Narcotics/Drugs Prosecutions for August 2023
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during August 2023 the government reported 1247 new narcotics/drugs prosecutions. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is up 20.7 percent over the previous month.
The comparisons of the number of defendants charged with narcotics/drugs-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 2023 prosecutions of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, the number of filings was down (-9.5%). 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 25.4 percent from levels reported in 2018.
Figure 1. Monthly Trends in Narcotics/Drugs Prosecutions
The decrease from the levels five years ago in narcotics/drugs prosecutions for these matters is shown more clearly in Figure 1. The vertical bars in Figure 1 represent the number of narcotics/drugs 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 narcotics/drugs, cases were classified by prosecutors into more specific types.
Case types within narcotics/drugs are
Drug Trafficking
Simple Drug Possession
Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF)
Major Project Triggerlock Prosecutions (OCDETF)
Other Triggerlock Prosecutions (OCDETF)
The largest number of prosecutions of these matters in August 2023 was for "Drugs-Drug Trafficking", accounting for 75 percent of prosecutions. Prosecutions were also filed for "Drugs-Organized Crime Task Force" (24.5%). See Figure 2.
The lead investigative agency for narcotics/drugs prosecutions in August 2023 was DEA accounting for 41 percent of prosecutions referred. Other agencies with substantial numbers of narcotics/drugs referrals were: FBI (24% ), DHS (21%), ATF (6%), Local (5%). See Figure 3.
Narcotics/Drugs Prosecutions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In August 2023, 328 defendants in narcotics/drugs 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 August the most frequently cited lead charge was Title 21 U.S.C Section 841 involving "Drug Abuse Prevention & Control-Prohibited acts A". This was the lead charge for 50.9 percent of all magistrate filings in August.
Other frequently prosecuted lead charges include: "21 USC 952 - Importation of controlled substances" (24.4%), "21 USC 846 - Attempt and conspiracy" (18.3%).
Narcotics/Drugs Prosecutions in U.S. District Courts
In August 2023, 919 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during August there were an additional 253 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 August.
Top Ranked Lead Charges
Table 2 shows the top lead charges recorded in the prosecutions of narcotics/drugs matters filed in U.S. District Court during August 2023.
Lead Charge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago 21 USC 841 - Drug Abuse Prevention & Control-Prohibited acts A 659 1 1 1 More 21 USC 846 - Attempt and conspiracy 284 2 2 2 More 21 USC 952 - Importation of controlled substances 91 3 3 3 More 21 USC 848 - Continuing criminal enterprise 21 5 41 40 More 18 USC 922 - Firearms; Unlawful acts 13 6 5 4 More 46 USC 70503 - Possession control substance on vessel subject to jurisdiction of US 11 7 7 5 More 21 USC 843 - Drug Abuse Prevention & Control-Prohibited acts C 8 8 13 10 More 18 USC 1956 - Laundering of monetary instruments 7 9 8 9 More 18 USC 1349 - Mail Fraud - Attempt and Conspiracy 6 10 18 - More 21 USC 963 - Attempt and conspiracy 6 10 9 7 More Table 2. Top Charges Filed
"Drug Abuse Prevention & Control-Prohibited acts A" (Title 21 U.S.C Section 841) was the most frequent recorded lead charge. "Drug Abuse Prevention & Control-Prohibited acts A" (Title 21 U.S.C Section 841) was ranked 1 a year ago, while it was ranked 1 five years ago.
Ranked 2nd in frequency was the lead charge "Attempt and conspiracy" under Title 21 U.S.C Section 846. "Attempt and conspiracy" under Title 21 U.S.C Section 846 was ranked 2 a year ago, while it was ranked 2 five years ago.
Ranked 3rd was "Importation of controlled substances" under Title 21 U.S.C Section 952. "Importation of controlled substances" under Title 21 U.S.C Section 952 was ranked 3 a year ago, while it was ranked 3 five years ago.
Among these top ten lead charges, the one showing the greatest increase in prosecutions — up 4600 percent — compared to one year ago was Title 21 U.S.C Section 848 that involves " Continuing criminal enterprise ". This was the same statute that had the largest increase — 2250 % — 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 50 percent — was " Mail Fraud - Attempt and Conspiracy " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 1349 ). Compared to five years ago, the most significant decline in prosecutions — 39.7 percent — was for filings where the lead charge was " Firearms; Unlawful acts " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 922 ).
Top Ranked Judicial Districts
In August 2023 the Justice Department's case-by-case records show that the government brought 423.8 narcotics/drugs prosecutions for every ten million people in the United States.
Understandably, there is great variation in the per capita number of narcotics/drugs 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 narcotics/drugs prosecutions to receive a ranking.
Judicial District Percapita Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago Cal, S 2,978 86 1 1 2 More Montana 2,065 19 2 48 48 More Alaska 2,053 12 3 77 73 More Kansas 1,799 44 4 56 72 More S Dakota 1,633 12 5 47 55 More Ken, W 1,526 29 6 41 68 More Ala, S 1,394 10 7 69 67 More Utah 1,366 38 8 11 22 More Vermont 1,301 7 9 85 78 More Iowa, S 1,291 20 10 30 16 More Table 3. Top 10 Districts (per ten million people)
The Southern District of California (San Diego) — with 2978 prosecutions as compared with 423.8 prosecutions per ten million population in the United States — was the most active during August 2023. The Southern District of California (San Diego) was ranked 1 a year ago, while it was ranked 2 for most frequent use five years ago.
The District of Montana ranked 2nd.
District of Alaska is now ranking 3rd.
Recent entrants to the top 10 list were Utah , now ranked 8th , and Southern District of Iowa (Des Moines) at 10th In the same order, these districts ranked 11th and 30th one year ago and 22nd and 16th five years ago.
The federal judicial district which showed the greatest growth in the rate of narcotics/drugs prosecutions compared to one year ago — 108.2 percent — was Kansas . This was the same district that had the largest increase — 104 percent — when compared with five years ago.
In the last year, the judicial District Court recording the largest drop in the rate of narcotics/drugs prosecutions — 18.9 percent — was Southern District of California (San Diego). But over the past five years, Vermont showed the largest drop — 22.2 percent.
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 narcotics/drugs crime cases of this type during August 2023 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago Nielson, Howard Curtis, Jr. Utah 30 1 34 - More Rodriguez, Xavier Texas, W 19 2 43 95 More Polster, Dan A. Ohio, N 17 3 204 210 More Bly, Christopher C. Ga, N 16 4 388 - More Gilbert, Jeffrey T. Ill, N 15 5 466 526 More Vineyard, Russell G. Ga, N 14 6 333 526 More Crane, Randy Texas, S 14 6 17 28 More Biery, Samuel Frederick, Jr. Texas, W 14 6 66 41 More Broomes, John Wesley Kansas 13 9 117 - More Delgado Hernandez, Pedro Alberto Puer Rico 13 9 2 131 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 narcotics/drugs filings per capita, while the remaining 8 judges were from other districts.
Judge Howard Curtis Nielson, Jr. in the District of Utah ranked 1st with 30 defendants in narcotics/drugs cases.
Judge Xavier Rodriguez in the Western District of Texas (San Antonio) ranked 2nd with 19 defendants in narcotics/drugs cases.
Judge Dan A. Polster in the Northern District of Ohio (Cleveland) ranked 3rd with 17 defendants in narcotics/drugs cases.
Report Generated: October 6, 2023
