Convictions for March 2018
Referring Agency: Internal Revenue Service
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during March 2018 the government reported 114 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 32.6 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 2018 convictions of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, the number of convictions was down (-13.9%). 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 22.2 percent from levels reported in 2013.
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 2018 was for "Fraud-Tax", accounting for 58.8 percent of convictions. Convictions were also filed for "Withheld by Govt from TRAC (FOIA challen" (7.9%), "Fraud-Identity Theft-Aggravated" (5.3%), "Fraud-Identity Theft-Other" (4.4%), "Fraud-Other" (4.4%), "Organized Crime-Transnational" (3.5%), "Theft-Government Property" (3.5%). See Figure 2.
Convictions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In March 2018, 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 2018, 114 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 2018 referred by the Internal Revenue Service.
Lead Charge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago 26 USC 7206 - Fraud and False statements 23 1 1 1 More 26 USC 7201 - Attempt to evade or defeat tax 16 2 2 2 More 18 USC 1343 - Fraud by wire, radio, or television 12 3 12 12 More 18 USC 371 - Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US 8 4 5 9 More 18 USC 641 - Public money, property or records 7 5 6 14 More 18 USC 286 - Conspiracy to defraud the Government claims 6 6 3 4 More 18 USC 287 - False, fictitious or fraudulent claims 6 6 4 4 More 18 USC 1028 - Fraud and related activity - id documents 6 6 13 17 More 18 USC 1028A - Aggravated Identity Theft 3 9 16 19 More 26 USC 7202 - Willful failure to collect or pay over tax 3 9 10 12 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 "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.
Ranked 3rd was "Fraud by wire, radio, or television" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 1343.
Among these top ten lead charges, the one showing the greatest increase in convictions — up 166.7 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 — 266.7 percent — was registered for convictions under " Aggravated Identity Theft " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 1028 ).
Again among the top ten lead charges, the one showing the sharpest decline in convictions compared to one year ago — down 44.2 percent — was " Conspiracy to defraud the Government claims " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 286 ). Compared to five years ago, the most significant decline in convictions — 46.7 percent — was for convictions where the lead charge was " Attempt to evade or defeat tax " (Title 26 U.S.C Section 7201 ).
Top Ranked Judicial Districts
In March 2018 the Justice Department said the government obtained 42.3 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 Western District of Texas (San Antonio) — with 9 convictions — was the most active during March 2018.
The Eastern District of California (Sacramento) ranked 2nd.
Middle District of Florida (Tampa), Eastern District of Michigan (Detroit), Eastern District of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia), District of South Carolina and Southern District of Texas (Houston) 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 March 2018 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank Rodriguez, Xavier Texas, W 8 1 More Drozd, Dale A. Cal, E 3 2 More Watkins, William Keith Ala, M 2 3 More Walker, Mark Eaton Fla, N 2 3 More Thrash, Thomas W., Jr. Ga, N 2 3 More Vance, Sarah S. La, E 2 3 More Jonker, Robert James Mich, W 2 3 More Ross, John Andrew Mo, E 2 3 More Fenner, Gary A. Mo, W 2 3 More Wolfson, Freda L. N. J. 2 3 More Korman, Edward Robert N. Y., E 2 3 More Watson, Michael H. Ohio, S 2 3 More Padova, John R. Penn, E 2 3 More Norton, David C. S Car 2 3 More Childs, Julianna Michelle S Car 2 3 More Fowlkes, John Thomas, Jr. Tenn, W 2 3 More Gilmore, Vanessa D. Texas, S 2 3 More Benson, Dee Vance Utah 2 3 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 convictions , while the remaining 8 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 8 convicted in convictions.
Judge Dale A. Drozd in the Eastern District of California (Sacramento) ranked 2nd with 3 convicted in convictions.
Judges William Keith Watkins in the Middle District of Alabama (Montgomery), Mark Eaton Walker in the Northern District of Florida (Pensacola), Thomas W. Thrash, Jr. in the Northern District of Georgia (Atlanta), Sarah S. Vance in the Eastern District of Louisiana (New Orleans), Robert James Jonker in the Western District of Michigan (Grand Rapids), John Andrew Ross in the Eastern District of Missouri (St. Louis), Gary A. Fenner in the Western District of Missouri (Kansas City), Freda L. Wolfson in the ranked 3rd with 2 convicted in convictions.
Report Generated: April 26, 2018
