Prosecutions for September 2015

Referring Agency: Internal Revenue Service

Number Latest Month 91
Percent Change from previous month -35.5
Percent Change from 1 year ago -3.5
Percent Change from 5 years ago
(Including Magistrate Court)
8.5
Percent Change from 5 years ago
(Excluding Magistrate Court)
6.6
Table 1. Criminal Prosecutions

The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during September 2015 the government reported 91 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 down 35.5 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 2015 prosecutions of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, the number of filings was down (-3.5%). 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 8.5 percent from levels reported in 2010.

The growth in these cases is partly related to increases in the matters filed in U.S. Magistrate Courts. If magistrate cases are excluded and only Federal District Court cases are counted, the overall increase in prosecutions is 6.6 percent instead of 8.5 percent. The evidence suggests that part of the difference may be the result of improvements in the recording of the magistrate cases by the Justice Department.

Bar and line plot of FYMON

Figure 1. Monthly Trends in Prosecutions

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 September 2015 was for "Fraud-Tax", accounting for 41.8 percent of prosecutions. Prosecutions were also filed for "Withheld by Govt from TRAC (FOIA challen" (31.9%), " Money Laundering-Other" (5.5%), "Corruption(Govt Off)-Local" (2.2%), "Fraud-Consumer" (2.2%), "Fraud-Financial Institution" (2.2%), "Fraud-Other" (2.2%), "Fraud-Other Business" (2.2%). See Figure 2.

Pie chart of progcatlabel

Figure 2. Specific Types of Prosecutions

Prosecutions in U.S. Magistrate Courts

Top Ranked Lead Charges

In September 2015, 5 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 September the most frequently cited lead charge was Title 18 U.S.C Section 1029 involving "Fraud and related activity - access devices". This was the lead charge for 20 percent of all magistrate filings in September.

Prosecutions in U.S. District Courts

In September 2015, 86 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during September there were an additional 12 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 September.

Top Ranked Lead Charges

Table 2 shows the top lead charges recorded in the prosecutions of matters filed in U.S. District Court during September 2015 referred by the Internal Revenue Service.

Lead Charge Count Rank  
26 USC 7206 - Fraud and False statements 17 1 More
18 USC 1349 - Mail Fraud - Attempt and Conspiracy 6 2 More
18 USC 287 - False, fictitious or fraudulent claims 5 3 More
18 USC 1343 - Fraud by wire, radio, or television 5 3 More
18 USC 286 - Conspiracy to defraud the Government claims 4 5 More
18 USC 1956 - Laundering of monetary instruments 4 5 More
18 USC 371 - Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US 3 7 More
26 USC 7201 - Attempt to evade or defeat tax 3 7 More
26 USC 7203 - Willful failure to file return, supply information 3 7 More
18 USC 1028 - Fraud and related activity - id documents 2 10 More
26 USC 7202 - Willful failure to collect or pay over tax 2 10 More
26 USC 7207 - Fraudulent returns, statements, or other documents 2 10 More
31 USC 5324 - Structuring transactions to evade reporting requir 2 10 More
Table 2. Top Charges Filed

  • "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 "Mail Fraud - Attempt and Conspiracy" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 1349.

  • Ranked 3rd were "False, fictitious or fraudulent claims" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 287 and "Fraud by wire, radio, or television" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 1343.

Top Ranked Judicial Districts

In September 2015 the Justice Department said the government brought 37.5 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.


Judicial District Count Rank  
N. Y., S 8 1 More
N. J. 7 2 More
Ala, S 4 3 More
Mich, E 4 3 More
Penn, E 4 3 More
R. I. 4 3 More
Cal, C 3 7 More
Cal, N 3 7 More
Fla, M 3 7 More
N Car, W 3 7 More
Ohio, S 3 7 More
S Car 3 7 More
Tenn, E 3 7 More
Table 3. Top 10 Districts

  • The Southern District of New York (Manhattan) — with 8 prosecutions — was the most active during September 2015.

  • The District of New Jersey ranked 2nd.

  • Southern District of Alabama (Mobile), Eastern District of Michigan (Detroit), Eastern District of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia) and District of Rhode Island 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 of this type during September 2015 are shown in Table 4.

Judge Count Rank  
Forrest, Katherine Bolan N. Y., S 6 1 More
Smith, William E. R. I. 4 2 More
Slomsky, Joel Harvey Penn, E 3 3 More
Varlan, Thomas A. Tenn, E 3 3 More
Granade, Callie V. Ala, S 2 5 More
Breyer, Charles R. Cal, N 2 5 More
Thompson, Alvin W. Conn 2 5 More
Byron, Paul Gregory Fla, M 2 5 More
Blake, Catherine C. Maryland 2 5 More
Young, William G. Mass 2 5 More
Frank, Donovan W. Minnesota 2 5 More
Fenner, Gary A. Mo, W 2 5 More
Morris, Brian Matthew Montana 2 5 More
Hillman, Noel Lawrence N. J. 2 5 More
Kugler, Robert B. N. J. 2 5 More
Miles-LaGrange, Vicki Okla, W 2 5 More
Groh, Gina Marie W Virg, N 2 5 More
Table 4. Top Ten Judges

A total of 9 out of the "top ten" judges were in districts which were in the top ten with the largest number of filings , while the remaining 8 judges were from other districts. (Because of ties, there were a total of 17 judges in the "top ten" rankings.)

  • Judge Katherine Bolan Forrest in the Southern District of New York (Manhattan) ranked 1st with 6 defendants in cases.

  • Judge William E. Smith in the District of Rhode Island ranked 2nd with 4 defendants in cases.

  • Judges Joel Harvey Slomsky in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia) and Thomas A. Varlan in the Eastern District of Tennessee (Knoxville) ranked 3rd with 3 defendants in cases.

Report Generated: October 27, 2015
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