Prosecutions for March 2017
Referring Agency: Internal Revenue Service
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during March 2017 the government reported 116 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 38.1 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 2017 prosecutions of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, the number of filings was down (-18.5%). 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 17.5 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 March 2017 was for "Fraud-Tax", accounting for 50 percent of prosecutions. Prosecutions were also filed for "Withheld by Govt from TRAC (FOIA challen" (17.2%), "Fraud-Other" (6.9%), "Fraud-Corporate" (2.6%), "Theft-Interstate" (2.6%). See Figure 2.
Prosecutions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In March 2017, 3 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 287 involving "False, fictitious or fraudulent claims". This was the lead charge for 33.3 percent of all magistrate filings in March.
Prosecutions in U.S. District Courts
In March 2017, 113 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during March there were an additional 5 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 2017 referred by the Internal Revenue Service.
Lead Charge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago 26 USC 7206 - Fraud and False statements 23 1 1 2 More 18 USC 1343 - Fraud by wire, radio, or television 16 2 13 9 More 26 USC 7201 - Attempt to evade or defeat tax 12 3 2 1 More 18 USC 371 - Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US 8 4 5 4 More 18 USC 287 - False, fictitious or fraudulent claims 6 5 3 3 More 18 USC 286 - Conspiracy to defraud the Government claims 4 6 6 7 More 18 USC 1028 - Fraud and related activity - id documents 4 6 11 19 More 18 USC 1956 - Laundering of monetary instruments 4 6 7 6 More 18 USC 641 - Public money, property or records 3 9 4 15 More 18 USC 1349 - Mail Fraud - Attempt and Conspiracy 3 9 11 13 More Table 2. Top Charges Filed
"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 2 five years ago.
Ranked 2nd in frequency was the lead charge "Fraud by wire, radio, or television" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 1343.
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 1 five years ago.
Among these top ten lead charges, the one showing the greatest increase in prosecutions — up 152.9 percent — compared to one year ago was Title 18 U.S.C Section 1343 that involves " Fraud by wire, radio, or television ". Compared to five years ago, the largest increase — 275 percent — was registered for prosecutions under " Fraud and related activity - id documents " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 1028 ).
Again among the top ten lead charges, the one showing the sharpest decline in prosecutions compared to one year ago — down 55.6 percent — was " Laundering of monetary instruments " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 1956 ). This was the same statute that had the largest decrease — 55.6 % — when compared with five years ago.
Top Ranked Judicial Districts
In March 2017 the Justice Department said the government brought 44.1 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.
The Western District of Pennsylvania (Pittsburgh) — with 9 prosecutions — was the most active during March 2017.
The Western District of Texas (San Antonio) ranked 2nd.
Western District of Missouri (Kansas City) is 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 March 2017 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank Rodriguez, Xavier Texas, W 5 1 More Ketchmark, Roseann Ambrosia Mo, W 4 2 More Schwab, Arthur J. Penn, W 4 2 More McCoy, Mac R. Fla, M 3 4 More Martinez, Jose E. Fla, S 3 4 More Schiltz, Patrick Joseph Minnesota 3 4 More Quinones Alejandr, Nitza Ileana Penn, E 3 4 More Brooks, Timothy Lloyd Ark, W 2 8 More Mendez, John A. Cal, E 2 8 More Drozd, Dale A. Cal, E 2 8 More Freeman, Beth Labson Cal, N 2 8 More Wingate, Henry Travillion Miss, S 2 8 More Autrey, Henry Edward Mo, E 2 8 More Ross, John Andrew Mo, E 2 8 More Hornak, Mark Raymond Penn, W 2 8 More Moon, Norman K. Virg, W 2 8 More Conrad, Glen Edward Virg, W 2 8 More Stadtmueller, Joseph Peter Wisc, E 2 8 More Table 4. Top Ten Judges
A total of 15 out of the "top ten" judges were in districts which were in the top ten with the largest number of filings , while the remaining 3 judges were from other districts. (Because of ties, there were a total of 18 judges in the "top ten" rankings.)
Judge Xavier Rodriguez in the Western District of Texas (San Antonio) ranked 1st with 5 defendants in cases.
Judges Roseann Ambrosia Ketchmark in the Western District of Missouri (Kansas City) and Arthur J. Schwab in the Western District of Pennsylvania (Pittsburgh) ranked 2nd with 4 defendants in cases.
Report Generated: May 18, 2017
