Prosecutions for September 2016
Referring Agency: Internal Revenue Service
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during September 2016 the government reported 139 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 36.3 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 2016 prosecutions of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, the number of filings was down (-25.5%). Prosecutions over the past year are still much lower than they were five years ago. Overall, the data show that prosecutions of this type are down 24.5 percent from levels reported in 2011.
The decrease 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 2016 was for "Fraud-Tax", accounting for 36.7 percent of prosecutions. Prosecutions were also filed for "Withheld by Govt from TRAC (FOIA challen" (21.6%), "Other Criminal Prosecutions" (15.1%), "Money Laundering-Other" (7.2%), "Fraud-Identity Theft-Aggravated" (5.8%), "Fraud-Other" (3.6%), "Drugs-Organized Crime Task Force" (2.2%), "Fraud-Federal Program" (2.2%). See Figure 2.
Prosecutions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In September 2016, 3 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 641 involving "Public money, property or records". This was the lead charge for 33.3 percent of all magistrate filings in September.
Prosecutions in U.S. District Courts
In September 2016, 136 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during September there were an additional 2 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 2016 referred by the Internal Revenue Service.
Lead Charge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago 26 USC 7206 - Fraud and False statements 24 1 1 1 More 18 USC 1956 - Laundering of monetary instruments 20 2 6 3 More 18 USC 1957 - Monetary transactions w/property from unlawful act 8 3 20 18 More 18 USC 1028A - Aggravated Identity Theft 7 4 15 - More 26 USC 7201 - Attempt to evade or defeat tax 7 4 2 2 More 18 USC 371 - Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US 6 6 3 4 More 18 USC 641 - Public money, property or records 5 7 7 27 More 18 USC 1343 - Fraud by wire, radio, or television 5 7 9 11 More 26 USC 7202 - Willful failure to collect or pay over tax 5 7 9 13 More 18 USC 286 - Conspiracy to defraud the Government claims 3 10 5 7 More 31 USC 5324 - Structuring transactions to evade reporting requir 3 10 11 5 More Table 2. Top Charges Filed
"Fraud and False statements" (Title 26 U.S.C Section 7206) was the most frequent recorded lead charge. "Fraud and False statements" (Title 26 U.S.C Section 7206) was ranked 1 a year ago, while it was ranked 1 five years ago.
Ranked 2nd in frequency was the lead charge "Laundering of monetary instruments" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 1956. "Laundering of monetary instruments" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 1956 was ranked 6 a year ago, while it was ranked 3 five years ago.
Ranked 3rd was "Monetary transactions w/property from unlawful act" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 1957.
Among these top ten lead charges, the one showing the greatest increase in prosecutions — up 200 percent — compared to one year ago was Title 18 U.S.C Section 1957 that involves " Monetary transactions w/property from unlawful act ". Compared to five years ago, the largest increase — 2100 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 44.7 percent — was " Conspiracy to defraud the Government claims " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 286 ). Compared to five years ago, the most significant decline in prosecutions — 70.3 percent — was for filings where the lead charge was " Structuring transactions to evade reporting requir " (Title 31 U.S.C Section 5324 ).
Top Ranked Judicial Districts
In September 2016 the Justice Department said the government brought 51.5 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.
The Central District of California (Los Angeles) — with 17 prosecutions — was the most active during September 2016.
The Northern District of Georgia (Atlanta) ranked 2nd.
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 September 2016 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank Wright, Otis D., II Cal, C 16 1 More Reeves, Danny C. Ken, E 5 2 More Yeakel, Earl Leroy, III Texas, W 5 2 More Lynn, Barbara M. Texas, N 4 4 More Magnus-Stinson, Jane Elizabeth Ind, S 3 5 More White, Ronnie Lee Mo, E 3 5 More Padova, John R. Penn, E 3 5 More Wilson, Billy Roy Ark, E 2 8 More Burrell, Garland Ellis, Jr. Cal, E 2 8 More Mueller, Kimberly Jo Cal, E 2 8 More Middlebrooks, Donald M. Fla, S 2 8 More Altonaga, Cecilia M. Fla, S 2 8 More Springmann, Theresa Lazar Ind, N 2 8 More Barker, Sarah Evans Ind, S 2 8 More Dick, Shelly Deckert La, M 2 8 More Rosen, Gerald Ellis Mich, E 2 8 More Starrett, Keith Miss, S 2 8 More Crotty, Paul Austin N. Y., S 2 8 More Conaboy, Richard Paul Penn, M 2 8 More Morgan, Henry Coke, Jr. Virg, E 2 8 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 9 judges were from other districts. (Because of ties, there were a total of 20 judges in the "top ten" rankings.)
Judge Otis D. Wright, II in the Central District of California (Los Angeles) ranked 1st with 16 defendants in cases.
Judges Danny C. Reeves in the Eastern District of Kentucky (Lexington) and Earl Leroy Yeakel, III in the Western District of Texas (San Antonio) ranked 2nd with 5 defendants in cases.
Report Generated: November 16, 2016
