Official Corruption Prosecutions for June 2021
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during June 2021 the government reported 31 new official corruption prosecutions. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is up 47.6 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 2021 prosecutions of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, the number of filings was up (7.4%). 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 42.2 percent from levels reported in 2016.
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 June 2021 was for "Corruption(Govt Off)-Local", accounting for 58.1 percent of prosecutions. Prosecutions were also filed for "Corruption(Govt Off)-Fed Law Enforcement" (16.1%), "Corruption(Govt Off)-Other" (16.1%), "Corruption(Govt Off)-Fed Program" (6.5%), "Corruption(Govt Off)-Fed Other" (3.2%). See Figure 2.
The lead investigative agency for official corruption prosecutions in June 2021 was FBI accounting for 71 percent of prosecutions referred. Other agencies with substantial numbers of official corruption referrals were: DHS (6% ), Justice Other (6%), Postal (6%), Education (3%). See Figure 3.
Official Corruption Prosecutions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In June 2021, 1 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 June the most frequently cited lead charge was Title 18 U.S.C Section 2250 involving "Fail to register as sex offender after traveling interstate commerce". This was the lead charge for 100 percent of all magistrate filings in June.
Official Corruption Prosecutions in U.S. District Courts
In June 2021, 30 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during June there were an additional 4 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 June.
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 June 2021.
Lead Charge Count Rank 18 USC 666 - Theft or bribery in programs receiving Fed funds 17 1 More 18 USC 641 - Public money, property or records 3 2 More 18 USC 201 - Bribery of public officials and witnesses 2 3 More 18 USC 371 - Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US 2 3 More 18 USC 1343 - Fraud by wire, radio, or television 2 3 More 18 USC 1709 - Theft of mail matter by officer or employee 2 3 More 08 USC 1327 - Aiding or assisting subversive alien to enter 1 7 More 18 USC 1001 - Fraud/false statements or entries generally 1 7 More 18 USC 1791 - Providing or possessing contraband in prison 1 7 More 18 USC 1951 - Hobbs Act 1 7 More 18 USC 2232 - Destruction/removal of property to prevent seizure 1 7 More 42 USC 408 - Fed Old Age, Survivors & Disab Insur -Penalties 1 7 More Table 2. Top Charges Filed
"Theft or bribery in programs receiving Fed funds" (Title 18 U.S.C Section 666) was the most frequent recorded lead charge.
Ranked 2nd in frequency was the lead charge "Public money, property or records" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 641.
Ranked 3rd were "Bribery of public officials and witnesses" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 201, "Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 371, "Fraud by wire, radio, or television" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 1343 and "Theft of mail matter by officer or employee" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 1709.
Top Ranked Judicial Districts
In June 2021 the Justice Department's case-by-case records show that the government brought 12.4 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., S 9 1 More Penn, M 3 2 More Cal, C 2 3 More D. C. 2 3 More Ken, E 2 3 More Mass 2 3 More Mo, W 2 3 More N. J. 2 3 More Texas, S 2 3 More Arizona 1 10 More Cal, N 1 10 More Ill, C 1 10 More Mich, E 1 10 More Okla, E 1 10 More Penn, E 1 10 More Puer Rico 1 10 More Texas, W 1 10 More Table 3. Top 10 Districts
The Southern District of New York (Manhattan) — with 9 prosecutions — was the most active during June 2021.
The Middle District of Pennsylvania (Scranton) ranked 2nd.
Central District of California (Los Angeles), District of Washington, D.C. (Washington), Eastern District of Kentucky (Lexington), District of Massachusetts, Western District of Missouri (Kansas City), District of New Jersey and Southern District of Texas (Houston) 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 June 2021 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank Mannion, Malachy E. Penn, M 3 1 More Stinnett, Matthew A. Ken, E 2 2 More McNulty, Kevin Charles N. J. 2 2 More Kimmins, Lynnette C. Arizona 1 4 More Anderson, Percy Cal, C 1 4 More Tucker, Josephine Staton Cal, C 1 4 More Freeman, Beth Labson Cal, N 1 4 More Sullivan, Emmet G. D. C. 1 4 More Mehta, Amit Priyavadan D. C. 1 4 More Saris, Patti B. Mass 1 4 More Burroughs, Allison Dale Mass 1 4 More Parker, Linda Vivienne Mich, E 1 4 More Sachs, Howard Frederic Mo, W 1 4 More Phillips, Mary Elizabeth Mo, W 1 4 More White, Ronald A. Okla, E 1 4 More Slomsky, Joel Harvey Penn, E 1 4 More Besosa, Francisco Augusto Puer Rico 1 4 More Hughes, Lynn Nettleton Texas, S 1 4 More Saldana, Diana Texas, S 1 4 More Briones, David Texas, W 1 4 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 filings. (Because of ties, there were a total of 20 judges in the "top ten" rankings.)
Judge Malachy E. Mannion in the Middle District of Pennsylvania (Scranton) ranked 1st with 3 defendants in official corruption cases.
Judges Matthew A. Stinnett in the Eastern District of Kentucky (Lexington) and Kevin Charles McNulty in the District of New Jersey ranked 2nd with 2 defendants in official corruption cases.
Report Generated: July 26, 2021
