Prosecutions for June 2017
Referring Agency: Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during June 2017 the government reported 761 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 10.7 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 2017 prosecutions of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, the number of filings was up (15.5%). 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 3 percent from levels reported in 2012.
The leveling out 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 June 2017 was for "Weapons-Operation Triggerlock Major", accounting for 57.7 percent of prosecutions. Prosecutions were also filed for "Withheld by Govt from TRAC (FOIA challen" (21%), "Drugs-Drug Trafficking" (10.1%), "Drugs-Organized Crime Task Force" (3.9%), "Violence-Other" (3.9%), "Other Criminal Prosecutions" (2.2%). See Figure 2.
Prosecutions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In June 2017, 134 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 June the most frequently cited lead charge was Title 18 U.S.C Section 922 involving "Firearms; Unlawful acts". This was the lead charge for 52.2 percent of all magistrate filings in June.
Other frequently prosecuted lead charges include: "21 USC 846 - Attempt and conspiracy" (20.1%), "21 USC 841 - Drug Abuse Prevention & Control-Prohibited acts A" (6.7%).
Prosecutions in U.S. District Courts
In June 2017, 627 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during June there were an additional 103 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 matters filed in U.S. District Court during June 2017 referred by the Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Lead Charge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago 18 USC 922 - Firearms; Unlawful acts 390 1 1 1 More 21 USC 841 - Drug Abuse Prevention & Control-Prohibited acts A 70 2 2 2 More 21 USC 846 - Attempt and conspiracy 25 3 3 4 More 18 USC 924 - Firearms; Penalties 16 4 4 3 More 18 USC 1951 - Hobbs Act 16 4 5 5 More 26 USC 5861 - Tax on Making Firearms - Prohibited acts 12 6 6 7 More 18 USC 846 - Explosives - Additional powers of the Secretary 6 8 - 23 More 18 USC 554 - Smuggling goods from the United States 4 9 22 14 More 18 USC 844 - Explosives - Importation and storage of explosives 4 9 10 10 More 18 USC 3665 - Firearms possessed by convicted felons 4 9 27 36 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 "Attempt and conspiracy" under Title 21 U.S.C Section 846. "Attempt and conspiracy" under Title 21 U.S.C Section 846 was ranked 3 a year ago, while it was ranked 4 five years ago.
Among these top ten lead charges, the one showing the greatest increase in prosecutions — up 600 percent — compared to one year ago was Title 18 U.S.C Section 3665 that involves " Firearms possessed by convicted felons ". This was the same statute that had the largest increase — 1300 % — 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 14.5 percent — was " Hobbs Act " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 1951 ). Compared to five years ago, the most significant decline in prosecutions — 31.8 percent — was for filings where the lead charge was " Firearms; Penalties " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 924 ).
Top Ranked Judicial Districts
In June 2017 the Justice Department said the government brought 272.5 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 Ga, S 2,223 29 1 16 21 More Montana 1,626 14 2 37 60 More Nebraska 1,266 20 3 63 70 More W Virg, S 1,052 8 4 81 80 More N Car, M 1,024 25 5 9 10 More S Car 858 35 6 3 11 More Fla, N 855 13 7 45 68 More Tenn, M 788 16 8 40 40 More Texas, E 654 21 9 14 12 More Ind, N 649 14 10 18 24 More Table 3. Top 10 Districts (per ten million people)
The Southern District of Georgia (Savannah) — with 2223 prosecutions as compared with 272.5 prosecutions per ten million population in the United States — was the most active during June 2017.
The District of Montana ranked 2nd.
District of Nebraska is now ranking 3rd.
Recent entrants to the top 10 list were Eastern District of Texas (Tyler), now ranked 9th , and Southern District of Georgia (Savannah) at 1st In the same order, these districts ranked 14th and 16th one year ago and 12th and 21st five years ago.
The federal judicial district which showed the greatest growth in the rate of prosecutions compared to one year ago — 90 percent — was Southern District of West Virginia (Charleston). Compared to five years ago, the district with the largest growth — 151.9 percent — was Montana .
In the last year, the judicial District Court recording the largest drop in the rate of prosecutions — 2.9 percent — was Middle District of Tennessee (Nashville). This was the same district that had the largest increase — 10 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 June 2017 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago Smith, G. R. Ga, S 25 1 1 17 More Crone, Marcia A. Texas, E 13 2 12 1 More Crenshaw, Waverly David, Jr. Tenn, M 12 3 - - More Motz, J. Frederick Maryland 11 4 109 424 More Russell, George Levi, III Maryland 10 5 133 - More Dlott, Susan J. Ohio, S 9 6 169 540 More Conrad, Robert James, Jr. N Car, W 8 7 25 65 More Cummings, Samuel Ray Texas, N 8 7 169 73 More Miller, Robert Lowell, Jr. Ind, N 7 9 516 85 More Watters, Susan Pamela Montana 7 9 9 - More Table 4. Top Ten Judges
A total of 5 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 5 judges were from other districts.
Judge G. R. Smith in the Southern District of Georgia (Savannah) ranked 1st with 25 defendants in cases. Judge Smith also appeared in the top ten rankings one year ago (ranked 1).
Judge Marcia A. Crone in the Eastern District of Texas (Tyler) ranked 2nd with 13 defendants in cases.
Judge Waverly David Crenshaw, Jr. in the Middle District of Tennessee (Nashville) ranked 3rd with 12 defendants in cases.
Report Generated: July 26, 2017
