Convictions for January 2023

Number Latest Month 7,808
Percent Change from previous month 37.1
Percent Change from 1 year ago 18.6
Percent Change from 5 years ago
(Including Magistrate Court)
-30.7
Percent Change from 5 years ago
(Excluding Magistrate Court)
3.5
Table 1. Criminal Convictions

The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during January 2023 the government reported 7808 new convictions. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is up 37.1 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 2023 convictions of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, the number of convictions was up (18.6%). 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 30.7 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 January 2023 was for "Immigration", accounting for 41.7 percent of convictions. Convictions were also filed for "Drugs-Drug Trafficking" (16.2%), "Weapons-Operation Triggerlock Major" (12.7%), "Drugs-Organized Crime Task Force" (6.9%), "Withheld by Govt from TRAC (FOIA challen" (3.7%), "Project Safe Childhood" (3.4%). See Figure 2.

The lead investigative agency for convictions in January 2023 was DHS accounting for 50 percent of convictions. Other agencies with substantial numbers of convictions were: FBI (14% ), DEA (12%), ATF (11%), Local (3%). 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 January 2023, 853 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 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 62.1 percent of all magistrate convictions in January.

Other frequently prosecuted lead charges include: "08 USC 1324 - Bringing in and harboring certain aliens" (10.7%), "08 USC 1325 - Entry of alien at improper time or place; etc." (9.8%).

Convictions in U.S. District Courts

In January 2023, 6955 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during January 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 January.

Top Ranked Lead Charges

Table 2 shows the top lead charges recorded in the convictions of matters filed in U.S. District Court during January 2023.

Lead Charge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago  
08 USC 1326 - Reentry of deported alien 1,794 1 1 1 More
21 USC 841 - Drug Abuse Prevention & Control-Prohibited acts A 1,014 2 2 2 More
18 USC 922 - Firearms; Unlawful acts 883 3 3 3 More
08 USC 1324 - Bringing in and harboring certain aliens 666 4 5 5 More
21 USC 846 - Attempt and conspiracy 507 5 4 4 More
21 USC 952 - Importation of controlled substances 127 6 6 8 More
18 USC 2252 - Material involving sexual exploitation of minors 98 7 7 7 More
18 USC 1343 - Fraud by wire, radio, or television 72 9 9 9 More
18 USC 1951 - Hobbs Act 65 10 10 11 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 25.1 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 — 341.2 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 18.2 percent — was " Importation of controlled substances " (Title 21 U.S.C Section 952 ). Compared to five years ago, the most significant decline in convictions — 15.7 percent — was for convictions where the lead charge was " Attempt and conspiracy " (Title 21 U.S.C Section 846 ).

Top Ranked Judicial Districts

In January 2023 the Justice Department's case-by-case records show that the government obtained 2514.7 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  
Arizona 24,705 1,498 1 3 5 More
Cal, S 12,880 372 2 4 3 More
N Mexico 12,194 215 3 5 4 More
Tenn, W 11,142 145 4 40 56 More
Texas, W 9,617 614 5 2 1 More
S Dakota 8,029 59 6 32 22 More
N Dakota 7,588 49 7 50 40 More
Montana 7,389 68 8 54 35 More
Alaska 6,845 40 9 88 85 More
Okla, N 6,607 60 10 29 86 More
Table 3. Top 10 Districts (per ten million people)

  • The District of Arizona — with 24705 convictions as compared with 2514.7 convictions per ten million population in the United States — was the most active during January 2023. The District of Arizona was ranked 3 a year ago, while it was ranked 5 for most frequent use five years ago.

  • The Southern District of California (San Diego) ranked 2nd. The Southern District of California (San Diego) was ranked 4 a year ago, while it was ranked 3 for most frequent use five years ago.

  • District of New Mexico is now ranking 3rd. The District of New Mexico was ranked 5 a year ago, while it was ranked 4 for most frequent use five years ago.

Recent entrants to the top 10 list were Northern District of Oklahoma (Tulsa), now ranked 10th , and South Dakota at 6th In the same order, these districts ranked 29th and 32nd one year ago and 86th and 22nd five years ago.

The federal judicial district which showed the greatest growth in the rate of convictions compared to one year ago — 154.7 percent — was Alaska . Compared to five years ago, the district with the largest growth — 186.8 percent — was Northern District of Oklahoma (Tulsa).

In the last year, the judicial District Court recording the largest drop in the rate of convictions — 26.7 percent — was Northern District of Oklahoma (Tulsa).  But over the past five years, New Mexico showed the largest drop — 40.1 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 January 2023 are shown in Table 4.

Judge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago  
Soto, James Alan Arizona 161 1 15 64 More
Counts, Walter David, III Texas, W 157 2 1 - More
Marquez, Rosemary Arizona 126 3 16 55 More
Zipps, Jennifer Guerin Arizona 124 4 14 46 More
Collins, Raner Christercunean Arizona 112 5 29 46 More
Alvarez, Micaela Texas, S 94 6 5 4 More
Crane, Randy Texas, S 70 7 4 5 More
Olvera, Jose Rolando, Jr. Texas, S 68 8 8 19 More
Brnovich, Susan Marie Arizona 67 9 103 - More
Bolton, Susan Ritchie Arizona 62 10 136 556 More
Table 4. Top Ten Judges

A total of 7 out of the "top ten" judges were in districts which were in the top ten with the largest number of convictions per capita, while the remaining 3 judges were from other districts.

  • Judge James Alan Soto in the District of Arizona ranked 1st with 161 convicted in convictions.

  • Judge Walter David Counts, III in the Western District of Texas (San Antonio) ranked 2nd with 157 convicted in convictions. Judge Counts also appeared in the top ten rankings one year ago (ranked 1).

  • Judge Rosemary Marquez in the District of Arizona ranked 3rd with 126 convicted in convictions.

Report Generated: March 7, 2023
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