Official Corruption Prosecutions for March 2022
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during March 2022 the government reported 42 new official corruption prosecutions. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is up 133.3 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 2022 prosecutions of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, the number of filings was down (-12.3%). 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 11.9 percent from levels reported in 2017.
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 March 2022 was for "Corruption(Govt Off)-Fed Procurement", accounting for 23.8 percent of prosecutions. Prosecutions were also filed for "Corruption(Govt Off)-Local" (19%), "Corruption(Govt Off)-Fed Law Enforcement" (16.7%), "Corruption(Govt Off)-Other" (14.3%), "Corruption(Govt Off)-Fed Other" (11.9%), "Corruption(Govt Off)-State" (9.5%), "Corruption(Govt Off)-Fed Program" (4.8%). See Figure 2.
The lead investigative agency for official corruption prosecutions in March 2022 was FBI accounting for 74 percent of prosecutions referred. Other agencies with substantial numbers of official corruption referrals were: Justice Other (7% ), Defense (5%), Postal (5%), HUD (2%). See Figure 3.
Official Corruption Prosecutions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In March 2022, 5 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 March the most frequently cited lead charge was Title 18 U.S.C Section 1343 involving "Fraud by wire, radio, or television". This was the lead charge for 40 percent of all magistrate filings in March.
Official Corruption Prosecutions in U.S. District Courts
In March 2022, 37 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during March there were an additional 1 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 March.
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 March 2022.
Lead Charge Count Rank 18 USC 666 - Theft or bribery in programs receiving Fed funds 11 1 More 18 USC 1343 - Fraud by wire, radio, or television 6 2 More 18 USC 371 - Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US 4 3 More 18 USC 1001 - Fraud/false statements or entries generally 4 3 More 18 USC 201 - Bribery of public officials and witnesses 3 5 More 18 USC 1791 - Providing or possessing contraband in prison 2 6 More 18 USC 1951 - Hobbs Act 2 6 More 18 USC 1962 - RICO - prohibited activities 2 6 More 18 USC 287 - False, fictitious or fraudulent claims 1 9 More 18 USC 1346 - Scheme or artifice to defraud 1 9 More 18 USC 1952 - Racketeering -interstate/foreign travel/transport 1 9 More 18 USC 1956 - Laundering of monetary instruments 1 9 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 "Fraud by wire, radio, or television" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 1343.
Ranked 3rd were "Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 371 and "Fraud/false statements or entries generally" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 1001.
Top Ranked Judicial Districts
In March 2022 the Justice Department's case-by-case records show that the government brought 13.9 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 7 1 More Ill, N 5 2 More Fla, M 2 3 More N Car, E 2 3 More N. J. 2 3 More N. Y., S 2 3 More Penn, M 2 3 More Texas, S 2 3 More W Virg, N 2 3 More Cal, C 1 10 More Cal, E 1 10 More Cal, N 1 10 More Kansas 1 10 More Ken, E 1 10 More Mo, W 1 10 More Ohio, S 1 10 More Penn, W 1 10 More Tenn, M 1 10 More Texas, E 1 10 More Texas, N 1 10 More Virg, E 1 10 More Table 3. Top 10 Districts
The Eastern District of New York (Brooklyn) — with 7 prosecutions — was the most active during March 2022.
The Northern District of Illinois (Chicago) ranked 2nd.
Middle District of Florida (Tampa), Eastern District of North Carolina (Raleigh), District of New Jersey, Southern District of New York (Manhattan), Middle District of Pennsylvania (Scranton), Southern District of Texas (Houston) and Northern District of West Virginia (Wheeling) 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 March 2022 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank Davis, Brian Jordan Fla, M 2 1 More Blakey, John Robert Ill, N 2 1 More Vitaliano, Eric Nicholas N. Y., E 2 1 More Kleeh, Thomas Shawn W Virg, N 2 1 More Anderson, Percy Cal, C 1 5 More Mueller, Kimberly Jo Cal, E 1 5 More Gettleman, Robert William Ill, N 1 5 More Gilbert, Jeffrey T. Ill, N 1 5 More Valdez, Maria Ill, N 1 5 More Bunning, David L. Ken, E 1 5 More Sachs, Howard Frederic Mo, W 1 5 More Numbers, Robert T., II N Car, E 1 5 More Martini, William J. N. J. 1 5 More Martinotti, Brian R. N. J. 1 5 More Amon, Carol Bagley N. Y., E 1 5 More Matsumoto, Kiyo A. N. Y., E 1 5 More Chen, Pamela Ki Mai N. Y., E 1 5 More Castel, P. Kevin N. Y., S 1 5 More Sargus, Edmund A., Jr. Ohio, S 1 5 More Mannion, Malachy E. Penn, M 1 5 More Brann, Matthew William Penn, M 1 5 More Richardson, Eli Jeremy Tenn, M 1 5 More Schroeder, Robert William, III Texas, E 1 5 More Godbey, David C. Texas, N 1 5 More Crane, Randy Texas, S 1 5 More Bennett, Alfred Homer 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 filings. (Because of ties, there were a total of 26 judges in the "top ten" rankings.)
Judges Brian Jordan Davis in the Middle District of Florida (Tampa), John Robert Blakey in the Northern District of Illinois (Chicago), Eric Nicholas Vitaliano in the Eastern District of New York (Brooklyn) and Thomas Shawn Kleeh in the Northern District of West Virginia (Wheeling) ranked 1st with 2 defendants in official corruption cases.
Report Generated: May 3, 2022
