Prosecutions for December 2021
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during December 2021 the government reported 5391 new prosecutions. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is down 4.6 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 2021 prosecutions of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, the number of filings was down (-8.2%). 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 35.9 percent from levels reported in 2016.
The dip 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 decrease in prosecutions is 9.8 percent instead of 35.9 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 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 2021 was for "Immigration", accounting for 26.8 percent of prosecutions. Prosecutions were also filed for "Drugs-Drug Trafficking" (16.1%), "Withheld by Govt from TRAC (FOIA challen" (15.8%), "Weapons-Operation Triggerlock Major" (10.7%), "Drugs-Organized Crime Task Force" (5.7%), "Assimilated Crimes" (3.6%), "Project Safe Childhood" (3.5%), "Other Criminal Prosecutions" (2.9%), "Violence-Other" (2.1%). See Figure 2.
The lead investigative agency for prosecutions in December 2021 was DHS accounting for 36 percent of prosecutions referred. Other agencies with substantial numbers of referrals were: FBI (18% ), DEA (14%), ATF (10%), Local (3%). See Figure 3.
Prosecutions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In December 2021, 2110 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 December the most frequently cited lead charge was Title 8 U.S.C Section 1326 involving "Reentry of deported alien". This was the lead charge for 32.7 percent of all magistrate filings in December.
Other frequently prosecuted lead charges include: "08 USC 1324 - Bringing in and harboring certain aliens" (12.2%), "21 USC 841 - Drug Abuse Prevention & Control-Prohibited acts A" (8.3%).
Prosecutions in U.S. District Courts
In December 2021, 3281 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during December there were an additional 1936 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 2021.
Lead Charge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago 08 USC 1326 - Reentry of deported alien 1,138 1 1 1 More 21 USC 841 - Drug Abuse Prevention & Control-Prohibited acts A 611 2 3 2 More 18 USC 922 - Firearms; Unlawful acts 570 3 2 4 More 08 USC 1324 - Bringing in and harboring certain aliens 393 4 5 5 More 21 USC 846 - Attempt and conspiracy 238 5 4 3 More 21 USC 952 - Importation of controlled substances 147 6 6 6 More 18 USC 2252 - Material involving sexual exploitation of minors 74 8 9 7 More 18 USC 1343 - Fraud by wire, radio, or television 58 9 8 8 More 18 USC 2250 - Fail to register as sex offender after traveling interstate commerce 50 10 11 13 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 3 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 2 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 12.1 percent — compared to one year ago was Title 8 U.S.C Section 1324 that involves " Bringing in and harboring certain aliens ". Compared to five years ago, the largest increase — 280 percent — was registered for prosecutions under "Other US Code Section " (Title U.S.C Section ).
Again among the top ten lead charges, the one showing the sharpest decline in prosecutions compared to one year ago — down 45.3 percent — was " Importation of controlled substances " (Title 21 U.S.C Section 952 ). Compared to five years ago, the most significant decline in prosecutions — 37.8 percent — was for filings where the lead charge was " Attempt and conspiracy " (Title 21 U.S.C Section 846 ).
Top Ranked Judicial Districts
In December 2021 the Justice Department's case-by-case records show that the government brought 1907.3 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 D. C. 11,392 67 1 58 56 More N Mexico 9,328 163 2 6 4 More Texas, W 9,299 578 3 2 2 More Cal, S 9,274 272 4 4 5 More S Dakota 8,823 64 5 28 22 More Texas, S 7,046 583 6 1 1 More Arizona 6,990 424 7 3 3 More Okla, N 5,833 52 8 26 82 More N Dakota 5,196 33 9 65 62 More Wyoming 4,976 24 10 80 67 More Table 3. Top 10 Districts (per ten million people)
The District of Washington, D.C. (Washington) — with 11392 prosecutions as compared with 1907.3 prosecutions per ten million population in the United States — was the most active during December 2021.
The District of New Mexico ranked 2nd. The District of New Mexico was ranked 6 a year ago, while it was ranked 4 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 2 a year ago, while it was ranked 2 for most frequent use five years ago.
Recent entrants to the top 10 list were Northern District of Oklahoma (Tulsa), now ranked 8th , and South Dakota at 5th In the same order, these districts ranked 26th and 28th one year ago and 82nd and 22nd five years ago.
The federal judicial district which showed the greatest growth in the rate of prosecutions compared to one year ago — 76.2 percent — was Washington, D.C. (Washington). Compared to five years ago, the district with the largest growth — 245.9 percent — was Northern District of Oklahoma (Tulsa).
In the last year, the judicial District Court recording the largest drop in the rate of prosecutions — 30.8 percent — was Wyoming . This was the same district that had the largest increase — 50.3 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 December 2021 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago Moses, Alia M. Texas, W 254 1 1 1 More Counts, Walter David, III Texas, W 104 2 2 - More Alvarez, Micaela Texas, S 87 3 4 10 More Crane, Randy Texas, S 82 4 3 6 More Hinojosa, Ricardo H. Texas, S 80 5 5 5 More Garcia Marmolejo, Marina Texas, S 64 6 6 19 More Saldana, Diana Texas, S 53 7 7 9 More Sammartino, Janis Lynn Cal, S 51 8 22 52 More Bencivengo, Cathy Ann Cal, S 50 9 11 29 More Gonzales, Kenneth John N Mexico 48 10 37 3 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 Alia M. Moses in the Western District of Texas (San Antonio) ranked 1st with 254 defendants in cases. Judge Moses appeared in the top ten rankings one year (ranked 1) and five years ago (rank 1).
Judge Walter David Counts, III in the Western District of Texas (San Antonio) ranked 2nd with 104 defendants in cases. Judge Counts also appeared in the top ten rankings one year ago (ranked 2).
Judge Micaela Alvarez in the Southern District of Texas (Houston) ranked 3rd with 87 defendants in cases. Judge Alvarez appeared in the top ten rankings one year (ranked 4) and five years ago (rank 10).
Report Generated: January 22, 2022
