Prosecutions for March 2015

Referring Agency: Internal Revenue Service

Number Latest Month 197
Percent Change from previous month 79.1
Percent Change from 1 year ago -2.9
Percent Change from 5 years ago (Including Magistrate Court) 20.2
Percent Change from 5 years ago (Excluding Magistrate Court) 18.6
Table 1. Criminal Prosecutions

The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during March 2015 the government reported 197 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 up 79.1 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 (-2.9%). 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 20.2 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 March 2015 was for "Fraud-Tax", accounting for 38.1 percent of prosecutions. Prosecutions were also filed for "Withheld by Govt from TRAC (FOIA challen" (33.5%), " Money Laundering-Other" (5.1%), "Environ-Environmental Crimes" (4.1%), "Fraud-Other" (3.6%), "Immigration" (3.6%), "Drugs-Drug Trafficking" (2.5%), "Theft-Government Property" (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 March 2015, 17 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 March the most frequently cited lead charge was Title 18 U.S.C Section 641 involving "Public money, property or records". This was the lead charge for 35.3 percent of all magistrate filings in March.

Prosecutions in U.S. District Courts

In March 2015, 180 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during March there were an additional 3 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 March.

Top Ranked Lead Charges

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

Lead Charge Count Rank  
26 USC 7206 - Fraud and False statements 19 1 More
26 USC 7201 - Attempt to evade or defeat tax 15 2 More
18 USC 286 - Conspiracy to defraud the Government claims 10 3 More
18 USC 1956 - Laundering of monetary instruments 10 3 More
18 USC 287 - False, fictitious or fraudulent claims 9 5 More
33 USC 1319 - Water Pollution - Enforcement 8 6 More
08 USC 1324 - Bringing in and harboring certain aliens 7 7 More
18 USC 641 - Public money, property or records 4 8 More
18 USC 1029 - Fraud and related activity - access devices 4 8 More
18 USC 1343 - Fraud by wire, radio, or television 4 8 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 were "Conspiracy to defraud the Government claims" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 286 and "Laundering of monetary instruments" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 1956.

Top Ranked Judicial Districts

In March 2015 the Justice Department said the government brought 70 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  
Texas, W 12 1 More
Fla, S 11 2 More
Tenn, E 11 2 More
Kansas 9 4 More
N Car, E 9 4 More
N. Y., E 7 6 More
Conn 6 7 More
Penn, E 6 7 More
Ga, N 5 9 More
Virg, W 5 9 More
Table 3. Top 10 Districts

  • The Western District of Texas (San Antonio) — with 12 prosecutions — was the most active during March 2015.

  • The Southern District of Florida (Miami) and Eastern District of Tennessee (Knoxville) 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 March 2015 are shown in Table 4.

Judge Count Rank  
Murguia, Carlos Kansas 8 1 More
Howard, Malcolm Jones N Car, E 8 1 More
Varlan, Thomas A. Tenn, E 7 3 More
Yeakel, Earl Leroy, III Texas, W 7 3 More
Glasser, Israel Leo N. Y., E 5 5 More
Phillips, Mary Elizabeth Mo, W 4 6 More
Graham, James L. Ohio, S 4 6 More
Crone, Marcia A. Texas, E 4 6 More
Martinez, Philip Ray Texas, W 4 6 More
Baker, Kristine Gerhard Ark, E 3 10 More
Thompson, Alvin W. Conn 3 10 More
Bloom, Beth Francine Fla, S 3 10 More
Maloney, Paul Lewis Mich, W 3 10 More
Reeves, Pamela Lynn Tenn, E 3 10 More
Urbanski, Michael Francis Virg, W 3 10 More
Table 4. Top Ten Judges

A total of 10 out of the "top ten" judges were in districts which were in the top ten with the largest number of filings , while the remaining 5 judges were from other districts. (Because of ties, there were a total of 15 judges in the "top ten" rankings.)

  • Judges Carlos Murguia in the District of Kansas and Malcolm Jones Howard in the Eastern District of North Carolina (Raleigh) ranked 1st with 8 defendants in cases.

  • Judges Thomas A. Varlan in the Eastern District of Tennessee (Knoxville) and Earl Leroy Yeakel, III in the Western District of Texas (San Antonio) ranked 3rd with 7 defendants in cases.

Report Generated: May 11, 2015
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