Official Corruption Convictions for August 2023
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during August 2023 the government reported 42 new official corruption convictions. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is up 5 percent over the previous month.
The comparisons of the number of defendants convicted for official corruption-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 2023 convictions of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, the number of convictions was only slightly down (-0.5%). 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 5.2 percent from levels reported in 2018.
The leveling out 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 decrease in official corruption convictions is 3.2 percent instead of 5.2 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.
Figure 1. Monthly Trends in Official Corruption Convictions
The leveling out from the levels five years ago in official corruption convictions for these matters is shown more clearly in Figure 1. The vertical bars in Figure 1 represent the number of official corruption 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 official corruption, cases were classified by prosecutors into more specific types.
Case types within official corruption are
Federal Corruption - Procurement
Federal Corruption - Program
Federal Corruption - Law Enforcement
Federal Corruption - Other
State Corruption
Local Corruption
Other Public Corruption
The largest number of convictions of these matters in August 2023 was for "Corruption(Govt Off)-Local", accounting for 26.2 percent of convictions. Convictions were also filed for "Corruption(Govt Off)-Fed Law Enforcement" (23.8%), "Corruption(Govt Off)-Fed Other" (19%), "Corruption(Govt Off)-Fed Program" (11.9%), "Corruption(Govt Off)-State" (9.5%), "Corruption(Govt Off)-Fed Procurement" (4.8%), "Corruption(Govt Off)-Other" (4.8%). See Figure 2.
The lead investigative agency for official corruption convictions in August 2023 was FBI accounting for 50 percent of convictions. Other agencies with substantial numbers of official corruption convictions were: Postal (10% ), Defense (7%), Justice Other (7%). See Figure 3.
Official Corruption Convictions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In August 2023, no defendants in official corruption cases for these matters were convicted 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.
Official Corruption Convictions in U.S. District Courts
In August 2023, 42 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 convictions of official corruption matters filed in U.S. District Court during August 2023.
Lead Charge Count Rank 18 USC 1343 - Fraud by wire, radio, or television 7 1 More 18 USC 666 - Theft or bribery in programs receiving Fed funds 5 2 More 21 USC 846 - Attempt and conspiracy 5 2 More 18 USC 201 - Bribery of public officials and witnesses 4 4 More 18 USC 287 - False, fictitious or fraudulent claims 3 5 More 18 USC 641 - Public money, property or records 3 5 More 18 USC 371 - Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US 2 7 More 18 USC 1709 - Theft of mail matter by officer or employee 2 7 More 18 USC 1791 - Providing or possessing contraband in prison 2 7 More 18 USC 1951 - Hobbs Act 2 7 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.
Ranked 2nd in frequency were the lead charges "Theft or bribery in programs receiving Fed funds" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 666 and "Attempt and conspiracy" under Title 21 U.S.C Section 846.
Top Ranked Judicial Districts
In August 2023 the Justice Department's case-by-case records show that the government obtained 15.2 official corruption convictions for every ten million people in the United States.
Understandably, there is great variation in the number of official corruption convictions in each of the nation's ninety-four federal judicial districts.
The districts registering the largest number of convictions of this type last month are shown in Table 3.
Judicial District Count Rank N. Y., S 12 1 More Fla, M 3 2 More Ga, N 3 2 More N Mexico 3 2 More Penn, M 3 2 More Cal, C 2 6 More Ill, N 2 6 More Texas, N 2 6 More Ark, E 1 9 More Cal, E 1 9 More Cal, S 1 9 More Fla, S 1 9 More Mass 1 9 More Miss, S 1 9 More Mo, E 1 9 More N. Y., E 1 9 More Ohio, S 1 9 More Penn, E 1 9 More Puer Rico 1 9 More Texas, S 1 9 More Table 3. Top 10 Districts
The Southern District of New York (Manhattan) — with 12 convictions — was the most active during August 2023.
The Middle District of Florida (Tampa), Northern District of Georgia (Atlanta), District of New Mexico and Middle District of Pennsylvania (Scranton) ranked 2nd.
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 official corruption crime cases resulting in convictions of this type during August 2023 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank Carter, Andrew L., Jr. N. Y., S 5 1 More Valdez, Maria Ill, N 2 2 More Carson, Joel McElroy, III N Mexico 2 2 More Swain, Laura Taylor N. Y., S 2 2 More Mendez, John A. Cal, E 1 5 More Berg, Michael Cal, S 1 5 More Presnell, Gregory A. Fla, M 1 5 More Honeywell, Charlene Vanessa Edwards Fla, M 1 5 More Mendoza, Carlos Eduardo Fla, M 1 5 More Marra, Kenneth A. Fla, S 1 5 More Thrash, Thomas W., Jr. Ga, N 1 5 More Jones, Steve CarMichael Ga, N 1 5 More Zobel, Rya Weickert Mass 1 5 More Jordan, Daniel Porter, III Miss, S 1 5 More Herrera, Judith C. N Mexico 1 5 More Amon, Carol Bagley N. Y., E 1 5 More Koeltl, John George N. Y., S 1 5 More Furman, Jesse Matthew N. Y., S 1 5 More Caproni, Valerie Elaine N. Y., S 1 5 More Marbley, Algenon L. Ohio, S 1 5 More McHugh, Gerald Austin, Jr. Penn, E 1 5 More Mannion, Malachy E. Penn, M 1 5 More Mariani, Robert David Penn, M 1 5 More Mehalchick, Karoline Penn, M 1 5 More Delgado Hernandez, Pedro Alberto Puer Rico 1 5 More Alvarez, Micaela Texas, S 1 5 More Table 4. Top Ten Judges
All 26 of the "top ten" judges were in districts which were in the top ten with the largest number of official corruption convictions. (Because of ties, there were a total of 26 judges in the "top ten" rankings.)
Judge Andrew L. Carter, Jr. in the Southern District of New York (Manhattan) ranked 1st with 5 convicted in official corruption convictions.
Judges Maria Valdez in the Northern District of Illinois (Chicago), Joel McElroy Carson, III in the District of New Mexico and Laura Taylor Swain in the Southern District of New York (Manhattan) ranked 2nd with 2 convicted in official corruption convictions.
Report Generated: October 6, 2023
