Convictions for September 2015

Referring Agency: Internal Revenue Service

Number Latest Month 146
Percent Change from previous month 39.0
Percent Change from 1 year ago -6.7
Percent Change from 5 years ago
(Including Magistrate Court)
15.4
Percent Change from 5 years ago
(Excluding Magistrate Court)
16.8
Table 1. Criminal Convictions

The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during September 2015 the government reported 146 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 39 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 down (-6.7%). 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 15.4 percent from levels reported in 2010.

Bar and line plot of FYMON

Figure 1. Monthly Trends in Convictions

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 September 2015 was for "Fraud-Tax", accounting for 56.2 percent of convictions. Convictions were also filed for "Withheld by Govt from TRAC (FOIA challen" (12.3%), " Fraud-Identity Theft-Other" (4.8%), "Other Criminal Prosecutions" (4.8%), "Money Laundering-Other" (4.1%), "Drugs-Organized Crime Task Force" (2.7%), "Drugs-Drug Trafficking" (2.1%), "Fraud-Other Investment" (2.1%), "Money Laundering-Drug" (2.1%). See Figure 2.

Pie chart of progcatlabel

Figure 2. Specific Types of Convictions

Convictions in U.S. Magistrate Courts

Top Ranked Lead Charges

In September 2015, 1 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 31 U.S.C Section 333 involving "Misuse of Dept of Treasury Names, Symbols, etc.". This was the lead charge for 100 percent of all magistrate convictions in September.

Convictions in U.S. District Courts

In September 2015, 145 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during September 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 September.

Top Ranked Lead Charges

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

Lead Charge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago  
18 USC 286 - Conspiracy to defraud the Government claims 22 1 4 5 More
26 USC 7206 - Fraud and False statements 18 2 1 2 More
18 USC 287 - False, fictitious or fraudulent claims 12 3 3 12 More
18 USC 641 - Public money, property or records 10 4 6 14 More
26 USC 7201 - Attempt to evade or defeat tax 10 4 2 1 More
18 USC 1956 - Laundering of monetary instruments 7 6 7 4 More
18 USC 371 - Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US 6 7 5 3 More
18 USC 1028 - Fraud and related activity - id documents 4 8 10 21 More
18 USC 1343 - Fraud by wire, radio, or television 4 8 12 9 More
18 USC 1349 - Mail Fraud - Attempt and Conspiracy 4 8 12 16 More
31 USC 5324 - Structuring transactions to evade reporting requir 4 8 8 5 More
Table 2. Top Charges for Convictions

  • "Conspiracy to defraud the Government claims" (Title 18 U.S.C Section 286) was the most frequent recorded lead charge. "Conspiracy to defraud the Government claims" (Title 18 U.S.C Section 286) was ranked 4 a year ago, while it was ranked 5 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 1 a year ago, while it was ranked 2 five years ago.

  • Ranked 3rd was "False, fictitious or fraudulent claims" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 287. "False, fictitious or fraudulent claims" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 287 was ranked 3 a year ago.

Among these top ten lead charges, the one showing the greatest increase in convictions — up 73.3 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 — 566.7 percent — was registered for convictions under " False, fictitious or fraudulent claims " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 287 ).

Again among the top ten lead charges, the one showing the sharpest decline in convictions compared to one year ago — down 47.2 percent — was " Structuring transactions to evade reporting requir " (Title 31 U.S.C Section 5324 ). Compared to five years ago, the most significant decline in convictions — 45.5 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 September 2015 the Justice Department said the government obtained 55.4 convictions for every ten million people in the United States.

Understandably, there is great variation in the per capita number of convictions in each of the nation's ninety-four federal judicial districts.

The districts registering the largest number of convictions per capita for these matters last month are shown in Table 3. Districts must have at least 5 convictions to receive a ranking.


Judicial District Percapita Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago  
D. C. 947 5 1 - 61 More
Miss, S 385 6 2 50 39 More
Cal, C 203 32 3 2 2 More
Fla, S 156 9 4 1 3 More
Ill, N 154 12 5 15 8 More
Cal, N 120 8 6 29 20 More
Fla, M 68 6 7 3 10 More
Table 3. Top 10 Districts (per ten million people)

  • The District of Washington, D.C. (Washington) — with 947 convictions as compared with 55.4 convictions per ten million population in the United States — was the most active during September 2015.

  • The Southern District of Mississippi (Jackson) ranked 2nd.

  • Central District of California (Los Angeles) is now ranking 3rd. The Central District of California (Los Angeles) was ranked 2 a year ago, while it was ranked 2 for most frequent use five years ago.

Recent entrants to the top 10 list were Northern District of Illinois (Chicago), now ranked 5th , and Northern District of California (San Francisco) at 6th In the same order, these districts ranked 15th and 29th one year ago and 8th and 20th five years ago.

The federal judicial district which showed the greatest growth in the rate of convictions compared to one year ago — 200 percent — was Southern District of Mississippi (Jackson). Compared to five years ago, the district with the largest growth — 350 percent — was Washington, D.C. (Washington).

In the last year, the judicial District Court recording the largest drop in the rate of convictions — 43.1 percent — was Southern District of Florida (Miami).  But over the past five years, showed the largest drop — percent.

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 September 2015 are shown in Table 4.

Judge Count Rank  
Tucker, Josephine Staton Cal, C 5 1 More
Tigar, Jon Steven Cal, N 4 2 More
Otero, S. James Cal, C 3 3 More
Breyer, Charles R. Cal, N 3 3 More
Huvelle, Ellen Segal D. C. 3 3 More
Freudenthal, Nancy Dell Wyoming 3 3 More
Coogler, L. Scott Ala, N 2 7 More
Pregerson, Dean D. Cal, C 2 7 More
Real, Manuel Lawrence Cal, C 2 7 More
Carney, Cormac J. Cal, C 2 7 More
Klausner, Robert G. Cal, C 2 7 More
Gutierrez, Philip S. Cal, C 2 7 More
Kovachevich, Elizabeth Anne Fla, M 2 7 More
Altonaga, Cecilia M. Fla, S 2 7 More
Williams, Kathleen Mary Fla, S 2 7 More
Conlon, Suzanne B. Ill, N 2 7 More
Dow, Robert Michael, Jr. Ill, N 2 7 More
Edmunds, Nancy Garlock Mich, E 2 7 More
Lee, Tom Stewart Miss, S 2 7 More
Reeves, Carlton Wayne Miss, S 2 7 More
Phillips, Mary Elizabeth Mo, W 2 7 More
Sharpe, Gary L. N. Y., N 2 7 More
Mosman, Michael W. Oregon 2 7 More
Gibson, Kim R. Penn, W 2 7 More
Sparks, Sam Texas, W 2 7 More
Table 4. Top Ten Judges

A total of 17 out of the "top ten" judges were in districts which were in the top ten with the largest number of convictions per capita, while the remaining 8 judges were from other districts. (Because of ties, there were a total of 25 judges in the "top ten" rankings.)

  • Judge Josephine Staton Tucker in the Central District of California (Los Angeles) ranked 1st with 5 convicted in convictions.

  • Judge Jon Steven Tigar in the Northern District of California (San Francisco) ranked 2nd with 4 convicted in convictions.

  • Judges S. James Otero in the Central District of California (Los Angeles), Charles R. Breyer in the Northern District of California (San Francisco), Ellen Segal Huvelle in the District of Washington, D.C. (Washington) and Nancy Dell Freudenthal in the District of Wyoming ranked 3rd with 3 convicted in convictions.

Report Generated: October 27, 2015
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Copyright 2015, TRAC Reports, Inc.

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