Convictions for September 2023
Referring Agency: Drug Enforcement Administration
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during September 2023 the government reported 959 new convictions for these matters. Those cases were referred by the Drug Enforcement Administration. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is down 5 percent over the previous month.
The comparisons of the number of defendants convicted 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 convictions of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, the number of convictions was up (15.8%). Convictions over the past year are still much higher than they were five years ago. Overall, the data show that convictions of this type are up 19 percent from levels reported in 2018.
Figure 1. Monthly Trends in Convictions
The increase from the levels five years ago in convictions for these matters is shown more clearly in Figure 1. The vertical bars in Figure 1 represent the number of convictions 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 convictions of these matters in September 2023 was for "Drugs-Drug Trafficking", accounting for 58.2 percent of convictions. Convictions were also filed for "Drugs-Organized Crime Task Force" (28.3%), "Withheld by Govt from TRAC (FOIA challen" (7.6%), "Weapons-Operation Triggerlock Major" (4.6%). See Figure 2.
Convictions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In September 2023, no defendants in cases for these matters were convicted 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.
Convictions in U.S. District Courts
In September 2023, 956 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during September there were an additional 0 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 convictions of matters filed in U.S. District Court during September 2023 referred by the Drug Enforcement Administration.
Lead Charge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago 21 USC 841 - Drug Abuse Prevention & Control-Prohibited acts A 540 1 1 1 More 21 USC 846 - Attempt and conspiracy 245 2 2 2 More 18 USC 922 - Firearms; Unlawful acts 41 3 3 3 More 21 USC 843 - Drug Abuse Prevention & Control-Prohibited acts C 5 5 7 7 More 46 USC 70503 - Possession control substance on vessel subject to jurisdiction of US 5 5 11 4 More 46 USC 70506 - Penalties 5 5 8 9 More 21 USC 959 - Possession, manufacture, or distribution for purpo 3 8 11 11 More 18 USC 1347 - Health Care Fraud 2 9 17 - More 21 USC 963 - Attempt and conspiracy 2 9 9 5 More Table 2. Top Charges for Convictions
"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 "Firearms; Unlawful acts" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 922. "Firearms; Unlawful acts" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 922 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 convictions — up 205.3 percent — compared to one year ago was Title 46 U.S.C Section 70506 that involves " Penalties ". Compared to five years ago, the largest increase — 1800 percent — was registered for convictions under "Other US Code Section " (Title U.S.C Section ).
Again among the top ten lead charges, the one showing the sharpest decline in convictions compared to one year ago — down 60 percent — was " Health Care Fraud " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 1347 ). Compared to five years ago, the most significant decline in convictions — 47.7 percent — was for convictions where the lead charge was " Attempt and conspiracy " (Title 21 U.S.C Section 963 ).
Top Ranked Judicial Districts
In September 2023 the Justice Department's case-by-case records show that the government obtained 345.7 convictions for every ten million people in the United States.
Understandably, there is great variation in the per capita number of convictions in each of the nation's ninety-four federal judicial districts.
The districts registering the largest number of convictions per capita for these matters last month are shown in Table 3. Districts must have at least 5 convictions to receive a ranking.
Judicial District Percapita Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago S Dakota 2,450 18 1 22 73 More Ark, W 2,415 28 2 68 73 More Ill, S 2,150 22 3 24 25 More W Virg, N 1,820 14 4 62 87 More Ark, E 1,541 21 5 12 36 More Mo, E 1,520 37 6 4 18 More Iowa, N 1,440 16 7 27 45 More N Dakota 1,239 8 8 24 56 More Ga, S 1,108 15 9 22 50 More Texas, N 971 61 10 1 2 More Table 3. Top 10 Districts (per ten million people)
The District of South Dakota — with 2450 convictions as compared with 345.7 convictions per ten million population in the United States — was the most active during September 2023.
The Western District of Arkansas (Fort Smith) ranked 2nd.
Southern District of Illinois (East St. Louis) is now ranking 3rd.
Recent entrants to the top 10 list were Eastern District of Arkansas (Little Rock), now ranked 5th , and South Dakota at 1st In the same order, these districts ranked 12th and 22nd one year ago and 36th and 73rd five years ago.
The federal judicial district which showed the greatest growth in the rate of convictions compared to one year ago — 200 percent — was Western District of Arkansas (Fort Smith). Compared to five years ago, the district with the largest growth — 285.7 percent — was North Dakota .
In the last year, the judicial District Court recording the largest drop in the rate of convictions — 43.3 percent — was Southern District of Georgia (Savannah). But over the past five years, Northern District of Texas (Fort Worth) showed the largest drop — 20.1 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 resulting in convictions of this type during September 2023 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank Brooks, Timothy Lloyd Ark, W 17 1 More O'Connor, Reed Charles Texas, N 16 2 More Schreier, Karen E. S Dakota 15 3 More Strand, Leonard T. Iowa, N 13 4 More Holmes, Paul Kinloch, III Ark, W 10 5 More Dillon, Elizabeth Kay Virg, W 10 5 More White, Ronnie Lee Mo, E 9 7 More Counts, Walter David, III Texas, W 9 7 More Coughenour, John C. Wash, W 9 7 More Ketchmark, Roseann Ambrosia Mo, W 8 10 More Bailey, John Preston W Virg, N 8 10 More Table 4. Top Ten Judges
A total of 7 out of the "top ten" judges were in districts which were in the top ten with the largest number of convictions per capita, while the remaining 4 judges were from other districts. (Because of ties, there were a total of 11 judges in the "top ten" rankings.)
Judge Timothy Lloyd Brooks in the Western District of Arkansas (Fort Smith) ranked 1st with 17 convicted in convictions.
Judge Reed Charles O'Connor in the Northern District of Texas (Fort Worth) ranked 2nd with 16 convicted in convictions.
Judge Karen E. Schreier in the District of South Dakota ranked 3rd with 15 convicted in convictions.
Report Generated: December 4, 2023
