Prosecutions for February 2024
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during February 2024 the government reported 6722 new prosecutions. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is up 22.3 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 2024 prosecutions of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, the number of filings was down (-5%). 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 63.4 percent from levels reported in 2019.
The substantial 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 34.2 percent instead of 63.4 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 February 2024 was for "Immigration", accounting for 38.9 percent of prosecutions. Prosecutions were also filed for "Withheld by Govt from TRAC (FOIA challen" (13.7%), "Drugs-Drug Trafficking" (13.2%), "Weapons-Operation Triggerlock Major" (9.1%), "Drugs-Organized Crime Task Force" (3.1%), "Project Safe Childhood" (3.1%), "Other Criminal Prosecutions" (3%), "Assimilated Crimes" (2.1%). See Figure 2.
The lead investigative agency for prosecutions in February 2024 was DHS accounting for 49 percent of prosecutions referred. Other agencies with substantial numbers of referrals were: FBI (14% ), DEA (11%), ATF (9%), Defense (3%). See Figure 3.
Prosecutions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In February 2024, 3239 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 1326 involving "Reentry of deported alien". This was the lead charge for 35.9 percent of all magistrate filings in February.
Other frequently prosecuted lead charges include: "08 USC 1325 - Entry of alien at improper time or place; etc." (16.8%), "08 USC 1324 - Bringing in and harboring certain aliens" (12.6%).
Prosecutions in U.S. District Courts
In February 2024, 3483 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during February there were an additional 2105 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 2024.
Lead Charge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago 08 USC 1326 - Reentry of deported alien 1,590 1 1 1 More 21 USC 841 - Drug Abuse Prevention & Control-Prohibited acts A 615 2 2 2 More 18 USC 922 - Firearms; Unlawful acts 549 3 3 3 More 08 USC 1324 - Bringing in and harboring certain aliens 306 4 4 5 More 21 USC 846 - Attempt and conspiracy 296 5 5 4 More 18 USC 1343 - Fraud by wire, radio, or television 160 6 6 9 More 18 USC 2252 - Material involving sexual exploitation of minors 89 8 9 7 More 21 USC 952 - Importation of controlled substances 76 9 8 6 More 18 USC 1951 - Hobbs Act 60 10 11 10 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 3 five years ago.
Among these top ten lead charges, the one showing the greatest increase in prosecutions — up 22.6 percent — compared to one year ago was Title 18 U.S.C Section 1951 that involves " Hobbs Act ". Compared to five years ago, the largest increase — 45.4 percent — was registered for prosecutions under " Fraud by wire, radio, or television " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 1343 ).
Again among the top ten lead charges, the one showing the sharpest decline in prosecutions compared to one year ago — down 19.3 percent — was " Attempt and conspiracy " (Title 21 U.S.C Section 846 ). Compared to five years ago, the most significant decline in prosecutions — 44.8 percent — was for filings where the lead charge was " Importation of controlled substances " (Title 21 U.S.C Section 952 ).
Top Ranked Judicial Districts
In February 2024 the Justice Department's case-by-case records show that the government brought 2012 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 Arizona 13,762 844 1 3 4 More D. C. 11,432 64 2 31 48 More Texas, W 10,116 658 3 1 1 More Cal, S 7,745 223 4 4 3 More N Mexico 6,587 116 5 5 5 More W Virg, N 6,232 48 6 38 61 More Texas, S 5,340 454 7 2 2 More Montana 4,702 44 8 44 68 More Okla, N 4,587 42 9 21 73 More S Dakota 4,418 33 10 33 36 More Table 3. Top 10 Districts (per ten million people)
The District of Arizona — with 13762 prosecutions as compared with 2012 prosecutions per ten million population in the United States — was the most active during February 2024. The District of Arizona was ranked 3 a year ago, while it was ranked 4 for most frequent use five years ago.
The District of Washington, D.C. (Washington) ranked 2nd.
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 Northern District of Oklahoma (Tulsa), now ranked 9th , and Washington, D.C. (Washington) at 2nd In the same order, these districts ranked 21st and 31st one year ago and 73rd and 48th five years ago.
The federal judicial district which showed the greatest growth in the rate of prosecutions compared to one year ago — 31.3 percent — was Washington, D.C. (Washington). Compared to five years ago, the district with the largest growth — 57.8 percent — was Northern District of Oklahoma (Tulsa).
In the last year, the judicial District Court recording the largest drop in the rate of prosecutions — 18.7 percent — was Northern District of Oklahoma (Tulsa). But over the past five years, New Mexico showed the largest drop — 61.8 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 of this type during February 2024 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago Moses, Alia M. Texas, W 253 1 1 2 More Cardone, Kathleen Texas, W 130 2 12 8 More Rateau, Jacqueline M. Arizona 103 3 226 103 More Crane, Randy Texas, S 76 4 6 11 More Lindsay, Sam A. Texas, N 67 5 719 139 More Markovich, Eric J. Arizona 50 6 193 62 More Ramos, Nelva Gonzales Texas, S 45 7 19 7 More Guaderrama, David C. Texas, W 45 7 10 6 More Garcia Marmolejo, Marina Texas, S 40 9 3 17 More Briones, David Texas, W 39 10 22 14 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 1 judges were from other districts.
Judge Alia M. Moses in the Western District of Texas (San Antonio) ranked 1st with 253 defendants in cases. Judge Moses appeared in the top ten rankings one year (ranked 1) and five years ago (rank 2).
Judge Kathleen Cardone in the Western District of Texas (San Antonio) ranked 2nd with 130 defendants in cases.
Judge Jacqueline M. Rateau in the District of Arizona ranked 3rd with 103 defendants in cases.
Report Generated: April 3, 2024
