Convictions for February 2023
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during February 2023 the government reported 6657 new convictions. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is down 11.7 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 2023 convictions of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, the number of convictions was up (24.1%). Convictions over the past year are still much lower than they were five years ago. Overall, the data show that convictions of this type are down 27.2 percent from levels reported in 2018.
Figure 1. Monthly Trends in Convictions
The decrease 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 2023 was for "Immigration", accounting for 35.4 percent of convictions. Convictions were also filed for "Drugs-Drug Trafficking" (16.7%), "Weapons-Operation Triggerlock Major" (14%), "Drugs-Organized Crime Task Force" (8.9%), "Project Safe Childhood" (3.9%), "Withheld by Govt from TRAC (FOIA challen" (3.5%). See Figure 2.
The lead investigative agency for convictions in February 2023 was DHS accounting for 43 percent of convictions. Other agencies with substantial numbers of convictions were: FBI (16% ), DEA (13%), ATF (12%), Local (4%). See Figure 3.
Convictions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In February 2023, 733 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 1326 involving "Reentry of deported alien". This was the lead charge for 62.2 percent of all magistrate convictions in February.
Other frequently prosecuted lead charges include: "08 USC 1324 - Bringing in and harboring certain aliens" (11.1%), "08 USC 1325 - Entry of alien at improper time or place; etc." (6.4%), "Other US Code Section" (6.1%).
Convictions in U.S. District Courts
In February 2023, 5924 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 2023.
Lead Charge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago 08 USC 1326 - Reentry of deported alien 1,224 1 1 1 More 21 USC 841 - Drug Abuse Prevention & Control-Prohibited acts A 965 2 2 2 More 18 USC 922 - Firearms; Unlawful acts 855 3 3 3 More 08 USC 1324 - Bringing in and harboring certain aliens 458 4 5 5 More 21 USC 846 - Attempt and conspiracy 457 5 4 4 More 18 USC 1343 - Fraud by wire, radio, or television 103 6 9 9 More 18 USC 2252 - Material involving sexual exploitation of minors 80 8 7 7 More 21 USC 952 - Importation of controlled substances 77 9 6 8 More 18 USC 2250 - Fail to register as sex offender after traveling interstate commerce 56 10 11 14 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 3 five years ago.
Among these top ten lead charges, the one showing the greatest increase in convictions — up 26.6 percent — compared to one year ago was Title 18 U.S.C Section 1343 that involves " Fraud by wire, radio, or television ". Compared to five years ago, the largest increase — 326.4 percent — was registered for convictions under "Other US Code Section " (Title U.S.C Section ).
Again among the top ten lead charges, the one showing the sharpest decline in convictions compared to one year ago — down 13.6 percent — was " Importation of controlled substances " (Title 21 U.S.C Section 952 ). Compared to five years ago, the most significant decline in convictions — 9.6 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 2023 the Justice Department's case-by-case records show that the government obtained 2141.9 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 W Virg, S 14,654 105 1 83 81 More Arizona 12,023 729 2 3 5 More Alaska 10,609 62 3 88 83 More Ark, W 9,316 108 4 66 73 More Texas, W 8,615 550 5 2 1 More S Dakota 8,573 63 6 28 21 More Mo, E 8,009 195 7 8 15 More N Mexico 7,373 130 8 5 4 More Texas, S 6,609 554 9 1 2 More Cal, S 6,336 183 10 4 3 More Table 3. Top 10 Districts (per ten million people)
The Southern District of West Virginia (Charleston) — with 14654 convictions as compared with 2141.9 convictions per ten million population in the United States — was the most active during February 2023.
The District of Arizona ranked 2nd. The District of Arizona was ranked 3 a year ago, while it was ranked 5 for most frequent use five years ago.
District of Alaska is now ranking 3rd.
Recent entrants to the top 10 list were South Dakota , now ranked 6th , and Western District of Arkansas (Fort Smith) at 4th In the same order, these districts ranked 28th and 66th one year ago and 21st and 73rd five years ago.
The federal judicial district which showed the greatest growth in the rate of convictions compared to one year ago — 241 percent — was Southern District of West Virginia (Charleston). Compared to five years ago, the district with the largest growth — 194.6 percent — was Arizona .
In the last year, the judicial District Court recording the largest drop in the rate of convictions — 28.8 percent — was Southern District of Texas (Houston). But over the past five years, New Mexico showed the largest drop — 45.7 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 resulting in convictions of this type during February 2023 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago Moses, Alia M. Texas, W 210 1 9 11 More Rodriguez, Fernando, Jr. Texas, S 94 2 7 - More Olvera, Jose Rolando, Jr. Texas, S 79 3 8 19 More Alvarez, Micaela Texas, S 68 4 6 4 More Marquez, Rosemary Arizona 66 5 12 80 More Crane, Randy Texas, S 66 5 3 5 More Zipps, Jennifer Guerin Arizona 63 7 11 61 More Soto, James Alan Arizona 61 8 15 80 More Collins, Raner Christercunean Arizona 51 9 21 80 More Hinojosa, Ricardo H. Texas, S 48 10 5 6 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 Alia M. Moses in the Western District of Texas (San Antonio) ranked 1st with 210 convicted in convictions. Judge Moses also appeared in the top ten rankings one year ago (ranked 9).
Judge Fernando Rodriguez, Jr. in the Southern District of Texas (Houston) ranked 2nd with 94 convicted in convictions. Judge Rodriguez also appeared in the top ten rankings one year ago (ranked 7).
Judge Jose Rolando Olvera, Jr. in the Southern District of Texas (Houston) ranked 3rd with 79 convicted in convictions. Judge Olvera also appeared in the top ten rankings one year ago (ranked 8).
Report Generated: April 6, 2023
