Weapons Prosecutions for December 2017
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during December 2017 the government reported 649 new weapons prosecutions. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is down 5.3 percent over the previous month.
The comparisons of the number of defendants charged with weapons-related offenses 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 up (21.1%). 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 19.5 percent from levels reported in 2012.
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 weapons prosecutions is 15.4 percent instead of 19.5 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.
The increase from the levels five years ago in weapons prosecutions for these matters is shown more clearly in Figure 1. The vertical bars in Figure 1 represent the number of weapons 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.
Within the broad category of weapons, cases were classified by prosecutors into more specific types.
Case types within weapons are
Armed Career Criminal Act
Firearms/Triggerlock
Other Operation Triggerlock Prosecutions
The largest number of prosecutions of these matters in December 2017 was for "Weapons-Operation Triggerlock Major", accounting for 100 percent of prosecutions. See Figure 2.
The lead investigative agency for weapons prosecutions in December 2017 was ATF accounting for 67 percent of prosecutions referred. Other agencies with substantial numbers of weapons referrals were: FBI (11% ), Local (9%), DHS (5%), DEA (4%). See Figure 3.
Weapons Prosecutions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In December 2017, 77 defendants in weapons 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 December the most frequently cited lead charge was Title 18 U.S.C Section 922 involving "Firearms; Unlawful acts". This was the lead charge for 72.7 percent of all magistrate filings in December.
Other frequently prosecuted lead charges include: "18 USC 924 - Firearms; Penalties" (11.7%), "18 USC 554 - Smuggling goods from the United States" (7.8%).
Weapons Prosecutions in U.S. District Courts
In December 2017, 572 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during December there were an additional 96 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 December.
Top Ranked Lead Charges
Table 2 shows the top lead charges recorded in the prosecutions of weapons matters filed in U.S. District Court during December 2017.
Lead Charge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago 18 USC 922 - Firearms; Unlawful acts 522 1 1 1 More 21 USC 841 - Drug Abuse Prevention & Control-Prohibited acts A 40 2 4 4 More 18 USC 1951 - Hobbs Act 22 3 3 3 More 18 USC 924 - Firearms; Penalties 20 4 2 2 More 26 USC 5861 - Tax on Making Firearms - Prohibited acts 15 5 4 5 More 18 USC 2119 - Carjacking 7 6 8 10 More 18 USC 3665 - Firearms possessed by convicted felons 7 6 14 28 More 21 USC 846 - Attempt and conspiracy 6 8 7 6 More 18 USC 111 - Assaulting, resisting, impeding certain officers 5 9 19 21 More Table 2. Top Charges Filed
"Firearms; Unlawful acts" (Title 18 U.S.C Section 922) was the most frequent recorded lead charge. "Firearms; Unlawful acts" (Title 18 U.S.C Section 922) was ranked 1 a year ago, while it was ranked 1 five years ago.
Ranked 2nd in frequency was the lead charge "Drug Abuse Prevention & Control-Prohibited acts A" under Title 21 U.S.C Section 841. "Drug Abuse Prevention & Control-Prohibited acts A" under Title 21 U.S.C Section 841 was ranked 4 a year ago, while it was ranked 4 five years ago.
Ranked 3rd was "Hobbs Act" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 1951. "Hobbs Act" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 1951 was ranked 3 a year ago, while it was ranked 3 five years ago.
Among these top ten lead charges, the one showing the greatest increase in prosecutions — up 320 percent — compared to one year ago was Title U.S.C Section that involves "Other US Code Section ". Compared to five years ago, the largest increase — 1400 percent — was registered for prosecutions under " Firearms possessed by convicted felons " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 3665 ).
Again among the top ten lead charges, the one showing the sharpest decline in prosecutions compared to one year ago — down 40.9 percent — was " Attempt and conspiracy " (Title 21 U.S.C Section 846 ). This was the same statute that had the largest decrease — 70.5 % — when compared with five years ago.
Top Ranked Judicial Districts
In December 2017 the Justice Department said the government brought 248.1 weapons prosecutions for every ten million people in the United States.
Understandably, there is great variation in the per capita number of weapons prosecutions that are filed in each of the nation's ninety-four federal judicial districts.
The districts registering the largest number of prosecutions per capita for these matters last month are shown in Table 3. Districts must have at least 5 weapons prosecutions to receive a ranking.
Judicial District Percapita Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago Mo, E 1,474 36 1 3 23 More Tenn, W 1,453 19 2 12 11 More Ga, S 1,446 19 3 30 32 More Mo, W 1,138 30 4 4 9 More Alaska 1,000 6 5 70 76 More Ala, S 995 7 6 20 37 More N Car, E 872 29 7 20 5 More Ala, M 834 8 8 47 62 More Tenn, E 692 15 9 11 12 More W Virg, S 665 5 10 76 85 More Table 3. Top 10 Districts (per ten million people)
The Eastern District of Missouri (St. Louis) — with 1474 prosecutions as compared with 248.1 prosecutions per ten million population in the United States — was the most active during December 2017. The Eastern District of Missouri (St. Louis) was ranked 3 a year ago.
The Western District of Tennessee (Memphis) ranked 2nd.
Southern District of Georgia (Savannah) is now ranking 3rd.
Recent entrants to the top 10 list were Eastern District of Tennessee (Knoxville), now ranked 9th , and Western District of Tennessee (Memphis) at 2nd In the same order, these districts ranked 11th and 12th one year ago and 12th and 11th five years ago.
The federal judicial district which showed the greatest growth in the rate of weapons prosecutions compared to one year ago — 171.4 percent — was Alaska . Compared to five years ago, the district with the largest growth — 254.9 percent — was Eastern District of Missouri (St. Louis).
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 weapons crime cases of this type during December 2017 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank Lipman, Sheryl Halle Tenn, W 11 1 More Junell, Robert A. Texas, W 11 1 More Watkins, William Keith Ala, M 8 3 More Autrey, Henry Edward Mo, E 8 3 More White, Ronnie Lee Mo, E 8 3 More Dever, James C., III N Car, E 7 6 More Cogburn, Max Oliver, Jr. N Car, W 7 6 More Fowlkes, John Thomas, Jr. Tenn, W 7 6 More Crone, Marcia A. Texas, E 7 6 More O'Neill, Lawrence Joseph Cal, E 6 10 More Middlebrooks, Donald M. Fla, S 6 10 More Fleissig, Audrey Goldstein Mo, E 6 10 More Bough, Stephen Rogers Mo, W 6 10 More Ketchmark, Roseann Ambrosia Mo, W 6 10 More Conrad, Robert James, Jr. N Car, W 6 10 More Kane, Yvette Penn, M 6 10 More Hendricks, Bruce Howe S Car 6 10 More Crenshaw, Waverly David, Jr. Tenn, M 6 10 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 weapons filings per capita, while the remaining 9 judges were from other districts. (Because of ties, there were a total of 18 judges in the "top ten" rankings.)
Judges Sheryl Halle Lipman in the Western District of Tennessee (Memphis) and Robert A. Junell in the Western District of Texas (San Antonio) ranked 1st with 11 defendants in weapons cases.
Judges William Keith Watkins in the Middle District of Alabama (Montgomery), Henry Edward Autrey in the Eastern District of Missouri (St. Louis) and Ronnie Lee White in the Eastern District of Missouri (St. Louis) ranked 3rd with 8 defendants in weapons cases.
Report Generated: January 24, 2018
