Convictions for May 2015
Referring Agency: Internal Revenue Service
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during May 2015 the government reported 109 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 down 32.3 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 (1.4%). 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 42 percent from levels reported in 2010.
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 May 2015 was for "Fraud-Tax", accounting for 58.7 percent of convictions. Convictions were also filed for "Fraud-Identity Theft-Aggravated" (7.3%), "Money Laundering-Other" (7.3%) , "Withheld by Govt from TRAC (FOIA challen" (5.5%), "Fraud-Other" (4.6%), "Drugs-Drug Trafficking" (2.8%), "Fraud-Financial Institution" (2.8%). See Figure 2.
Convictions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In May 2015, 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 May 2015, 109 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during May 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 May.
Top Ranked Lead Charges
Table 2 shows the top lead charges recorded in the convictions of matters filed in U.S. District Court during May 2015 referred by the Internal Revenue Service.
Lead Charge Count Rank 18 USC 286 - Conspiracy to defraud the Government claims 15 1 More 26 USC 7206 - Fraud and False statements 15 1 More 26 USC 7201 - Attempt to evade or defeat tax 14 3 More 18 USC 287 - False, fictitious or fraudulent claims 10 4 More 18 USC 371 - Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US 8 5 More 18 USC 641 - Public money, property or records 6 6 More 18 USC 1956 - Laundering of monetary instruments 6 6 More 31 USC 5324 - Structuring transactions to evade reporting requir 6 6 More 18 USC 1028A - Aggravated Identity Theft 5 9 More 18 USC 1343 - Fraud by wire, radio, or television 4 10 More Table 2. Top Charges for Convictions
"Conspiracy to defraud the Government claims" (Title 18 U.S.C Section 286) and "Fraud and False statements" (Title 26 U.S.C Section 7206) were the most frequent recorded lead charges.
Ranked 3rd was "Attempt to evade or defeat tax" under Title 26 U.S.C Section 7201.
Top Ranked Judicial Districts
In May 2015 the Justice Department said the government obtained 41.7 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 New York (Brooklyn) and District of Oregon — with 6 convictions — were the most active during May 2015.
Central District of California (Los Angeles) and Middle District of Florida (Tampa) 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 May 2015 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank Schreier, Karen E. S Dakota 4 1 More Bramlette, David C., III Miss, S 3 2 More Jones, Robert Edward Oregon 3 2 More Tucker, Josephine Staton Cal, C 2 4 More Blackburn, Robert E. Colorado 2 4 More Conway, Anne C. Fla, M 2 4 More Walker, Mark Eaton Fla, N 2 4 More Duffey, William S., Jr. Ga, N 2 4 More Batten, Timothy C., Sr. Ga, N 2 4 More Watson, Derrick Kahala Hawaii 2 4 More Reagan, Michael Joseph Ill, S 2 4 More Reade, Linda R. Iowa, N 2 4 More O'Meara, John Corbett Mich, E 2 4 More Schiltz, Patrick Joseph Minnesota 2 4 More Feuerstein, Sandra J. N. Y., E 2 4 More Mordue, Norman A. N. Y., N 2 4 More Diamond, Paul Steven Penn, E 2 4 More Varlan, Thomas A. Tenn, E 2 4 More Haynes, William Joseph, Jr. Tenn, M 2 4 More McBryde, John H. Texas, N 2 4 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 10 judges were from other districts. (Because of ties, there were a total of 20 judges in the "top ten" rankings.)
Judge Karen E. Schreier in the District of South Dakota ranked 1st with 4 convicted in convictions.
Judges David C. Bramlette, III in the Southern District of Mississippi (Jackson) and Robert Edward Jones in the District of Oregon ranked 2nd with 3 convicted in convictions.
Report Generated: June 24, 2015
