Convictions for November 2014
Referring Agency: Internal Revenue Service
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during November 2014 the government reported 108 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 22.9 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 2014 convictions of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, the number of convictions was up (18.2%). 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 37 percent from levels reported in 2009.
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 November 2014 was for "Fraud-Tax", accounting for 49.1 percent of convictions. Convictions were also filed for "Money Laundering-Other" (8.3%), "Drugs-Drug Trafficking" (7.4%), " Withheld by Govt from TRAC (FOIA challen" (6.5%), "Fraud-Other" (3.7%), "Fraud-Identity Theft-Aggravated" (2.8%), "Fraud-Identity Theft-Other" (2.8%). See Figure 2.
Convictions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In November 2014, 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 November 2014, 108 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during November 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 November.
Top Ranked Lead Charges
Table 2 shows the top lead charges recorded in the convictions of matters filed in U.S. District Court during November 2014 referred by the Internal Revenue Service.
Lead Charge Count Rank 26 USC 7206 - Fraud and False statements 17 1 More 26 USC 7201 - Attempt to evade or defeat tax 16 2 More 18 USC 286 - Conspiracy to defraud the Government claims 9 3 More 18 USC 641 - Public money, property or records 7 4 More 18 USC 287 - False, fictitious or fraudulent claims 6 5 More 18 USC 2118 - Robberies/burglaries w/controlled substances 6 5 More 31 USC 5324 - Structuring transactions to evade reporting requir 5 7 More 18 USC 1028 - Fraud and related activity - id documents 4 8 More 18 USC 1343 - Fraud by wire, radio, or television 4 8 More 18 USC 1956 - Laundering of monetary instruments 4 8 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.
Ranked 2nd in frequency was the lead charge "Attempt to evade or defeat tax" under Title 26 U.S.C Section 7201.
Ranked 3rd was "Conspiracy to defraud the Government claims" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 286.
Top Ranked Judicial Districts
In November 2014 the Justice Department said the government obtained 41.3 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.
Judicial District Count Rank Minnesota 15 1 More Penn, E 9 2 More Fla, M 7 3 More Ohio, S 6 4 More N. J. 5 5 More Ga, N 3 6 More N. Y., S 3 6 More Nevada 3 6 More Ind, N 2 9 More Kansas 2 9 More Ken, E 2 9 More Mass 2 9 More Mich, E 2 9 More Mo, W 2 9 More N Car, E 2 9 More N. Y., E 2 9 More N. Y., N 2 9 More N. Y., W 2 9 More Ohio, N 2 9 More Oregon 2 9 More Penn, W 2 9 More S Dakota 2 9 More Texas, E 2 9 More Texas, W 2 9 More Table 3. Top 10 Districts
The District of Minnesota — with 15 convictions — was the most active during November 2014.
The Eastern District of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia) 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 November 2014 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank Nelson, Susan Richard Minnesota 6 1 More Schiltz, Patrick Joseph Minnesota 3 2 More Smith, George Curtis Ohio, S 3 2 More Adams, Henry Lee, Jr. Fla, M 2 4 More Jones, Steve CarMichael Ga, N 2 4 More Vratil, Kathryn Hoefer Kansas 2 4 More Hood, Joseph Martin Ken, E 2 4 More Murphy, Stephen Joseph, III Mich, E 2 4 More Frank, Donovan W. Minnesota 2 4 More Kyle, Richard House Minnesota 2 4 More Wimes, Brian Curtis Mo, W 2 4 More Dever, James C., III N Car, E 2 4 More Salas, Esther N. J. 2 4 More Larimer, David G. N. Y., W 2 4 More Zouhary, Jack Ohio, N 2 4 More Joyner, J. Curtis Penn, E 2 4 More Smith, Edward George Penn, E 2 4 More Fischer, Nora Barry Penn, W 2 4 More Schreier, Karen E. S Dakota 2 4 More Table 4. Top Ten Judges
All 19 of the "top ten" judges were in districts which were in the top ten with the largest number of convictions. (Because of ties, there were a total of 19 judges in the "top ten" rankings.)
Judge Susan Richard Nelson in the District of Minnesota ranked 1st with 6 convicted in convictions.
Judges Patrick Joseph Schiltz in the District of Minnesota and George Curtis Smith in the Southern District of Ohio (Cincinnati) ranked 2nd with 3 convicted in convictions.
Report Generated: January 22, 2015
