Prosecutions for April 2019
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during April 2019 the government reported 14865 new prosecutions. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is up 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 2019 prosecutions of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, the number of filings was up (33.7%). Prosecutions over the past year are still much higher than they were five years ago. Overall, the data show that prosecutions of this type are up 29.7 percent from levels reported in 2014.
The growth in these cases is partly related to increases in the matters filed in U.S. Magistrate Courts. If magistrate cases are excluded and only Federal District Court cases are counted, the overall increase in prosecutions is 3.5 percent instead of 29.7 percent. The evidence suggests that part of the difference may be the result of improvements in the recording of the magistrate cases by the Justice Department.
Figure 1. Monthly Trends in Prosecutions
The increase 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 April 2019 was for "Immigration", accounting for 60.8 percent of prosecutions. Prosecutions were also filed for "Drugs-Drug Trafficking" (9.1%), "Withheld by Govt from TRAC (FOIA challen" (7.4%), "Weapons-Operation Triggerlock Major" (5.8%), "Drugs-Organized Crime Task Force" (2.6%), "Other Criminal Prosecutions" (2.3%). See Figure 2.
The lead investigative agency for prosecutions in April 2019 was DHS accounting for 65 percent of prosecutions referred. Other agencies with substantial numbers of referrals were: FBI (8% ), DEA (8%), ATF (6%), Defense (2%). See Figure 3.
Prosecutions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In April 2019, 9835 defendants 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 April the most frequently cited lead charge was Title 8 U.S.C Section 1325 involving "Entry of alien at improper time or place; etc.". This was the lead charge for 54.2 percent of all magistrate filings in April.
Other frequently prosecuted lead charges include: "08 USC 1326 - Reentry of deported alien" (23.4%).
Prosecutions in U.S. District Courts
In April 2019, 5030 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during April there were an additional 2299 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 April.
Top Ranked Lead Charges
Table 2 shows the top lead charges recorded in the prosecutions of matters filed in U.S. District Court during April 2019.
Lead Charge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago 08 USC 1326 - Reentry of deported alien 1,776 1 1 1 More 21 USC 841 - Drug Abuse Prevention & Control-Prohibited acts A 868 2 2 2 More 18 USC 922 - Firearms; Unlawful acts 796 3 3 4 More 21 USC 846 - Attempt and conspiracy 505 4 4 3 More 08 USC 1324 - Bringing in and harboring certain aliens 393 5 5 5 More 21 USC 952 - Importation of controlled substances 153 6 7 7 More 18 USC 1343 - Fraud by wire, radio, or television 78 8 10 9 More 18 USC 2252 - Material involving sexual exploitation of minors 78 8 8 6 More 18 USC 371 - Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US 77 10 15 11 More Table 2. Top Charges Filed
"Reentry of deported alien" (Title 8 U.S.C Section 1326) was the most frequent recorded lead charge. "Reentry of deported alien" (Title 8 U.S.C Section 1326) 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 "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 4 five years ago.
Among these top ten lead charges, the one showing the greatest increase in prosecutions — up 65.3 percent — compared to one year ago was Title U.S.C Section that involves "Other US Code Section ". This was the same statute that had the largest increase — 470.3 % — 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 13.1 percent — was " Fraud by wire, radio, or television " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 1343 ). Compared to five years ago, the most significant decline in prosecutions — 31.6 percent — was for filings where the lead charge was " Material involving sexual exploitation of minors " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 2252 ).
Top Ranked Judicial Districts
In April 2019 the Justice Department's case-by-case records show that the government brought 2700.1 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 N Mexico 16,034 279 1 5 4 More Cal, S 15,475 454 2 2 5 More Texas, W 11,868 714 3 1 1 More Texas, S 9,321 757 4 3 2 More Arizona 7,474 437 5 4 3 More Tenn, W 7,035 92 6 24 41 More Tenn, E 6,730 147 7 18 15 More La, M 5,898 41 8 81 90 More Mo, E 5,695 139 9 10 31 More D. C. 5,533 32 10 58 53 More Table 3. Top 10 Districts (per ten million people)
The District of New Mexico — with 16034 prosecutions as compared with 2700.1 prosecutions per ten million population in the United States — was the most active during April 2019. The District of New Mexico was ranked 5 a year ago, while it was ranked 4 for most frequent use five years ago.
The Southern District of California (San Diego) ranked 2nd. The Southern District of California (San Diego) was ranked 2 a year ago, while it was ranked 5 for most frequent use five years ago.
Western District of Texas (San Antonio) is now ranking 3rd. The Western District of Texas (San Antonio) was ranked 1 a year ago, while it was ranked 1 for most frequent use five years ago.
Recent entrants to the top 10 list were Eastern District of Tennessee (Knoxville), now ranked 7th , and Western District of Tennessee (Memphis) at 6th In the same order, these districts ranked 18th and 24th one year ago and 15th and 41st five years ago.
The federal judicial district which showed the greatest growth in the rate of prosecutions compared to one year ago — 19 percent — was Western District of Texas (San Antonio). Compared to five years ago, the district with the largest growth — 119.4 percent — was Eastern District of Missouri (St. Louis).
In the last year, the judicial District Court recording the largest drop in the rate of prosecutions — 20.2 percent — was Southern District of California (San Diego). But over the past five years, Arizona showed the largest drop — 22.7 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 April 2019 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago Guaderrama, David C. Texas, W 105 1 13 13 More Counts, Walter David, III Texas, W 98 2 3 - More Moses, Alia M. Texas, W 96 3 1 3 More Cardone, Kathleen Texas, W 93 4 9 17 More Ramos, Nelva Gonzales Texas, S 91 5 14 18 More Martinez, Philip Ray Texas, W 85 6 11 20 More Olvera, Jose Rolando, Jr. Texas, S 66 7 16 - More Montalvo, Frank Texas, W 66 7 12 16 More Rodriguez, Fernando, Jr. Texas, S 62 9 - - More Garcia Marmolejo, Marina Texas, S 60 10 19 24 More Table 4. Top Ten Judges
All 10 of the "top ten" judges were in districts which were in the top ten with the largest number of filings per capit.
Judge David C. Guaderrama in the Western District of Texas (San Antonio) ranked 1st with 105 defendants in cases.
Judge Walter David Counts, III in the Western District of Texas (San Antonio) ranked 2nd with 98 defendants in cases. Judge Counts also appeared in the top ten rankings one year ago (ranked 3).
Judge Alia M. Moses in the Western District of Texas (San Antonio) ranked 3rd with 96 defendants in cases. Judge Moses appeared in the top ten rankings one year (ranked 1) and five years ago (rank 3).
Report Generated: May 31, 2019
