Prosecutions for January 2022
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during January 2022 the government reported 4942 new prosecutions. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is down 8.2 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 2022 prosecutions of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, the number of filings was down (-9%). 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 38.2 percent from levels reported in 2017.
The 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 14 percent instead of 38.2 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 January 2022 was for "Immigration", accounting for 29.7 percent of prosecutions. Prosecutions were also filed for "Drugs-Drug Trafficking" (16.5%), "Withheld by Govt from TRAC (FOIA challen" (15.4%), "Weapons-Operation Triggerlock Major" (11.4%), "Other Criminal Prosecutions" (3.4%), "Assimilated Crimes" (3.4%), "Project Safe Childhood" (3%), "Drugs-Organized Crime Task Force" (3%), "Violence-Other" (2.1%). See Figure 2.
The lead investigative agency for prosecutions in January 2022 was DHS accounting for 38 percent of prosecutions referred. Other agencies with substantial numbers of referrals were: FBI (16% ), DEA (13%), ATF (12%), Defense (3%). See Figure 3.
Prosecutions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In January 2022, 2272 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 January 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 34.8 percent of all magistrate filings in January.
Other frequently prosecuted lead charges include: "08 USC 1324 - Bringing in and harboring certain aliens" (12.2%), "21 USC 841 - Drug Abuse Prevention & Control-Prohibited acts A" (7.9%).
Prosecutions in U.S. District Courts
In January 2022, 2670 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during January there were an additional 1473 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 January.
Top Ranked Lead Charges
Table 2 shows the top lead charges recorded in the prosecutions of matters filed in U.S. District Court during January 2022.
Lead Charge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago 08 USC 1326 - Reentry of deported alien 834 1 1 1 More 18 USC 922 - Firearms; Unlawful acts 492 2 3 4 More 21 USC 841 - Drug Abuse Prevention & Control-Prohibited acts A 483 3 2 2 More 08 USC 1324 - Bringing in and harboring certain aliens 309 4 5 5 More 21 USC 846 - Attempt and conspiracy 258 5 4 3 More 21 USC 952 - Importation of controlled substances 124 6 6 6 More 18 USC 1343 - Fraud by wire, radio, or television 51 7 8 9 More 18 USC 2252 - Material involving sexual exploitation of minors 50 8 9 7 More 18 USC 1349 - Mail Fraud - Attempt and Conspiracy 37 10 12 19 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 "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.
Ranked 3rd was "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.
Among these top ten lead charges, the one showing the greatest increase in prosecutions — up 7.9 percent — compared to one year ago was Title 8 U.S.C Section 1324 that involves " Bringing in and harboring certain aliens ". Compared to five years ago, the largest increase — 213.1 percent — was registered for prosecutions under "Other US Code Section " (Title U.S.C Section ).
Again among the top ten lead charges, the one showing the sharpest decline in prosecutions compared to one year ago — down 36.6 percent — was " Mail Fraud - Attempt and Conspiracy " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 1349 ). Compared to five years ago, the most significant decline in prosecutions — 37.3 percent — was for filings where the lead charge was " Attempt and conspiracy " (Title 21 U.S.C Section 846 ).
Top Ranked Judicial Districts
In January 2022 the Justice Department's case-by-case records show that the government brought 1514.6 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 Cal, S 9,206 270 1 4 5 More D. C. 9,182 54 2 58 65 More N Mexico 8,928 156 3 6 4 More Texas, W 6,419 399 4 2 1 More Texas, S 6,115 506 5 1 2 More S Dakota 5,376 39 6 29 21 More Wyoming 4,769 23 7 79 71 More Arizona 4,171 253 8 3 3 More Montana 4,154 37 9 67 69 More W Virg, N 3,767 29 10 32 60 More Table 3. Top 10 Districts (per ten million people)
The Southern District of California (San Diego) — with 9206 prosecutions as compared with 1514.6 prosecutions per ten million population in the United States — was the most active during January 2022. The Southern District of California (San Diego) was ranked 4 a year ago, while it was ranked 5 for most frequent use five years ago.
The District of Washington, D.C. (Washington) ranked 2nd.
District of New Mexico is now ranking 3rd. The District of New Mexico was ranked 6 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 6th , and Northern District of West Virginia (Wheeling) at 10th In the same order, these districts ranked 29th and 32nd one year ago and 21st and 60th five years ago.
The federal judicial district which showed the greatest growth in the rate of prosecutions compared to one year ago — 86.1 percent — was Washington, D.C. (Washington). This was the same district that had the largest increase — 136.7 percent — when compared with five years ago.
In the last year, the judicial District Court recording the largest drop in the rate of prosecutions — 40.7 percent — was Northern District of West Virginia (Wheeling). But over the past five years, Wyoming showed the largest drop — 50 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 January 2022 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago Moses, Alia M. Texas, W 136 1 1 1 More Counts, Walter David, III Texas, W 84 2 2 - More Rodriguez, Fernando, Jr. Texas, S 58 3 12 - More Garcia Marmolejo, Marina Texas, S 56 4 5 19 More Saldana, Diana Texas, S 53 5 7 9 More Olvera, Jose Rolando, Jr. Texas, S 53 5 11 8 More Crane, Randy Texas, S 51 7 4 6 More Hinojosa, Ricardo H. Texas, S 48 8 3 5 More Alvarez, Micaela Texas, S 47 9 6 10 More Sammartino, Janis Lynn Cal, S 46 10 25 57 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 filings per capit.
Judge Alia M. Moses in the Western District of Texas (San Antonio) ranked 1st with 136 defendants in cases. Judge Moses appeared in the top ten rankings one year (ranked 1) and five years ago (rank 1).
Judge Walter David Counts, III in the Western District of Texas (San Antonio) ranked 2nd with 84 defendants in cases. Judge Counts also appeared in the top ten rankings one year ago (ranked 2).
Judge Fernando Rodriguez, Jr. in the Southern District of Texas (Houston) ranked 3rd with 58 defendants in cases.
Report Generated: February 28, 2022
