of Florida (Tampa), Eastern District of Michigan (Detroit) and Western District of Pennsylvania (Pittsburgh) 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 resulting in convictions of this type during June 2015 are shown in Table 4.

Judge Count Rank  
Fischer, Nora Barry Penn, W 5 1 More
Jones, James Parker Virg, W 4 2 More
Wake, Neil Vincent Arizona 3 3 More
Hall, Janet C. Conn 3 3 More
Adams, Henry Lee, Jr. Fla, M 3 3 More
Altonaga, Cecilia M. Fla, S 3 3 More
Smith, George Curtis Ohio, S 3 3 More
Lisi, Mary M. R. I. 3 3 More
Campbell, Todd J. Tenn, M 3 3 More
Lee, Gerald Bruce Virg, E 3 3 More
Table 4. Top Ten Judges

A total of 9 out of the "top ten" judges were in districts which were in the top ten with the largest number of convictions , while the remaining 1 judges were from other districts.

  • Judge Nora Barry Fischer in the Western District of Pennsylvania (Pittsburgh) ranked 1st with 5 convicted in convictions.

  • Judge James Parker Jones in the Western District of Virginia (Roanoke) ranked 2nd with 4 convicted in convictions.

  • Judges Neil Vincent Wake in the District of Arizona, Janet C. Hall in the District of Connecticut, Henry Lee Adams, Jr. in the Middle District of Florida (Tampa), Cecilia M. Altonaga in the Southern District of Florida (Miami), George Curtis Smith in the Southern District of Ohio (Cincinnati), Mary M. Lisi in the District of Rhode Island, Todd J. Campbell in the Middle District of Tennessee (Nashville) and Gerald Bruce Lee in the Eastern District of Virginia (Alexandria) ranked 3rd with 3 convicted in convictions.

Report Generated: July 29, 2015
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Copyright 2015, TRAC Reports, Inc.

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