Official Corruption Prosecutions for February 2020
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during February 2020 the government reported 30 new official corruption prosecutions. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is down 31.8 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 down (-3%). 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 8 percent from levels reported in 2015.
Figure 1. Monthly Trends in Official Corruption Prosecutions
The leveling out 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 February 2020 was for "Corruption(Govt Off)-Local", accounting for 46.7 percent of prosecutions. Prosecutions were also filed for "Corruption(Govt Off)-Fed Other" (20%), "Corruption(Govt Off)-Other" (16.7%), "Corruption(Govt Off)-Fed Procurement" (6.7%), "Corruption(Govt Off)-State" (6.7%), "Corruption(Govt Off)-Fed Program" (3.3%). See Figure 2.
The lead investigative agency for official corruption prosecutions in February 2020 was FBI accounting for 57 percent of prosecutions referred. Other agencies with substantial numbers of official corruption referrals were: Postal (10% ), HHS (7%), DHS (3%), Defense (3%). See Figure 3.
Official Corruption Prosecutions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In February 2020, 2 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 February the most frequently cited lead charge was Title 8 U.S.C Section 1325 involving "Entry of alien at improper time or place; etc.". This was the lead charge for 50 percent of all magistrate filings in February.
Official Corruption Prosecutions in U.S. District Courts
In February 2020, 28 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during February there were an additional 11 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 February.
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 February 2020.
Lead Charge Count Rank 18 USC 1952 - Racketeering -interstate/foreign travel/transport 11 1 More 18 USC 666 - Theft or bribery in programs receiving Fed funds 8 2 More 18 USC 371 - Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US 5 3 More 18 USC 1341 - Mail Fraud - Frauds and swindles 3 4 More 18 USC 1709 - Theft of mail matter by officer or employee 2 5 More 18 USC 157 - Bankruptcy Fraud 1 6 More 18 USC 641 - Public money, property or records 1 6 More 18 USC 751 - Escape - Prisoners in custody 1 6 More 18 USC 1001 - Fraud/false statements or entries generally 1 6 More 18 USC 1343 - Fraud by wire, radio, or television 1 6 More 18 USC 1703 - Delay or destruction of mail or newspapers 1 6 More 18 USC 1791 - Providing or possessing contraband in prison 1 6 More 21 USC 352 - Misbranded Drugs and Devices 1 6 More 26 USC 7201 - Attempt to evade or defeat tax 1 6 More 49 USC 60123 - Pipeline Safety - Criminal Penalty 1 6 More Table 2. Top Charges Filed
"Racketeering -interstate/foreign travel/transport" (Title 18 U.S.C Section 1952) was the most frequent recorded lead charge.
Ranked 2nd in frequency was the lead charge "Theft or bribery in programs receiving Fed funds" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 666.
Ranked 3rd was "Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 371.
Top Ranked Judicial Districts
In February 2020 the Justice Department's case-by-case records show that the government brought 14.3 official corruption prosecutions for every ten million people in the United States.
Understandably, there is great variation in the 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 of this type last month are shown in Table 3.
Judicial District Count Rank N. Y., E 14 1 More Mich, E 3 2 More Cal, E 2 3 More Ga, N 2 3 More Mass 2 3 More Montana 2 3 More Ohio, N 2 3 More Texas, S 2 3 More Wash, W 2 3 More Ill, N 1 10 More Mo, E 1 10 More N Car, E 1 10 More N. Y., S 1 10 More Okla, N 1 10 More Penn, M 1 10 More Puer Rico 1 10 More Tenn, W 1 10 More Table 3. Top 10 Districts
The Eastern District of New York (Brooklyn) — with 14 prosecutions — was the most active during February 2020.
The Eastern District of Michigan (Detroit) ranked 2nd.
Eastern District of California (Sacramento), Northern District of Georgia (Atlanta), District of Massachusetts, District of Montana, Northern District of Ohio (Cleveland), Southern District of Texas (Houston) and Western District of Washington (Seattle) 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 official corruption crime cases of this type during February 2020 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank Block, Frederic N. Y., E 11 1 More Goldsmith, Mark Allan Mich, E 3 2 More Korman, Edward Robert N. Y., E 3 2 More Mueller, Kimberly Jo Cal, E 2 4 More Zouhary, Jack Ohio, N 2 4 More Batten, Timothy C., Sr. Ga, N 1 6 More Stearns, Richard Gaylore Mass 1 6 More Zobel, Rya Weickert Mass 1 6 More Carter, Andrew L., Jr. N. Y., S 1 6 More Dowdell, John Edward Okla, N 1 6 More Brann, Matthew William Penn, M 1 6 More Delgado Hernandez, Pedro Alberto Puer Rico 1 6 More Fowlkes, John Thomas, Jr. Tenn, W 1 6 More Crane, Randy Texas, S 1 6 More Olvera, Jose Rolando, Jr. Texas, S 1 6 More Leighton, Ronald B. Wash, W 1 6 More Theiler, Mary Alice Wash, W 1 6 More Table 4. Top Ten Judges
All 17 of the "top ten" judges were in districts which were in the top ten with the largest number of official corruption filings. (Because of ties, there were a total of 17 judges in the "top ten" rankings.)
Judge Frederic Block in the Eastern District of New York (Brooklyn) ranked 1st with 11 defendants in official corruption cases.
Judges Mark Allan Goldsmith in the Eastern District of Michigan (Detroit) and Edward Robert Korman in the Eastern District of New York (Brooklyn) ranked 2nd with 3 defendants in official corruption cases.
Report Generated: March 31, 2020
