Convictions for March 2017
Referring Agency: Internal Revenue Service
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during March 2017 the government reported 129 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 40.2 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 2017 convictions of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, the number of convictions was down (-20.9%). Convictions over the past year are still much lower than they were five years ago. Overall, the data show that convictions of this type are down 11.4 percent from levels reported in 2012.
The decrease 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 March 2017 was for "Fraud-Tax", accounting for 57.4 percent of convictions. Convictions were also filed for "Withheld by Govt from TRAC (FOIA challen" (8.5%), "Fraud-Other" (7%), "Drugs-Organized Crime Task Force" (5.4%), "Fraud-Identity Theft-Aggravated" (3.9%), "Money Laundering-Other" (3.9%), "Fraud-Other Business" (2.3%). See Figure 2.
Convictions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In March 2017, no 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.
Convictions in U.S. District Courts
In March 2017, 129 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during March 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 March.
Top Ranked Lead Charges
Table 2 shows the top lead charges recorded in the convictions 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 25 1 1 2 More 26 USC 7201 - Attempt to evade or defeat tax 15 2 2 1 More 18 USC 286 - Conspiracy to defraud the Government claims 13 3 4 7 More 18 USC 287 - False, fictitious or fraudulent claims 9 4 3 6 More 18 USC 371 - Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US 8 5 6 4 More 18 USC 641 - Public money, property or records 5 6 5 - More 18 USC 1956 - Laundering of monetary instruments 5 6 10 3 More 21 USC 846 - Attempt and conspiracy 5 6 8 16 More 31 USC 5324 - Structuring transactions to evade reporting requir 5 6 9 7 More 18 USC 1341 - Mail Fraud - Frauds and swindles 3 10 11 5 More 18 USC 1343 - Fraud by wire, radio, or television 3 10 6 9 More 21 USC 841 - Drug Abuse Prevention & Control-Prohibited acts A 3 10 15 12 More 26 USC 7202 - Willful failure to collect or pay over tax 3 10 13 14 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 2 five years ago.
Ranked 2nd in frequency was the lead charge "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.
Ranked 3rd was "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 4 a year ago, while it was ranked 7 five years ago.
Among these top ten lead charges, the one showing the greatest increase in convictions — up 10.4 percent — compared to one year ago was Title 18 U.S.C Section 286 that involves " Conspiracy to defraud the Government claims ". This was the same statute that had the largest increase — 165 % — when compared with five years ago.
Again among the top ten lead charges, the one showing the sharpest decline in convictions compared to one year ago — down 74.1 percent — was " Structuring transactions to evade reporting requir " (Title 31 U.S.C Section 5324 ). Compared to five years ago, the most significant decline in convictions — 66.7 percent — was for convictions where the lead charge was " Drug Abuse Prevention & Control-Prohibited acts A " (Title 21 U.S.C Section 841 ).
Top Ranked Judicial Districts
In March 2017 the Justice Department said the government obtained 48.2 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 Eastern District of Michigan (Detroit) — with 13 convictions — was the most active during March 2017.
The Southern District of Florida (Miami) ranked 2nd.
Middle District of Florida (Tampa) 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 resulting in convictions of this type during March 2017 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank Whittemore, James D. Fla, M 3 1 More Barker, Sarah Evans Ind, S 3 1 More Rosen, Gerald Ellis Mich, E 3 1 More Graham, James L. Ohio, S 3 1 More Reeves, Pamela Lynn Tenn, E 3 1 More Fowlkes, John Thomas, Jr. Tenn, W 3 1 More Ramos, Nelva Gonzales Texas, S 3 1 More Moon, Norman K. Virg, W 3 1 More Rogers, Yvonne Gonzalez Cal, N 2 9 More Merryday, Steven Douglas Fla, M 2 9 More Dimitrouleas, William P. Fla, S 2 9 More Moreno, Federico A. Fla, S 2 9 More Scola, Robert Nichols, Jr. Fla, S 2 9 More Magnus-Stinson, Jane Elizabeth Ind, S 2 9 More Battani, Marianne O. Mich, E 2 9 More Phillips, Mary Elizabeth Mo, W 2 9 More Wimes, Brian Curtis Mo, W 2 9 More Boyle, Terrence William N Car, E 2 9 More Hayden, Katharine Sweeney N. J. 2 9 More Hillman, Noel Lawrence N. J. 2 9 More Francis, James C. N. Y., S 2 9 More Davis, Legrome D. Penn, E 2 9 More Smith, William E. R. I. 2 9 More Keeley, Irene Patricia Murphy W Virg, N 2 9 More Table 4. Top Ten Judges
A total of 18 out of the "top ten" judges were in districts which were in the top ten with the largest number of convictions , while the remaining 6 judges were from other districts. (Because of ties, there were a total of 24 judges in the "top ten" rankings.)
Judges James D. Whittemore in the Middle District of Florida (Tampa), Sarah Evans Barker in the Southern District of Indiana (Indianapolis), Gerald Ellis Rosen in the Eastern District of Michigan (Detroit), James L. Graham in the Southern District of Ohio (Cincinnati), Pamela Lynn Reeves in the Eastern District of Tennessee (Knoxville), John Thomas Fowlkes, Jr. in the Western District of Tennessee (Memphis), Nelva Gonzales Ramos in the Southern District of Texas (Houston) and Norman K. Moon in the West ranked 1st with 3 convicted in convictions.
Report Generated: May 18, 2017
