Convictions for February 2020

Number Latest Month 12,526
Percent Change from previous month -3.1
Percent Change from 1 year ago -11.5
Percent Change from 5 years ago
(Including Magistrate Court)
8.8
Percent Change from 5 years ago
(Excluding Magistrate Court)
22.8
Table 1. Criminal Convictions

The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during February 2020 the government reported 12526 new convictions. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is down 3.1 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 2020 convictions of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, the number of convictions was down (-11.5%). 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 8.8 percent from levels reported in 2015.


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 2020 was for "Immigration", accounting for 60.8 percent of convictions. Convictions were also filed for "Drugs-Drug Trafficking" (10.3%), "Weapons-Operation Triggerlock Major" (8%), "Drugs-Organized Crime Task Force" (5.2%), "Withheld by Govt from TRAC (FOIA challen" (2.3%), "Project Safe Childhood" (2.2%). See Figure 2.

The lead investigative agency for convictions in February 2020 was DHS accounting for 66 percent of convictions. Other agencies with substantial numbers of convictions were: FBI (9% ), DEA (7%), ATF (7%), Local (2%). See Figure 3.

Pie chart of progcatlabel

Figure 2. Specific Types of Convictions
Pie chart of agenrevgrp

Figure 3. Convictions by Investigative Agency

Convictions in U.S. Magistrate Courts

Top Ranked Lead Charges

In February 2020, 5137 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 74.2 percent of all magistrate convictions in February.

Other frequently prosecuted lead charges include: "08 USC 1326 - Reentry of deported alien" (19.6%).

Convictions in U.S. District Courts

In February 2020, 7389 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 2020.

Lead Charge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago  
08 USC 1326 - Reentry of deported alien 2,186 1 1 1 More
21 USC 841 - Drug Abuse Prevention & Control-Prohibited acts A 1,031 2 2 2 More
18 USC 922 - Firearms; Unlawful acts 883 3 3 4 More
21 USC 846 - Attempt and conspiracy 604 4 4 3 More
08 USC 1324 - Bringing in and harboring certain aliens 371 5 5 5 More
21 USC 952 - Importation of controlled substances 137 6 6 7 More
18 USC 2252 - Material involving sexual exploitation of minors 98 7 7 6 More
18 USC 1951 - Hobbs Act 92 8 10 12 More
18 USC 1343 - Fraud by wire, radio, or television 84 9 9 9 More
18 USC 371 - Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US 80 10 14 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 81.3 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 — 437 % — when compared with five years ago.

Again among the top ten lead charges, the one showing the sharpest decline in convictions compared to one year ago — down 200 percent — was " " ( ). Compared to five years ago, the most significant decline in convictions — 25.4 percent — was for convictions where the lead charge was " Material involving sexual exploitation of minors " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 2252 ).

Top Ranked Judicial Districts

In February 2020 the Justice Department's case-by-case records show that the government obtained 2710.2 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  
N Mexico 19,299 337 1 4 4 More
Texas, W 16,678 1,021 2 1 1 More
Cal, S 11,914 350 3 3 5 More
Texas, S 10,664 876 4 2 2 More
R. I. 7,150 63 5 91 86 More
S Dakota 7,051 51 6 33 47 More
Arizona 6,492 388 7 5 3 More
Alaska 5,875 35 8 69 88 More
Ala, S 5,668 40 9 60 55 More
Tenn, W 5,661 74 10 21 41 More
Table 3. Top 10 Districts (per ten million people)

  • The District of New Mexico — with 19299 convictions as compared with 2710.2 convictions per ten million population in the United States — was the most active during February 2020. The District of New Mexico was ranked 4 a year ago, while it was ranked 4 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 1 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 3 a year ago, while it was ranked 5 for most frequent use five years ago.

Recent entrants to the top 10 list were Western District of Tennessee (Memphis), now ranked 10th , and South Dakota at 6th In the same order, these districts ranked 21st and 33rd one year ago and 41st and 47th five years ago.

The federal judicial district which showed the greatest growth in the rate of convictions compared to one year ago — 170.7 percent — was Rhode Island . Compared to five years ago, the district with the largest growth — 86 percent — was Western District of Texas (San Antonio).

In the last year, the judicial District Court recording the largest drop in the rate of convictions — 41.5 percent — was Alaska .  But over the past five years, showed the largest drop — 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 2020 are shown in Table 4.

Judge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago  
Saldana, Diana Texas, S 158 1 23 27 More
Martinez, Philip Ray Texas, W 153 2 3 17 More
Garcia Marmolejo, Marina Texas, S 139 3 22 24 More
Cardone, Kathleen Texas, W 132 4 5 21 More
Guaderrama, David C. Texas, W 106 5 12 27 More
Montalvo, Frank Texas, W 104 6 8 15 More
Counts, Walter David, III Texas, W 99 7 2 857 More
Ramos, Nelva Gonzales Texas, S 86 8 4 13 More
Soto, James Alan Arizona 79 9 48 14 More
Hinojosa, Ricardo H. Texas, S 78 10 7 7 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 Diana Saldana in the Southern District of Texas (Houston) ranked 1st with 158 convicted in convictions.

  • Judge Philip Ray Martinez in the Western District of Texas (San Antonio) ranked 2nd with 153 convicted in convictions. Judge Martinez also appeared in the top ten rankings one year ago (ranked 3).

  • Judge Marina Garcia Marmolejo in the Southern District of Texas (Houston) ranked 3rd with 139 convicted in convictions.

Report Generated: March 31, 2020
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