Official Corruption Convictions for February 2024
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during February 2024 the government reported 30 new official corruption convictions. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is down 9.1 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 2024 convictions of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, the number of convictions was up (8.4%). Convictions over the past year are still much higher than they were five years ago. Overall, the data show that convictions of this type are up 15.1 percent from levels reported in 2019.
Figure 1. Monthly Trends in Official Corruption Convictions
The increase 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 February 2024 was for "Corruption(Govt Off)-Local", accounting for 33.3 percent of convictions. Convictions were also filed for "Corruption(Govt Off)-Fed Law Enforcement" (23.3%), "Corruption(Govt Off)-Other" (23.3%), "Corruption(Govt Off)-Fed Other" (6.7%), "Corruption(Govt Off)-Fed Program" (6.7%), "Corruption(Govt Off)-Fed Procurement" (3.3%), "Corruption(Govt Off)-State" (3.3%). See Figure 2.
The lead investigative agency for official corruption convictions in February 2024 was FBI accounting for 53 percent of convictions. Other agencies with substantial numbers of official corruption convictions were: DHS (10% ), Postal (7%), Veteran (7%). See Figure 3.
Official Corruption Convictions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In February 2024, 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 February 2024, 30 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during February 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 February.
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 February 2024.
Lead Charge Count Rank 18 USC 201 - Bribery of public officials and witnesses 8 1 More 18 USC 666 - Theft or bribery in programs receiving Fed funds 5 2 More 18 USC 371 - Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US 3 3 More 18 USC 1341 - Mail Fraud - Frauds and swindles 2 4 More 18 USC 1343 - Fraud by wire, radio, or television 2 4 More 18 USC 1701 - Obstruction of mails generally 2 4 More 02 USC 192 - Congress refusal of witness totestify/produce pap 1 7 More 18 USC 641 - Public money, property or records 1 7 More 18 USC 654 - Officer or employee of US converting property 1 7 More 18 USC 1001 - Fraud/false statements or entries generally 1 7 More 18 USC 1346 - Scheme or artifice to defraud 1 7 More 18 USC 1349 - Mail Fraud - Attempt and Conspiracy 1 7 More 18 USC 1791 - Providing or possessing contraband in prison 1 7 More 50 USC 1701 - War and National Defense - Unusual and extraordinary threat 1 7 More Table 2. Top Charges for Convictions
"Bribery of public officials and witnesses" (Title 18 U.S.C Section 201) 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 2024 the Justice Department's case-by-case records show that the government obtained 10.8 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 D. C. 8 1 More Cal, N 2 2 More Ga, N 2 2 More Mass 2 2 More Texas, N 2 2 More Arizona 1 6 More Fla, M 1 6 More Ill, C 1 6 More Ind, N 1 6 More Mich, E 1 6 More Mich, W 1 6 More Mo, W 1 6 More N Car, M 1 6 More N. Y., E 1 6 More Oregon 1 6 More Puer Rico 1 6 More Texas, S 1 6 More Texas, W 1 6 More Wisc, E 1 6 More Table 3. Top 10 Districts
The District of Washington, D.C. (Washington) — with 8 convictions — was the most active during February 2024.
The Northern District of California (San Francisco), Northern District of Georgia (Atlanta), District of Massachusetts and Northern District of Texas (Fort Worth) 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 February 2024 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank Walton, Reggie B. D. C. 4 1 More Moss, Randolph Daniel D. C. 2 2 More Kollar-Kotelly, Colleen D. C. 1 3 More Mehta, Amit Priyavadan D. C. 1 3 More Cohen, Mark Howard Ga, N 1 3 More Ross, Eleanor Louise Ga, N 1 3 More DeGuilio, Jon Ernest Ind, N 1 3 More Casper, Denise Jefferson Mass 1 3 More Sorokin, Leo T. Mass 1 3 More Goldsmith, Mark Allan Mich, E 1 3 More Phillips, Mary Elizabeth Mo, W 1 3 More Schroeder, Thomas D. N Car, M 1 3 More Azrack, Joan Marie N. Y., E 1 3 More Mosman, Michael W. Oregon 1 3 More Delgado-Colon, Aida M. Puer Rico 1 3 More Hendrix, James Wesley Texas, N 1 3 More Brown, Ada Elene Texas, N 1 3 More Morales, David Steven Texas, S 1 3 More Pitman, Robert Texas, W 1 3 More Stadtmueller, Joseph Peter Wisc, E 1 3 More Table 4. Top Ten Judges
All 20 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 20 judges in the "top ten" rankings.)
Judge Reggie B. Walton in the District of Washington, D.C. (Washington) ranked 1st with 4 convicted in official corruption convictions.
Judge Randolph Daniel Moss in the District of Washington, D.C. (Washington) ranked 2nd with 2 convicted in official corruption convictions.
Judges Colleen Kollar-Kotelly in the District of Washington, D.C. (Washington), Amit Priyavadan Mehta in the District of Washington, D.C. (Washington), Mark Howard Cohen in the Northern District of Georgia (Atlanta), Eleanor Louise Ross in the Northern District of Georgia (Atlanta), Jon Ernest DeGuilio in the Northern District of Indiana (South Bend), Denise Jefferson Casper in the District of Massachusetts, Leo T. Sorokin in the District of Massachusetts, Mark Allan Goldsmith in the Eastern District o ranked 3rd with 1 convicted in official corruption convictions.
Report Generated: April 3, 2024
