White Collar Crime Convictions for May 2017
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during May 2017 the government reported 482 new white collar crime convictions. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is down 0.6 percent 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 convicted for 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 2017 convictions of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, the number of convictions was down (-15.2%). Convictions over the past year are still much lower than they were five years ago. Overall, the data show that convictions of this type are down 29.9 percent from levels reported in 2012.
The decrease from the levels five years ago in white collar crime convictions for these matters is shown more clearly in Figure 1. The vertical bars in Figure 1 represent the number of white collar crime 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.
Within the broad category of white collar crime, cases were classified by prosecutors into more specific types.
Case types within white collar crime are
• Federal Procurement Fraud • Federal Program Fraud • Tax Fraud • Arson for Profit • Other Insurance Fraud • Financial Institution Fraud • Bankruptcy Fraud • Advance Fee Schemes • Other Fraud Against Businesses • Consumer Fraud • Securities Fraud • Commodities Fraud • Other Investment Fraud • Antitrust Violations - Other • Computer Fraud • Health Care Fraud • Fraud Against Insurance Providers • Intellectual Property Violations • Insider Fraud Against Insurance Providers • MEWA (Multiple Employer Welfare Arrangements) Fraud/MET • Antitrust Violations - Airlines • Antitrust Violations - Banking • Antitrust Violations - Defense Procurement • Antitrust Violations - Extraterritorial Application Of • Antitrust Violations - Finance Markets, Other than Banking • Telemarketing Fraud • Corporate Fraud • Identity Theft • Aggravated Identity Theft • Other White Collar Crime/Fraud The largest number of convictions of these matters in May 2017 was for "Fraud-Other", accounting for 18.3 percent of convictions. Convictions were also filed for "Fraud-Financial Institution" (12.4%), "Fraud-Identity Theft-Aggravated" (11.4%), "Fraud-Federal Program" (10.6%), "Fraud-Tax" (10.4%), "Fraud-Health Care" (10.2%), "Fraud-Other Business" (5.4%), "Fraud-Identity Theft-Other" (5%), "Fraud-Mortgage" (3.5%), "Fraud-Computer" (2.3%). See Figure 2.
The lead investigative agency for white collar crime convictions in May 2017 was FBI accounting for 29 percent of convictions. Other agencies with substantial numbers of white collar crime convictions were: IRS (13% ), DHS (11%), SecServ (10%), Postal (10%). See Figure 3.
White Collar Crime Convictions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In May 2017, 21 defendants in white collar crime 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 May the most frequently cited lead charge was Title 18 U.S.C Section 1028 involving "Aggravated Identity Theft". This was the lead charge for 47.6 percent of all magistrate convictions in May.
Other frequently prosecuted lead charges include: "18 USC 1546 - Fraud and misuse of visas, permits, and other documents" (47.6%).
White Collar Crime Convictions in U.S. District Courts
In May 2017, 461 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during May 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 May.
Top Ranked Lead Charges
Table 2 shows the top lead charges recorded in the convictions of white collar crime matters filed in U.S. District Court during May 2017.
Lead Charge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago 18 USC 1343 - Fraud by wire, radio, or television 67 1 1 2 More 18 USC 1344 - Bank Fraud 40 2 2 1 More 18 USC 1349 - Mail Fraud - Attempt and Conspiracy 37 3 3 5 More 18 USC 371 - Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US 36 4 7 4 More 18 USC 641 - Public money, property or records 34 5 6 8 More 18 USC 1341 - Mail Fraud - Frauds and swindles 29 6 4 3 More 18 USC 1347 - Health Care Fraud 24 7 9 9 More 18 USC 1028 - Fraud and related activity - id documents 22 8 8 6 More 18 USC 1029 - Fraud and related activity - access devices 19 9 5 7 More 26 USC 7206 - Fraud and False statements 14 10 10 10 More Table 2. Top Charges for Convictions
"Fraud by wire, radio, or television" (Title 18 U.S.C Section 1343) was the most frequent recorded lead charge. "Fraud by wire, radio, or television" (Title 18 U.S.C Section 1343) was ranked 1 a year ago, while it was ranked 2 five years ago.
Ranked 2nd in frequency was the lead charge "Bank Fraud" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 1344. "Bank Fraud" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 1344 was ranked 2 a year ago, while it was ranked 1 five years ago.
