White Collar Crime Prosecutions for February 2006
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during February 2006 the government reported filing 473 new white collar crime prosecutions. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is down 10.6% over the previous month.
White Collar Crime
This report summarizes the government’s recent efforts when it comes to combating white collar crime—the number of such cases, the investigative agencies involved, the laws cited, the busiest federal districts and the busiest federal judges.
See more...The comparisons of the number of defendants charged with white collar crime -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 2006 prosecutions are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, the filings were down (-2.5 percent). Prosecutions over the past year are still much lower than they were five years ago. Overall, the data show that the prosecutions are down 43.3 percent from levels reported in 2001.
The broad pattern of decrease in white collar crime prosecutions over the past five years is shown more clearly in Figure 1. The vertical bars in Figure 1 represent the number of white collar crime prosecutions recorded on a month-to-month basis. 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.
The lead investigative agency for white collar crime prosecutions in February 2006 was FBI accounting for 43 percent of prosecutions referred. Other agencies with substantial numbers of white collar crime referrals were: Secret Service (12% ), IRS (11%), Postal Service (10%). See Figure 2.
Lead Charge in White Collar Crime Prosecutions
US Magistrate Courts
In February 2006, 15 percent of white collar crime cases took place in U.S. Magistrate Courts which handle less serious misdemeanor cases, including what are called "petty offenses." In the magistrate courts in February the most frequently cited lead charge was Title 18 U.S.C Section 1344 involving the "Bank fraud". This was the lead charge for 31.5 percent of all magistrate filings in February.
Other frequently prosecuted lead charges include: "18 USC 1028 - Fraud and related activity - id documents" (12.3%), "18 USC 0371 - Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US" (6.8%), "18 USC 1029 - Fraud and related activity - access devices" (6.8%), "Mail Fraud - Attempt and Conspiracy " (6.8%).
US District Courts
Table 2 shows the top lead charges recorded in the prosecution of white collar crime matters filed in U.S. District court during February 2006.
Lead Charge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago 18 USC 1341 - Mail Fraud - Frauds and swindles 56 1 2 2 18 USC 1344 - Bank fraud 41 2 1 1 18 USC 1343 - Fraud by wire, radio, or television 34 3 4 5 18 USC 1029 - Fraud and related activity - access devices 29 4 5 6 18 USC 1028 - Fraud and related activity - id documents 21 5 6 13 18 USC 0371 - Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US 20 6 3 3 18 USC 0287 - False, fictitious or fraudulent claims 19 7 16 17 18 USC 1001 - Fraud/false statements generally 16 8 8 7 18 USC 0513 - Securities of the States and private entities 12 9 17 11 18 USC 0641 - Public money, property or records 12 9 7 12
Table 2: Top 10 charges filed
"Mail Fraud - Frauds and swindles" (18 U.S.C Section 1341) was the most frequent recorded lead charge. This statute was ranked 2nd a year ago as well as five years ago.
Ranked 2nd in frequency was the lead charge "Bank fraud" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 1344. This statute was ranked 1st a year ago as well as five years ago.
Ranked 3rd was "Fraud by wire, radio, or television" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 1343. This statute was ranked 4th a year ago, while it was the 5th most frequently invoked 5 years ago.
Among these top ten lead charges, the one showing the greatest increase in prosecutions—up 250 percent—compared to one year ago was 18 U.S.C Section 287 that involves "False, fictitious or fraudulent claims ". This was the same statute that had the largest increase—96.9 %—when compared with five years ago.
Again among the top ten lead charges, the one showing the sharpest decline in prosecutions compared to one year ago—down 32.6 percent—was Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US (18 U.S.C Section 371 ). Compared to five years ago, the most significant decline in prosecutions— 67.8 percent—was for filings where the lead charge was "Bank fraud " (18 U.S.C Section 1344).
White Collar Crime Prosecutions by Judicial District
In February 2006 the Justice Department said the government brought approximately 163.5 white collar crime prosecutions for every ten million people in the United States.
Understandably, there is great variation in number of white collar crime prosecutions that are filed in each of the nation's ninety-four federal judicial districts. The ten districts registering the largest number of prosecutions (per capita) last month are shown in Table 3.
Middle District of Louisiana (Baton Rouge)—with 1317 prosecutions as compared with 163.5 prosecutions per ten million population in the United States—was the most active during February 2006. Five years ago, the district's position was 1.
Western District of Tennessee (Memphis) ranked 2nd . This district was also ranked 2ndplace one year ago. Five years ago, the district's position was 6.
Southern District of Mississippi (Jackson) is now ranking 3rd . Five years ago, the district's position was 8.
Recent entrants to the top 10 list were Western District of Pennsylvania (Pittsburgh), now ranked 4th , and Southern District of Ohio (Cincinnati) at 10th. In the same order, these districts ranked 16th and 21th one year ago and 44th and 52th five years ago.
The federal judicial district which showed the greatest growth in white collar crime prosecutions compared to one year ago— 57.8 percent—was Middle District of Pennsylvania (Scranton). Compared to five years ago, the district with the largest growth— 9.4 percent—was Western District of Pennsylvania (Pittsburgh).
In the last year, the judicial district court recording the largest drop in white collar crime prosecutions— 10.7 percent—was Eastern District of Missouri (St. Louis). But over the past five years, Eastern District of Arkansas (Little Rock) showed the largest drop— 33.3 percent.
Top Ranked District Judges
At any one time, there are about 680 federal district court judges working in the United States. For the entire nation, the judges recorded with the largest number of new white collar crime crime cases during February 2006 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago Griesbach, William C. Wisc, E 8 1 279 - Bucklew, Susan C. Fla, M 7 2 203 19 Spiegel, S. Arthur Ohio, S 6 3 5 238 Hurley, Daniel T. K. Fla, S 5 4 - 87 St. Eve, Amy J. Ill, N 5 4 104 - Coffman, Jennifer B. Ken, W 5 4 371 432 Brady, James J. La, M 5 4 371 73 Diamond, Gustave Penn, W 5 4 371 572 Cummings, Samuel Ray Texas, N 5 4 16 73 Wanger, Oliver Winston Cal, E 4 10 203 238 Wingate, Henry Travillion Miss, S 4 10 371 87 Starrett, Keith Miss, S 4 10 518 - Mays, Samuel H. Jr. Tenn, W 4 10 21 - Yeakel, Earl Leroy III Texas, W 4 10 3 - Hilton, Claude M. Virg, E 4 10 147 199
Table 4: Top 10 judges
A total of 7 out of the "top ten" judges were in districts which were in the top ten with the largest number of white collar crime filings per capita, while the remaining 8 judges were from other districts. (Because of ties, there were a total of 15 judges in the "top ten" rankings.)
Judge William C. Griesbach in the Eastern District of Wisconsin (Milwaukee) ranked 1st with 8 defendants in new white collar crime cases.
Judge Susan C. Bucklew in the Middle District of Florida (Tampa) ranked 2nd with 7 defendants in new white collar crime cases.
Judge S. Arthur Spiegel in Southern District of Ohio (Cincinnati) ranked 3rd with 6 new white collar crime cases. Judge Spiegel also appeared in the top ten rankings one year ago (ranked 5th).
