Convictions for February 2019

Number Latest Month 13,371
Percent Change from previous month -3.4
Percent Change from 1 year ago 58.1
Percent Change from 5 years ago
(Including Magistrate Court)
27.5
Percent Change from 5 years ago
(Excluding Magistrate Court)
-6.3
Table 1. Criminal Convictions

The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during February 2019 the government reported 13371 new convictions. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is down 3.4 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 2019 convictions of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, the number of convictions was up (58.1%). 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 27.5 percent from levels reported in 2014.


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 February 2019 was for "Immigration", accounting for 69.9 percent of convictions. Convictions were also filed for "Drugs-Drug Trafficking" (7.3%), "Weapons-Operation Triggerlock Major" (5.4%), "Drugs-Organized Crime Task Force" (3.1%), "Withheld by Govt from TRAC (FOIA challen" (2.2%). See Figure 2.

The lead investigative agency for convictions in February 2019 was DHS accounting for 75 percent of convictions. Other agencies with substantial numbers of convictions were: FBI (7% ), ATF (5%), DEA (5%), Local (1%). See Figure 3.

Pie chart of progcatlabel

Figure 2. Specific Types of Convictions
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Figure 3. Convictions by Investigative Agency

Convictions in U.S. Magistrate Courts

Top Ranked Lead Charges

In February 2019, 7356 defendants 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.

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 87.4 percent of all magistrate convictions in February.

Other frequently prosecuted lead charges include: "08 USC 1326 - Reentry of deported alien" (9.5%).

Convictions in U.S. District Courts

In February 2019, 6015 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during February 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 February.

Top Ranked Lead Charges

Table 2 shows the top lead charges recorded in the convictions 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 1,724 1 1 1 More
21 USC 841 - Drug Abuse Prevention & Control-Prohibited acts A 696 2 2 2 More
18 USC 922 - Firearms; Unlawful acts 681 3 3 4 More
21 USC 846 - Attempt and conspiracy 441 4 4 3 More
08 USC 1324 - Bringing in and harboring certain aliens 352 5 5 5 More
21 USC 952 - Importation of controlled substances 154 6 8 6 More
18 USC 1546 - Fraud and misuse of visas, permits, and other documents 92 7 11 12 More
18 USC 2252 - Material involving sexual exploitation of minors 82 8 7 7 More
18 USC 1343 - Fraud by wire, radio, or television 73 9 9 9 More
18 USC 2113 - Bank robbery and incidental crimes 59 10 10 10 More
Table 2. Top Charges for Convictions

  • "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 convictions — up 48.4 percent — compared to one year ago was Title 21 U.S.C Section 952 that involves " Importation of controlled substances ". Compared to five years ago, the largest increase — 35.4 percent — was registered for convictions under " Bringing in and harboring certain aliens " (Title 8 U.S.C Section 1324 ).

Again among the top ten lead charges, the one showing the sharpest decline in convictions compared to one year ago — down 7.3 percent — was " Material involving sexual exploitation of minors " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 2252 ). Compared to five years ago, the most significant decline in convictions — 29.5 percent — was for convictions where the lead charge was " Attempt and conspiracy " (Title 21 U.S.C Section 846 ).

Top Ranked Judicial Districts

In February 2019 the Justice Department's case-by-case records show that the government obtained 2216 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  
Cal, S 21,713 637 1 3 4 More
N Mexico 16,551 288 2 4 5 More
Texas, W 9,441 568 3 1 1 More
Texas, S 6,957 565 4 2 2 More
S Dakota 6,033 43 5 21 26 More
Arizona 5,353 313 6 5 3 More
Ark, E 4,825 66 7 50 47 More
Mo, E 4,753 116 8 15 21 More
D. C. 4,496 26 9 82 61 More
W Virg, S 4,451 33 10 81 60 More
Table 3. Top 10 Districts (per ten million people)

  • The Southern District of California (San Diego) — with 21713 convictions as compared with 2216 convictions per ten million population in the United States — was the most active during February 2019. The Southern District of California (San Diego) was ranked 3 a year ago, while it was ranked 4 for most frequent use five years ago.

  • The District of New Mexico ranked 2nd. The District of New Mexico was ranked 4 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 Missouri (St. Louis), now ranked 8th , and South Dakota at 5th In the same order, these districts ranked 15th and 21st one year ago and 21st and 26th five years ago.

The federal judicial district which showed the greatest growth in the rate of convictions compared to one year ago — 47.3 percent — was Washington, D.C. (Washington). Compared to five years ago, the district with the largest growth — 38.9 percent — was Eastern District of Missouri (St. Louis).

In the last year, the judicial District Court recording the largest drop in the rate of convictions — 21.6 percent — was South Dakota .  But over the past five years, Southern District of West Virginia (Charleston) showed the largest drop — 38.5 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 February 2019 are shown in Table 4.

Judge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago  
Polster, Dan A. N Mexico 154 1 - - More
Zainey, Jay C. Texas, W 119 2 31 - More
Crane, Randy Texas, S 96 3 5 9 More
Ramos, Nelva Gonzales Texas, S 85 4 16 8 More
Moses, Alia M. Texas, W 77 5 11 1 More
Gonzales, Kenneth John N Mexico 63 6 2 3 More
Burns, Larry Alan Cal, S 60 7 25 48 More
Hinojosa, Ricardo H. Texas, S 59 8 6 5 More
Hayes, William Q. Cal, S 57 9 37 29 More
Sammartino, Janis Lynn Cal, S 56 10 26 43 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 convictions per capit.

  • Judge Dan A. Polster in the District of New Mexico ranked 1st with 154 convicted in convictions.

  • Judge Jay C. Zainey in the Western District of Texas (San Antonio) ranked 2nd with 119 convicted in convictions.

  • Judge Randy Crane in the Southern District of Texas (Houston) ranked 3rd with 96 convicted in convictions. Judge Crane appeared in the top ten rankings one year (ranked 5) and five years ago (rank 9).

Report Generated: March 27, 2019
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