Prosecutions for August 2023
Referring Agency: Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during August 2023 the government reported 782 new prosecutions for these matters. Those cases were referred by the Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is up 39.6 percent over the previous month.
The comparisons of the number of defendants charged 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 (-2.6%). 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 19.9 percent from levels reported in 2018.
Figure 1. Monthly Trends in Prosecutions
The decrease from the levels five years ago in prosecutions for these matters is shown more clearly in Figure 1. The vertical bars in Figure 1 represent the number of 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.
Cases were classified by prosecutors into more specific types.
The largest number of prosecutions of these matters in August 2023 was for "Weapons-Operation Triggerlock Major", accounting for 54.3 percent of prosecutions. Prosecutions were also filed for "Withheld by Govt from TRAC (FOIA challen" (29%), "Drugs-Drug Trafficking" (7%), "Violence-Other" (4%). See Figure 2.
Prosecutions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In August 2023, 142 defendants in 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 18 U.S.C Section 922 involving "Firearms; Unlawful acts". This was the lead charge for 43 percent of all magistrate filings in August.
Other frequently prosecuted lead charges include: "18 USC 371 - Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US" (6.3%), "21 USC 846 - Attempt and conspiracy" (6.3%).
Prosecutions in U.S. District Courts
In August 2023, 640 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during August there were an additional 81 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 matters filed in U.S. District Court during August 2023 referred by the Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Lead Charge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago 18 USC 922 - Firearms; Unlawful acts 358 1 1 1 More 21 USC 841 - Drug Abuse Prevention & Control-Prohibited acts A 37 2 2 2 More 18 USC 1951 - Hobbs Act 17 4 5 5 More 18 USC 1959 - Violent crimes in aid of racketeering activity 15 5 11 13 More 18 USC 2119 - Carjacking 12 6 9 9 More 18 USC 286 - Conspiracy to defraud the Government claims 10 7 14 - More 18 USC 924 - Firearms; Penalties 10 7 4 4 More 18 USC 371 - Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US 9 9 7 8 More 26 USC 5861 - Tax on Making Firearms - Prohibited acts 9 9 8 7 More Table 2. Top Charges Filed
"Firearms; Unlawful acts" (Title 18 U.S.C Section 922) was the most frequent recorded lead charge. "Firearms; Unlawful acts" (Title 18 U.S.C Section 922) was ranked 1 a year ago, while it was ranked 1 five years ago.
Ranked 2nd in frequency was the lead charge "Drug Abuse Prevention & Control-Prohibited acts A" under Title 21 U.S.C Section 841. "Drug Abuse Prevention & Control-Prohibited acts A" under Title 21 U.S.C Section 841 was ranked 2 a year ago, while it was ranked 2 five years ago.
Ranked 3rd was "Other US Code Section" under Title U.S.C Section. "Other US Code Section" under Title U.S.C Section was ranked 6 a year ago, while it was ranked 6 five years ago.
Among these top ten lead charges, the one showing the greatest increase in prosecutions — up 100 percent — compared to one year ago was Title 18 U.S.C Section 286 that involves " Conspiracy to defraud the Government claims ". Compared to five years ago, the largest increase — 162.5 percent — was registered for prosecutions under " Violent crimes in aid of racketeering activity " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 1959 ).
Again among the top ten lead charges, the one showing the sharpest decline in prosecutions compared to one year ago — down 38.6 percent — was " Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 371 ). Compared to five years ago, the most significant decline in prosecutions — 63.2 percent — was for filings where the lead charge was " Firearms; Penalties " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 924 ).
Top Ranked Judicial Districts
In August 2023 the Justice Department's case-by-case records show that the government brought 260.7 prosecutions for every ten million people in the United States.
Understandably, there is great variation in the per capita number of 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 prosecutions to receive a ranking.
Judicial District Percapita Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago Ark, E 1,468 20 1 10 14 More Alaska 1,198 7 2 68 63 More Ohio, N 1,193 57 3 5 18 More Vermont 1,115 6 4 60 86 More S Dakota 1,089 8 5 63 50 More Okla, E 982 6 6 70 79 More N Dakota 929 6 7 49 83 More Tenn, W 922 12 8 17 7 More Mo, W 887 24 9 6 12 More Ind, N 865 19 10 17 14 More Table 3. Top 10 Districts (per ten million people)
The Eastern District of Arkansas (Little Rock) — with 1468 prosecutions as compared with 260.7 prosecutions per ten million population in the United States — was the most active during August 2023. The Eastern District of Arkansas (Little Rock) was ranked 10 a year ago.
The District of Alaska ranked 2nd.
Northern District of Ohio (Cleveland) is now ranking 3rd. The Northern District of Ohio (Cleveland) was ranked 5 a year ago.
Recent entrants to the top 10 list were Western District of Tennessee (Memphis), now ranked 8th , and Northern District of Indiana (South Bend) at 10th In the same order, these districts ranked 17th and 17th one year ago and 7th and 14th five years ago.
The federal judicial district which showed the greatest growth in the rate of prosecutions compared to one year ago — 147.1 percent — was Eastern District of Oklahoma (Muskogee). This was the same district that had the largest increase — 147.1 percent — when compared with five years ago.
In the last year, the judicial District Court recording the largest drop in the rate of prosecutions — 48.7 percent — was Western District of Tennessee (Memphis). This was the same district that had the largest increase — 69.2 percent — when compared with five years ago.
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 crime cases of this type during August 2023 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank Love, John D. Texas, E 12 1 More Phillips, Mary Elizabeth Mo, W 11 2 More Ruiz, David A. Ohio, N 10 3 More Pearson, Benita Yalonda Ohio, N 8 4 More Edmunds, Nancy Garlock Mich, E 7 5 More Simon, Philip P. Ind, N 6 6 More Gaughan, Patricia Anne Ohio, N 6 6 More Priest Johnson, Kimberly C. Texas, E 6 6 More Ruiz, Rodolfo Armando, II Fla, S 5 9 More DeGuilio, Jon Ernest Ind, N 5 9 More Leichty, Damon Ray Ind, N 5 9 More Hollander, Ellen Lipton Maryland 5 9 More Boyle, Terrence William N Car, E 5 9 More Welte, Peter David N Dakota 5 9 More Frizzell, Gregory Kent Okla, N 5 9 More Table 4. Top Ten Judges
A total of 8 out of the "top ten" judges were in districts which were in the top ten with the largest number of filings per capita, while the remaining 7 judges were from other districts. (Because of ties, there were a total of 15 judges in the "top ten" rankings.)
Judge John D. Love in the Eastern District of Texas (Tyler) ranked 1st with 12 defendants in cases.
Judge Mary Elizabeth Phillips in the Western District of Missouri (Kansas City) ranked 2nd with 11 defendants in cases.
Judge David A. Ruiz in the Northern District of Ohio (Cleveland) ranked 3rd with 10 defendants in cases.
Report Generated: October 6, 2023
