Prosecutions for October 2014
Referring Agency: Internal Revenue Service
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during October 2014 the government reported 148 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 2.1 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 2014 prosecutions of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, the number of filings was down (-16.5%). Prosecutions over the past year are still much higher than they were five years ago. Overall, the data show that prosecutions of this type are up 30.1 percent from levels reported in 2009.
The increase 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 October 2014 was for "Fraud-Tax", accounting for 41.2 percent of prosecutions. Prosecutions were also filed for "Withheld by Govt from TRAC (FOIA challen" (23%), " Drugs-Organized Crime Task Force" (8.1%), "Fraud-Identity Theft-Aggravated" (6.1%), "Fraud-Identity Theft-Other" (5.4%), "Money Laundering-Other" (2.7%), "Fraud-Computer" (2%), "Fraud-Financial Institution" (2%). See Figure 2.
Prosecutions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In October 2014, 4 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 October the most frequently cited lead charge was Title 18 U.S.C Section 371 involving "Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US". This was the lead charge for 25 percent of all magistrate filings in October.
Prosecutions in U.S. District Courts
In October 2014, 144 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during October there were an additional 4 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 October.
Top Ranked Lead Charges
Table 2 shows the top lead charges recorded in the prosecutions of matters filed in U.S. District Court during October 2014 referred by the Internal Revenue Service.
Lead Charge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago 26 USC 7201 - Attempt to evade or defeat tax 20 1 1 1 More 26 USC 7206 - Fraud and False statements 14 2 2 2 More 21 USC 846 - Attempt and conspiracy 10 3 17 5 More 18 USC 1028 - Fraud and related activity - id documents 9 4 9 - More 18 USC 641 - Public money, property or records 8 5 7 33 More 31 USC 5324 - Structuring transactions to evade reporting requir 7 6 12 12 More 26 USC 7202 - Willful failure to collect or pay over tax 6 7 11 9 More 18 USC 1028A - Aggravated Identity Theft 5 8 14 - More 18 USC 371 - Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US 4 9 3 4 More 18 USC 1349 - Mail Fraud - Attempt and Conspiracy 4 9 14 - More Table 2. Top Charges Filed
"Attempt to evade or defeat tax" (Title 26 U.S.C Section 7201) was the most frequent recorded lead charge. "Attempt to evade or defeat tax" (Title 26 U.S.C Section 7201) was ranked 1 a year ago, while it was ranked 1 five years ago.
Ranked 2nd in frequency was the lead charge "Fraud and False statements" under Title 26 U.S.C Section 7206. "Fraud and False statements" under Title 26 U.S.C Section 7206 was ranked 2 a year ago, while it was ranked 2 five years ago.
Ranked 3rd was "Attempt and conspiracy" under Title 21 U.S.C Section 846.
Among these top ten lead charges, the one showing the greatest increase in prosecutions — up 40 percent — compared to one year ago was Title 21 U.S.C Section 846 that involves " Attempt and conspiracy ". Compared to five years ago, the largest increase — 3800 percent — was registered for prosecutions under " Public money, property or records " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 641 ).
Again among the top ten lead charges, the one showing the sharpest decline in prosecutions compared to one year ago — down 41.4 percent — was " Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 371 ). Compared to five years ago, the most significant decline in prosecutions — 37.5 percent — was for filings where the lead charge was " Attempt to evade or defeat tax " (Title 26 U.S.C Section 7201 ).
Top Ranked Judicial Districts
In October 2014 the Justice Department said the government brought 56.6 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 Eastern District of California (Sacramento) and Eastern District of Tennessee (Knoxville) — with 9 prosecutions — were the most active during October 2014.
Southern District of Florida (Miami) 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 October 2014 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank Shirley, C. Clifford Tenn, E 9 1 More O'Neill, Lawrence Joseph Cal, E 8 2 More Jones, James Parker Virg, W 6 3 More Walker, Mark Eaton Fla, N 5 4 More Rosenstengel, Nancy Jo Ill, S 4 5 More Thompson, Myron Herbert Ala, M 3 6 More Beistline, Ralph R. Alaska 3 6 More Collins, Raner Christercunean Arizona 3 6 More Proctor, R. David Ala, N 2 9 More Bolton, Susan Ritchie Arizona 2 9 More Fitzgerald, Michael Walter Cal, C 2 9 More Chhabria, Vince Girdhari Cal, N 2 9 More Arterton, Janet Bond Conn 2 9 More Conway, Anne C. Fla, M 2 9 More Davis, Brian Jordan Fla, M 2 9 More Batten, Timothy C., Sr. Ga, N 2 9 More Phillips, Mary Elizabeth Mo, W 2 9 More Flanagan, Louise W. N Car, E 2 9 More Chen, Pamela Ki Mai N. Y., E 2 9 More Mahan, James C. Nevada 2 9 More Schmehl, Jeffrey L. Penn, E 2 9 More Groh, Gina Marie W Virg, N 2 9 More Table 4. Top Ten Judges
A total of 11 out of the "top ten" judges were in districts which were in the top ten with the largest number of filings , while the remaining 11 judges were from other districts. (Because of ties, there were a total of 22 judges in the "top ten" rankings.)
Judge C. Clifford Shirley in the Eastern District of Tennessee (Knoxville) ranked 1st with 9 defendants in cases.
Judge Lawrence Joseph O'Neill in the Eastern District of California (Sacramento) ranked 2nd with 8 defendants in cases.
Judge James Parker Jones in the Western District of Virginia (Roanoke) ranked 3rd with 6 defendants in cases.
Report Generated: December 11, 2014
