Prosecutions for September 2024
Referring Agency: Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during September 2024 the government reported 678 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 6.4 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 2024 prosecutions of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, the number of filings was only slightly up (0.1%). 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 25.7 percent from levels reported in 2019.
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 September 2024 was for "Weapons-Operation Triggerlock Major", accounting for 63.3 percent of prosecutions. Prosecutions were also filed for "Withheld by Govt from TRAC (FOIA challen" (19.6%), "Drugs-Drug Trafficking" (11.7%), "Violence-Other" (2.5%). See Figure 2.
Prosecutions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In September 2024, 112 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 September the most frequently cited lead charge was Title 18 U.S.C Section 922 involving "Firearms; Unlawful acts". This was the lead charge for 58 percent of all magistrate filings in September.
Other frequently prosecuted lead charges include: "21 USC 841 - Drug Abuse Prevention & Control-Prohibited acts A" (8.9%), "Other US Code Section" (6.3%), "18 USC 1951 - Hobbs Act" (5.4%).
Prosecutions in U.S. District Courts
In September 2024, 566 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during September there were an additional 107 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 September.
Top Ranked Lead Charges
Table 2 shows the top lead charges recorded in the prosecutions of matters filed in U.S. District Court during September 2024 referred by the Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Lead Charge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago 18 USC 922 - Firearms; Unlawful acts 389 1 1 1 More 21 USC 841 - Drug Abuse Prevention & Control-Prohibited acts A 66 2 2 2 More 21 USC 846 - Attempt and conspiracy 30 3 4 3 More 18 USC 1951 - Hobbs Act 9 5 5 4 More 18 USC 2119 - Carjacking 9 5 9 8 More 18 USC 924 - Firearms; Penalties 7 7 6 4 More 26 USC 5861 - Tax on Making Firearms - Prohibited acts 5 8 7 7 More 18 USC 844 - Explosives - Importation and storage of explosives 3 9 10 10 More 18 USC 926A - Interstate transportation of firearms 2 10 - - 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 4 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 56.3 percent — compared to one year ago was Title 21 U.S.C Section 846 that involves " Attempt and conspiracy ". Compared to five years ago, the largest increase — 95.5 percent — was registered for prosecutions under " Explosives - Importation and storage of explosives " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 844 ).
Again among the top ten lead charges, the one showing the sharpest decline in prosecutions compared to one year ago — down 24.6 percent — was " Firearms; Penalties " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 924 ). This was the same statute that had the largest decrease — 65.2 % — when compared with five years ago.
Top Ranked Judicial Districts
In September 2024 the Justice Department's case-by-case records show that the government brought 242.3 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 Okla, E 2,111 13 1 45 88 More Okla, W 1,980 36 2 27 55 More Ark, E 1,611 22 3 17 15 More Montana 1,496 14 4 29 42 More Ala, S 1,112 8 5 25 50 More Ala, N 1,033 26 6 12 6 More Virg, W 926 17 7 39 37 More Ala, M 907 9 8 42 57 More W Virg, N 779 6 9 34 28 More N Car, E 690 24 10 1 8 More Table 3. Top 10 Districts (per ten million people)
The Eastern District of Oklahoma (Muskogee) — with 2111 prosecutions as compared with 242.3 prosecutions per ten million population in the United States — was the most active during September 2024.
The Western District of Oklahoma (Oklahoma City) ranked 2nd.
Eastern District of Arkansas (Little Rock) is now ranking 3rd.
Recent entrants to the top 10 list were Northern District of Alabama (Birmingham), now ranked 6th , and Eastern District of Arkansas (Little Rock) at 3rd In the same order, these districts ranked 12th and 17th one year ago and 6th and 15th five years ago.
The federal judicial district which showed the greatest growth in the rate of prosecutions compared to one year ago — 46 percent — was Montana . Compared to five years ago, the district with the largest growth — 375 percent — was Eastern District of Oklahoma (Muskogee).
In the last year, the judicial District Court recording the largest drop in the rate of prosecutions — 30.4 percent — was Southern District of Alabama (Mobile). But over the past five years, Northern District of Alabama (Birmingham) showed the largest drop — 56.6 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 September 2024 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank Ballou, Robert S. Virg, W 13 1 More Baker, Kristine Gerhard Ark, E 9 2 More White, Ronald A. Okla, E 9 2 More Palk, Scott Lawrence Okla, W 9 2 More Talwani, Indira Mass 8 5 More Altman, Roy Kalman Fla, S 7 6 More Watters, Susan Pamela Montana 6 7 More Barker, Sarah Evans Ind, S 5 8 More Young, Richard L. Ind, S 5 8 More Broomes, John Wesley Kansas 5 8 More Dever, James C., III N Car, E 5 8 More Whitney, Frank DeArmon N Car, W 5 8 More Bell, Kenneth Davis, Sr. N Car, W 5 8 More Adams, John R. Ohio, N 5 8 More Barker, J. Campbell Texas, E 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 9 judges were from other districts. (Because of ties, there were a total of 15 judges in the "top ten" rankings.)
Judge Robert S. Ballou in the Western District of Virginia (Roanoke) ranked 1st with 13 defendants in cases.
Judges Kristine Gerhard Baker in the Eastern District of Arkansas (Little Rock), Ronald A. White in the Eastern District of Oklahoma (Muskogee) and Scott Lawrence Palk in the Western District of Oklahoma (Oklahoma City) ranked 2nd with 9 defendants in cases.
Report Generated: November 1, 2024
