Official Corruption Prosecutions for December 2020
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during December 2020 the government reported 63 new official corruption prosecutions. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is up 31.3 percent over the previous month.
The comparisons of the number of defendants charged with 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 2020 prosecutions of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, the number of filings was up (17.6%). Prosecutions over the past year are still much lower than they were five years ago. Overall, the data show that prosecutions of this type are down 10.2 percent from levels reported in 2015.
Figure 1. Monthly Trends in Official Corruption Prosecutions
The decrease from the levels five years ago in official corruption prosecutions for these matters is shown more clearly in Figure 1. The vertical bars in Figure 1 represent the number of official corruption 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.
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 prosecutions of these matters in December 2020 was for "Corruption(Govt Off)-Fed Other", accounting for 57.1 percent of prosecutions. Prosecutions were also filed for "Corruption(Govt Off)-Local" (15.9%), "Corruption(Govt Off)-Other" (9.5%), "Corruption(Govt Off)-State" (9.5%), "Corruption(Govt Off)-Fed Program" (7.9%). See Figure 2.
The lead investigative agency for official corruption prosecutions in December 2020 was DHS accounting for 51 percent of prosecutions referred. Other agencies with substantial numbers of official corruption referrals were: FBI (29% ), Postal (8%), IRS (5%). See Figure 3.
Official Corruption Prosecutions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In December 2020, 9 defendants in official corruption 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 December the most frequently cited lead charge was Title 18 U.S.C Section 666 involving "Theft or bribery in programs receiving Fed funds". This was the lead charge for 88.9 percent of all magistrate filings in December.
Official Corruption Prosecutions in U.S. District Courts
In December 2020, 54 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during December there were an additional 2 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 December.
Top Ranked Lead Charges
Table 2 shows the top lead charges recorded in the prosecutions of official corruption matters filed in U.S. District Court during December 2020.
Lead Charge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago 18 USC 1346 - Scheme or artifice to defraud 31 1 20 9 More 18 USC 1343 - Fraud by wire, radio, or television 5 2 4 7 More 18 USC 1962 - RICO - prohibited activities 5 2 - 14 More 18 USC 641 - Public money, property or records 3 4 5 6 More 18 USC 1349 - Mail Fraud - Attempt and Conspiracy 3 4 13 14 More 18 USC 1709 - Theft of mail matter by officer or employee 3 4 9 9 More 18 USC 371 - Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US 1 7 3 4 More 18 USC 922 - Firearms; Unlawful acts 1 7 7 - More 18 USC 1014 - Fraud - Loan and credit applications etc 1 7 - 25 More 18 USC 1163 - Embezzlement and theft from Indian Tribal organiza 1 7 9 20 More 18 USC 1341 - Mail Fraud - Frauds and swindles 1 7 13 5 More 18 USC 1920 - False statement - Fed employee's compensation 1 7 - 25 More Table 2. Top Charges Filed
"Scheme or artifice to defraud" (Title 18 U.S.C Section 1346) was the most frequent recorded lead charge.
Ranked 2nd in frequency were the lead charges "Fraud by wire, radio, or television" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 1343 and "RICO - prohibited activities" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 1962. "Fraud by wire, radio, or television" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 1343 was ranked 4 a year ago, while it was ranked 7 five years ago.
Among these top ten lead charges, the one showing the greatest increase in prosecutions — up 3200 percent — compared to one year ago was Title 18 U.S.C Section 1346 that involves " Scheme or artifice to defraud ". This was the same statute that had the largest increase — 450 % — 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 66.7 percent — was " Embezzlement and theft from Indian Tribal organiza " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 1163 ). Compared to five years ago, the most significant decline in prosecutions — 73.7 percent — was for filings where the lead charge was " Mail Fraud - Frauds and swindles " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 1341 ).
Top Ranked Judicial Districts
In December 2020 the Justice Department's case-by-case records show that the government brought 20.5 official corruption prosecutions for every ten million people in the United States.
Understandably, there is great variation in the per capita number of official corruption prosecutions that are filed in each of the nation's ninety-four federal judicial districts.
The districts registering the largest number of prosecutions per capita for these matters last month are shown in Table 3. Districts must have at least 5 official corruption prosecutions to receive a ranking.
The Eastern District of Louisiana (New Orleans) — with 2212 prosecutions as compared with 20.5 prosecutions per ten million population in the United States — was the most active during December 2020.
The Central District of California (Los Angeles) ranked 2nd.
Recent entrants to the top 10 list were Central District of California (Los Angeles), now ranked 2nd , and Eastern District of Louisiana (New Orleans) at 1st In the same order, these districts ranked 14th and 19th one year ago and .th and 45th five years ago.
The federal judicial district which showed the greatest growth in the rate of official corruption prosecutions compared to one year ago — 1000 percent — was Eastern District of Louisiana (New Orleans). This was the same district that had the largest increase — 3200 percent — when compared with five years ago.
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 of this type during December 2020 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank Walter, John F. Cal, C 5 1 More Walton, Reggie B. D. C. 2 2 More Tuchi, John Joseph Arizona 1 3 More Wu, George H. Cal, C 1 3 More Andrews, Richard Gibson Delaware 1 3 More Ungaro, Ursula Mancusi Fla, S 1 3 More Winmill, B. Lynn Idaho 1 3 More Springmann, Theresa Lazar Ind, N 1 3 More Russell, George Levi, III Maryland 1 3 More Xinis, Paula Maryland 1 3 More Browning, James O. N Mexico 1 3 More Johnson, William Paul N Mexico 1 3 More Kuntz, William Francis, II N. Y., E 1 3 More McAvoy, Thomas James N. Y., N 1 3 More Savage, Timothy J. Penn, E 1 3 More Rice, Thomas Owen Wash, E 1 3 More Table 4. Top Ten Judges
A total of 2 out of the "top ten" judges were in districts which were in the top ten with the largest number of official corruption filings per capita, while the remaining 14 judges were from other districts. (Because of ties, there were a total of 16 judges in the "top ten" rankings.)
Judge John F. Walter in the Central District of California (Los Angeles) ranked 1st with 5 defendants in official corruption cases.
Judge Reggie B. Walton in the District of Washington, D.C. (Washington) ranked 2nd with 2 defendants in official corruption cases.
Judges John Joseph Tuchi in the District of Arizona, George H. Wu in the Central District of California (Los Angeles), Richard Gibson Andrews in the District of Delaware, Ursula Mancusi Ungaro in the Southern District of Florida (Miami), B. Lynn Winmill in the District of Idaho, Theresa Lazar Springmann in the Northern District of Indiana (South Bend), George Levi Russell, III in the District of Maryland, Paula Xinis in the District of Maryland, James O. Browning in the District of New Mexico, William, ranked 3rd with 1 defendants in official corruption cases.
Report Generated: January 20, 2021
