Prosecutions for September 2017
Referring Agency: Internal Revenue Service
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during September 2017 the government reported 78 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 10.3 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 2017 prosecutions of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, the number of filings was down (-12.2%). 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 34.6 percent from levels reported in 2012.
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 2017 was for "Withheld by Govt from TRAC (FOIA challen", accounting for 43.6 percent of prosecutions. Prosecutions were also filed for "Fraud-Tax" (35.9%), "Fraud-Federal Procurement" (2.6%), "Fraud-Identity Theft-Aggravated" (2.6%), "Fraud-Other" (2.6%), "Money Laundering-Drug" (2.6%), "Money Laundering-Other" (2.6%), "Other Criminal Prosecutions" (2.6%), "Violence-Other" (2.6%). See Figure 2.
Prosecutions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In September 2017, 22 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 3048 involving "Commitment to another district; removal--Rule 40". This was the lead charge for 9.1 percent of all magistrate filings in September.
Prosecutions in U.S. District Courts
In September 2017, 56 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 prosecutions of matters filed in U.S. District Court during September 2017 referred by the Internal Revenue Service.
Lead Charge Count Rank 26 USC 7201 - Attempt to evade or defeat tax 12 1 More 26 USC 7206 - Fraud and False statements 6 2 More 31 USC 5324 - Structuring transactions to evade reporting requir 4 3 More 18 USC 286 - Conspiracy to defraud the Government claims 2 4 More 18 USC 287 - False, fictitious or fraudulent claims 2 4 More 18 USC 371 - Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US 2 4 More 18 USC 1029 - Fraud and related activity - access devices 2 4 More 18 USC 1341 - Mail Fraud - Frauds and swindles 2 4 More 26 USC 7202 - Willful failure to collect or pay over tax 2 4 More 18 USC 152 - Concealment of assets; false oaths and claims; etc 1 10 More 18 USC 1028 - Fraud and related activity - id documents 1 10 More 18 USC 1028A - Aggravated Identity Theft 1 10 More 18 USC 1956 - Laundering of monetary instruments 1 10 More 26 USC 7203 - Willful failure to file return, supply information 1 10 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.
Ranked 2nd in frequency was the lead charge "Fraud and False statements" under Title 26 U.S.C Section 7206.
Ranked 3rd was "Structuring transactions to evade reporting requir" under Title 31 U.S.C Section 5324.
Top Ranked Judicial Districts
In September 2017 the Justice Department said the government brought 20.8 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 Southern District of Florida (Miami) — with 5 prosecutions — was the most active during September 2017.
The Central District of California (Los Angeles), Eastern District of Michigan (Detroit) and Eastern District of Virginia (Alexandria) ranked 2nd.
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 2017 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank Rosenberg, Robin Lee Fla, S 2 1 More Gillmor, Helen W. Hawaii 2 1 More Gordon, Andrew Patrick Nevada 2 1 More Mariani, Robert David Penn, M 2 1 More Guaderrama, David C. Texas, W 2 1 More Logan, Steven P. Arizona 1 6 More Real, Manuel Lawrence Cal, C 1 6 More Otero, S. James Cal, C 1 6 More Olguin, Fernando M. Cal, C 1 6 More Drozd, Dale A. Cal, E 1 6 More White, Jeffrey Steven Cal, N 1 6 More Freeman, Beth Labson Cal, N 1 6 More Benitez, Roger T. Cal, S 1 6 More Jackson, Richard Brooke Colorado 1 6 More Underhill, Stefan R. Conn 1 6 More Shea, Michael Peter Conn 1 6 More Sleet, Gregory Moneta Delaware 1 6 More Cooke, Marcia G. Fla, S 1 6 More Scola, Robert Nichols, Jr. Fla, S 1 6 More Bloom, Beth Francine Fla, S 1 6 More Winmill, B. Lynn Idaho 1 6 More Hanna, Patrick J. La, W 1 6 More Grimm, Paul W. Maryland 1 6 More Whalen, R. Steven Mich, E 1 6 More Starrett, Keith Miss, S 1 6 More Ketchmark, Roseann Ambrosia Mo, W 1 6 More Whitney, Frank DeArmon N Car, W 1 6 More McNulty, Kevin Charles N. J. 1 6 More Siragusa, Charles J. N. Y., W 1 6 More Gwin, James S. Ohio, N 1 6 More Pearson, Benita Yalonda Ohio, N 1 6 More Russell, David Lynn Okla, W 1 6 More Surrick, R[ichard] Barclay Penn, E 1 6 More Schwab, Arthur J. Penn, W 1 6 More Parrish, Jill N. Utah 1 6 More Allen, Arenda Lauretta Wright Virg, E 1 6 More Bryan, Robert Jensen Wash, W 1 6 More Martinez, Ricardo S. Wash, W 1 6 More Stadtmueller, Joseph Peter Wisc, E 1 6 More Conley, William Martin Wisc, W 1 6 More Table 4. Top Ten Judges
A total of 22 out of the "top ten" judges were in districts which were in the top ten with the largest number of filings , while the remaining 18 judges were from other districts. (Because of ties, there were a total of 40 judges in the "top ten" rankings.)
Judges Robin Lee Rosenberg in the Southern District of Florida (Miami), Helen W. Gillmor in the District of Hawaii, Andrew Patrick Gordon in the District of Nevada, Robert David Mariani in the Middle District of Pennsylvania (Scranton) and David C. Guaderrama in the Western District of Texas (San Antonio) ranked 1st with 2 defendants in cases.
Report Generated: November 22, 2017