Ranked 3rd was "Mail Fraud - Attempt and Conspiracy" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 1349. "Mail Fraud - Attempt and Conspiracy" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 1349 was ranked 3 a year ago, while it was ranked 5 five years ago.
Among these top ten lead charges, the one showing the greatest increase in convictions — up 0.7 percent — compared to one year ago was Title 18 U.S.C Section 1028 that involves " Fraud and related activity - id documents ". Compared to five years ago, the largest increase — 9.7 percent — was registered for convictions under " Health Care Fraud " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 1347 ).
Again among the top ten lead charges, the one showing the sharpest decline in convictions compared to one year ago — down 24.1 percent — was " Bank Fraud " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 1344 ). This was the same statute that had the largest decrease — 54.1 % — when compared with five years ago.
Top Ranked Judicial Districts
In May 2017 the Justice Department said the government obtained 172.1 white collar crime convictions for every ten million people in the United States.
Understandably, there is great variation in the per capita number of white collar crime 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 white collar crime convictions to receive a ranking.
Judicial District Percapita Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago Montana 929 8 1 66 70 More Ken, E 764 14 2 43 38 More Fla, S 630 38 3 1 1 More N. Y., S 549 24 4 23 12 More Texas, E 498 16 5 16 18 More Ga, S 460 6 6 59 62 More New Hamp 451 5 7 59 77 More Ark, E 439 6 8 69 41 More Penn, E 431 21 9 10 12 More Ga, M 418 7 10 54 64 More Table 3. Top 10 Districts (per ten million people)
The District of Montana — with 929 convictions as compared with 172.1 convictions per ten million population in the United States — was the most active during May 2017.
The Eastern District of Kentucky (Lexington) ranked 2nd.
Southern District of Florida (Miami) is now ranking 3rd. The Southern District of Florida (Miami) was ranked 1 a year ago, while it was ranked 1 for most frequent use five years ago.
Recent entrants to the top 10 list were Eastern District of Texas (Tyler), now ranked 5th , and Southern District of New York (Manhattan) at 4th In the same order, these districts ranked 16th and 23rd one year ago and 18th and 12th five years ago.
The federal judicial district which showed the greatest growth in the rate of white collar crime convictions compared to one year ago — 68.8 percent — was Southern District of Georgia (Savannah). This was the same district that had the largest increase — 28.6 percent — when compared with five years ago.
In the last year, the judicial District Court recording the largest drop in the rate of white collar crime convictions — 29.3 percent — was Eastern District of Texas (Tyler). But over the past five years, Eastern District of Arkansas (Little Rock) showed the largest drop — 44.1 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 white collar crime crime cases resulting in convictions of this type during May 2017 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank Heartfield, Thad Texas, E 9 1 More Lenard, Joan A. Fla, S 6 2 More Lawson, Hugh Ga, M 6 2 More Jones, C. Darnell, II Penn, E 6 2 More Crone, Marcia A. Texas, E 6 2 More Crane, Randy Texas, S 6 2 More Caldwell, Karen K. Ken, E 5 7 More Nathan, Alison Julie N. Y., S 5 7 More Miller, Brian Stacy Ark, E 4 9 More Martinez, Jose E. Fla, S 4 9 More Scola, Robert Nichols, Jr. Fla, S 4 9 More Wood, Lisa Godbey Ga, S 4 9 More Cherry, Paul R. Ind, N 4 9 More Young, Richard L. Ind, S 4 9 More Russell, George Levi, III Maryland 4 9 More Christensen, Dana Lewis Montana 4 9 More Cogburn, Max Oliver, Jr. N Car, W 4 9 More Lindsay, Sam A. Texas, N 4 9 More Table 4. Top Ten Judges
A total of 12 out of the "top ten" judges were in districts which were in the top ten with the largest number of white collar crime convictions per capita, while the remaining 6 judges were from other districts. (Because of ties, there were a total of 18 judges in the "top ten" rankings.)
Judge Thad Heartfield in the Eastern District of Texas (Tyler) ranked 1st with 9 convicted in white collar crime convictions.
Judges Joan A. Lenard in the Southern District of Florida (Miami), Hugh Lawson in the Middle District of Georgia (Macon), C. Darnell Jones, II in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia), Marcia A. Crone in the Eastern District of Texas (Tyler) and Randy Crane in the Southern District of Texas (Houston) ranked 2nd with 6 convicted in white collar crime convictions.
Report Generated: July 6, 2017
