(31 Jan 2024)
The latest fiscal yearend data from the Justice Department show that during FY 2023 the federal
government reported 334 new official corruption convictions. This number is up 2.5 percent over the
previous fiscal year when the number of convictions totaled 326.
According to these government records, the single largest number of convictions during FY 2023 were of
local government officials for official corruption offenses. These accounted for about one in four
(24%) of these convictions or 80 in total. In comparison convictions of state officials for these
types of crimes were half that number – about one in eight of these convictions or 41.
For corruption involving federal matters, there were 44 convictions for official corruption involving
federal law enforcement officials. Among others where federal prosecutors provided specific labels
were official corruption for federal procurement (30) and in federal programs (26).
The Federal Bureau of Investigation was credited as the lead investigative agency in six out of ten or
200 of these cases. Official corruption cases often take years to develop even after a referral is
received from an investigative agency. Defendants convicted during FY 2023 had been referred to
federal prosecutors on average 1,062 days prior to their eventual conviction and sentencing – or some
three years earlier.
The nation’s capital generally leads the nation in the per capita rate of convictions for official
corruption with 25 times the national rate in FY 2023. However, in terms of number of convictions, it
didn’t rank first; the Southern District of New York (Manhattan) had more individuals convicted
compared to D.C. during FY 2023.
Alaska was in second place with seven times the national rate. The Southern District of Mississippi
(Jackson) and the Southern District of New York (Manhattan) were tied for third place with five times
the national rate, while Hawaii and North Dakota tied for fifth place, each with four times the
national rate.
These results are based on case-by-case information obtained by TRAC after successful litigation under
the Freedom of Information Act.
TRAC is a self-supporting, nonpartisan, and independent research organization specializing in
data collection and analysis on federal enforcement, staffing, and spending. We produce multiple
reports every month on critical issues, and we also provide comprehensive data analysis tools.
|
To know more about our work, click
here.
|
|