Prosecutions for August 2012
Referring Agency: Social Security Administration
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during August 2012 the government reported 31 new prosecutions for these matters. Those cases were referred by the Social Security Administration. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is down 20.5% 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 2012 prosecutions of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, the number of filings was down (-13.3 percent). Prosecutions over the past year are still much the same than they were five years ago. Overall, the data show that prosecutions of this type are at the same level as in 2007.
The 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 August 2012 was for "Fraud-Federal Program", accounting for 61.3 percent of prosecutions. Prosecutions were also filed for "Fraud-Identity Theft-Aggravated" (9.7%), " Assimilated Crimes" (6.5%), "Theft-Government Property" (6.5%), "Corruption(Govt Off)-Fed Program" (3.2%), "Fraud-Bankruptcy" (3.2%), "Fraud-Federal Procurement" (3.2%), "Violence-Other" (3.2%), "Withheld by Govt from TRAC (FOIA challen" (3.2%). See Figure 2.
Prosecutions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In August 2012, 4 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 August the most frequently cited lead charge was Title 18 U.S.C Section 7 involving the "Special Maritime/Territorial Jurisdiction of US". This was the lead charge for 25 percent of all magistrate filings in August.
Prosecutions in U.S. District Courts
In August 2012, 27 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during August 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 August.
Top Ranked Lead Charges
Table 2 shows the top lead charges recorded in the prosecutions of matters filed in U.S. District Court during August 2012referred by the Social Security Administration.
Lead Charge Count Rank 18 USC 641 - Public money, property or records 14 1 More 42 USC 408 - Fed Old Age, Survivors & Disab Insur -Penalties 5 2 More 42 USC 1383a - Fraudulent acts; penalties; restitution 2 3 More 18 USC 152 - Concealment of assets; false oaths and claims; etc 1 4 More 18 USC 1341 - Mail Fraud - Frauds and swindles 1 4 More 18 USC 1546 - Fraud and misuse of visas, permits, and other documents 1 4 More 42 USC 1320a-8b - Attempts to interfere with administration of Social 1 4 More 42 USC 1383 - Social Security -Procedure for payment of benefits 1 4 More Table 2: Top charges filed
"Public money, property or records" (Title 18 U.S.C Section 641) was the most frequent recorded lead charge.
Ranked 2nd in frequency was the lead charge "Fed Old Age, Survivors & Disab Insur -Penalties" under Title 42 U.S.C Section 408.
Ranked 3rd was "Fraudulent acts; penalties; restitution" under Title 42 U.S.C Section 1383.
Top Ranked Judicial Districts
In August 2012 the Justice Department said the government brought 10.6 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.
Judicial District Count Rank Mo, E 3 1 More Montana 3 1 More Ala, S 2 3 More Fla, M 2 3 More Fla, S 2 3 More Kansas 2 3 More Ark, W 1 7 More Fla, N 1 7 More Ind, N 1 7 More Iowa, S 1 7 More Ken, W 1 7 More Mich, E 1 7 More Mo, W 1 7 More Nebraska 1 7 More Oregon 1 7 More Texas, E 1 7 More Texas, S 1 7 More Virg, E 1 7 More Wisc, E 1 7 More Table 3: Top 10 districts
The Eastern District of Missouri (St. Louis) and District of Montana—with 3 prosecutions—were the most active during August 2012.
Southern District of Alabama (Mobile), Middle District of Florida (Tampa), Southern District of Florida (Miami) and District of Kansas are 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 August 2012 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank Ryskamp, Kenneth L. Fla, S 2 1 More Christensen, Dana Lewis Montana 2 1 More Butler, Charles Randolph, Jr. Ala, S 1 3 More DuBose, Kristi K. Ala, S 1 3 More Holmes, Paul Kinloch, III Ark, W 1 3 More Conway, Anne C. Fla, M 1 3 More Honeywell, Charlene Vanessa Edwards Fla, M 1 3 More Smoak, John Richard, Jr. Fla, N 1 3 More Cosbey, Roger B. Ind, N 1 3 More Belot, Monti L. Kansas 1 3 More Vratil, Kathryn Hoefer Kansas 1 3 More Simpson, Charles Ralph, III Ken, W 1 3 More Baker, Nannette A. Mo, E 1 3 More Buckles, Frederick R. Mo, E 1 3 More Noce, David D. Mo, E 1 3 More Maughmer, John T. Mo, W 1 3 More Haddon, Sam E. Montana 1 3 More Gossett, F.A. Nebraska 1 3 More Hogan, Michael Robert Oregon 1 3 More Heartfield, Thad Texas, E 1 3 More Werlein, Ewing, Jr. Texas, S 1 3 More Lee, Gerald Bruce Virg, E 1 3 More Stadtmueller, Joseph Peter Wisc, E 1 3 More Table 4: Top 10 judges
All 23 of the "top ten" judges were in districts which were in the top ten with the largest number of filings . (Because of ties, there were a total of 23 judges in the "top ten" rankings.)
Judges Kenneth L. Ryskamp in the Southern District of Florida (Miami) and Dana Lewis Christensen in the District of Montana ranked 1st with 2 defendants in cases.
Judges Charles Randolph Butler, Jr. in the Southern District of Alabama (Mobile), Kristi K. DuBose in the Southern District of Alabama (Mobile), Paul Kinloch Holmes, III in the Western District of Arkansas (Fort Smith), Anne C. Conway in the Middle District of Fl orida (Tampa), Charlene Vanessa Edwards Honeywell in the Middle District of Florida (Tampa), John Richard Smoak, Jr. in the Northern District of Florida (Pensacola), Roger B. Cosbey in the Northern District of Indiana (South Bend), Monti L. Bel ranked 3rd with 1 defendants in cases.
Report Generated: November 19, 2012
