Prosecutions for December 2023
Referring Agency: Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during December 2023 the government reported 551 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 down 6.6 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 (-9.1%). 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 28.1 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 December 2023 was for "Weapons-Operation Triggerlock Major", accounting for 53.5 percent of prosecutions. Prosecutions were also filed for "Withheld by Govt from TRAC (FOIA challen" (25.2%), "Drugs-Drug Trafficking" (12.2%), "Violence-Other" (3.6%), "Organized Crime-Traditional Organization" (2.4%). See Figure 2.
Prosecutions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In December 2023, 66 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 December the most frequently cited lead charge was Title 18 U.S.C Section 922 involving "Firearms; Unlawful acts". This was the lead charge for 48.5 percent of all magistrate filings in December.
Other frequently prosecuted lead charges include: "Other US Code Section" (10.6%).
Prosecutions in U.S. District Courts
In December 2023, 485 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during December there were an additional 55 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 December.
Top Ranked Lead Charges
Table 2 shows the top lead charges recorded in the prosecutions of matters filed in U.S. District Court during December 2023 referred by the Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Lead Charge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago 18 USC 922 - Firearms; Unlawful acts 263 1 1 1 More 21 USC 841 - Drug Abuse Prevention & Control-Prohibited acts A 51 2 2 2 More 18 USC 1951 - Hobbs Act 16 4 5 6 More 21 USC 846 - Attempt and conspiracy 11 5 3 3 More 18 USC 924 - Firearms; Penalties 10 6 6 4 More 18 USC 1962 - RICO - prohibited activities 10 6 - 8 More 18 USC 371 - Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US 7 8 11 11 More 18 USC 659 - Interstate or foreign shipments by carriers 5 9 - - More 26 USC 5861 - Tax on Making Firearms - Prohibited acts 5 9 7 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 4 a year ago, while it was ranked 5 five years ago.
Among these top ten lead charges, the one showing the greatest increase in prosecutions — up 300 percent — compared to one year ago was Title 18 U.S.C Section 371 that involves " Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US ". This was the same statute that had the largest increase — 211.1 % — 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 45.1 percent — was " Attempt and conspiracy " (Title 21 U.S.C Section 846 ). Compared to five years ago, the most significant decline in prosecutions — 65.1 percent — was for filings where the lead charge was " Firearms; Penalties " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 924 ).
Top Ranked Judicial Districts
In December 2023 the Justice Department's case-by-case records show that the government brought 194.4 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 Ala, M 2,015 20 1 44 54 More Okla, N 1,311 12 2 50 71 More N Dakota 1,078 7 3 76 86 More Montana 962 9 4 42 41 More S Dakota 937 7 5 62 51 More Tenn, W 849 11 6 38 7 More Ark, E 805 11 7 13 11 More Ala, N 795 20 8 13 6 More La, W 747 13 9 43 37 More Ill, C 728 13 10 76 73 More Table 3. Top 10 Districts (per ten million people)
The Middle District of Alabama (Montgomery) — with 2015 prosecutions as compared with 194.4 prosecutions per ten million population in the United States — was the most active during December 2023.
The Northern District of Oklahoma (Tulsa) ranked 2nd.
District of North Dakota is now ranking 3rd.
Recent entrants to the top 10 list were Eastern District of Arkansas (Little Rock), now ranked 7th , and Northern District of Alabama (Birmingham) at 8th In the same order, these districts ranked 13th and 13th one year ago and 11th and 6th five years ago.
The federal judicial district which showed the greatest growth in the rate of prosecutions compared to one year ago — 218.8 percent — was North Dakota . This was the same district that had the largest increase — 750 percent — when compared with five years ago.
In the last year, the judicial District Court recording the largest drop in the rate of prosecutions — 18.8 percent — was Eastern District of Arkansas (Little Rock). But over the past five years, Western District of Tennessee (Memphis) showed the largest drop — 62.2 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 crime cases of this type during December 2023 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank Coogler, L. Scott Ala, M 19 1 More Barber, Thomas Patrick Fla, M 7 2 More Lipman, Sheryl Halle Tenn, W 7 2 More Rodgers, Margaret Catharine Fla, N 6 4 More Watters, Susan Pamela Montana 6 4 More Welte, Peter David N Dakota 6 4 More Counts, Walter David, III Texas, W 6 4 More Maze, Corey Landon Ala, N 5 8 More Humetewa, Diane Joyce Arizona 5 8 More Liburdi, Michael Thomas Arizona 5 8 More Torresen, Nancy Maine 5 8 More Ketchmark, Roseann Ambrosia Mo, W 5 8 More Keesler, David N Car, W 5 8 More Frizzell, Gregory Kent Okla, N 5 8 More Table 4. Top Ten Judges
A total of 6 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 8 judges were from other districts. (Because of ties, there were a total of 14 judges in the "top ten" rankings.)
Judge L. Scott Coogler in the Middle District of Alabama (Montgomery) ranked 1st with 19 defendants in cases.
Judges Thomas Patrick Barber in the Middle District of Florida (Tampa) and Sheryl Halle Lipman in the Western District of Tennessee (Memphis) ranked 2nd with 7 defendants in cases.
Report Generated: February 7, 2024
