Prosecutions for February 2019
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during February 2019 the government reported 15224 new prosecutions. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is down 2.6 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 2019 prosecutions of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, the number of filings was up (54.4%). 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 39.3 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 2.5 percent instead of 39.3 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 February 2019 was for "Immigration", accounting for 64.3 percent of prosecutions. Prosecutions were also filed for "Drugs-Drug Trafficking" (8.1%), "Withheld by Govt from TRAC (FOIA challen" (7.1%), "Weapons-Operation Triggerlock Major" (5.8%), "Drugs-Organized Crime Task Force" (2.6%), "Other Criminal Prosecutions" (2.2%). See Figure 2.
The lead investigative agency for prosecutions in February 2019 was DHS accounting for 69 percent of prosecutions referred. Other agencies with substantial numbers of referrals were: FBI (8% ), DEA (6%), ATF (6%), Local (2%). See Figure 3.
Prosecutions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In February 2019, 10290 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 February 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 61.3 percent of all magistrate filings in February.
Other frequently prosecuted lead charges include: "08 USC 1326 - Reentry of deported alien" (19.8%).
Prosecutions in U.S. District Courts
In February 2019, 4934 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during February there were an additional 2230 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 February.
Top Ranked Lead Charges
Table 2 shows the top lead charges recorded in the prosecutions of matters filed in U.S. District Court during February 2019.
Lead Charge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago 08 USC 1326 - Reentry of deported alien 2,066 1 1 1 More 21 USC 841 - Drug Abuse Prevention & Control-Prohibited acts A 820 2 2 2 More 18 USC 922 - Firearms; Unlawful acts 796 3 3 4 More 21 USC 846 - Attempt and conspiracy 420 4 4 3 More 08 USC 1324 - Bringing in and harboring certain aliens 310 5 5 5 More 21 USC 952 - Importation of controlled substances 168 6 6 6 More 18 USC 1951 - Hobbs Act 83 7 9 13 More 18 USC 2252 - Material involving sexual exploitation of minors 78 9 8 7 More 18 USC 1343 - Fraud by wire, radio, or television 70 10 10 9 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 100.9 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 — 309.5 % — 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 10.3 percent — was " Attempt and conspiracy " (Title 21 U.S.C Section 846 ). This was the same statute that had the largest decrease — 27.3 % — when compared with five years ago.
Top Ranked Judicial Districts
In February 2019 the Justice Department's case-by-case records show that the government brought 2639.3 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 N Mexico 17,873 311 1 5 5 More Texas, W 16,971 1,021 2 1 2 More Cal, S 13,634 400 3 2 4 More S Dakota 9,400 67 4 40 37 More D. C. 9,338 54 5 77 58 More Texas, S 7,498 609 6 3 1 More Ala, S 6,392 45 7 60 67 More Arizona 5,730 335 8 4 3 More N Dakota 5,242 33 9 56 45 More Ga, S 5,218 69 10 61 72 More Table 3. Top 10 Districts (per ten million people)
The District of New Mexico — with 17873 prosecutions as compared with 2639.3 prosecutions per ten million population in the United States — was the most active during February 2019. The District of New Mexico was ranked 5 a year ago, while it was ranked 5 for most frequent use five years ago.
The Western District of Texas (San Antonio) ranked 2nd. The Western District of Texas (San Antonio) was ranked 1 a year ago, while it was ranked 2 for most frequent use five years ago.
Southern District of California (San Diego) is now ranking 3rd. The Southern District of California (San Diego) was ranked 2 a year ago, while it was ranked 4 for most frequent use five years ago.
Recent entrants to the top 10 list were South Dakota , now ranked 4th , and North Dakota at 9th In the same order, these districts ranked 40th and 56th one year ago and 37th and 45th five years ago.
The federal judicial district which showed the greatest growth in the rate of prosecutions compared to one year ago — 104 percent — was Southern District of Georgia (Savannah). This was the same district that had the largest increase — 132.9 percent — when compared with five years ago.
In the last year, the judicial District Court recording the largest drop in the rate of prosecutions — 33 percent — was North Dakota . This was the same district that had the largest increase — 41.6 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 February 2019 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago Moses, Alia M. Texas, W 395 1 2 2 More Counts, Walter David, III Texas, W 163 2 14 - More Gelpi, Gustavo Antonio, Jr. Puer Rico 92 3 155 33 More Gonzales, Kenneth John N Mexico 85 4 3 1 More Ramos, Nelva Gonzales Texas, S 83 5 13 8 More Martinez, Philip Ray Texas, W 69 6 12 16 More Hinojosa, Ricardo H. Texas, S 68 7 4 7 More Cardone, Kathleen Texas, W 68 7 7 15 More Guaderrama, David C. Texas, W 68 7 10 13 More Cerezo, Carmen Consuelo Puer Rico 67 10 73 38 More Montalvo, Frank Texas, W 67 10 7 11 More Table 4. Top Ten Judges
A total of 9 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 2 judges were from other districts. (Because of ties, there were a total of 11 judges in the "top ten" rankings.)
Judge Alia M. Moses in the Western District of Texas (San Antonio) ranked 1st with 395 defendants in cases. Judge Moses appeared in the top ten rankings one year (ranked 2) and five years ago (rank 2).
Judge Walter David Counts, III in the Western District of Texas (San Antonio) ranked 2nd with 163 defendants in cases.
Judge Gustavo Antonio Gelpi, Jr. in the District of Puerto Rico ranked 3rd with 92 defendants in cases.
Report Generated: March 27, 2019
