Prosecutions for June 2016
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during June 2016 the government reported 10802 new prosecutions. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is down 10.8 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 2016 prosecutions of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, the number of filings was only slightly down (-0.7%). 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 17.8 percent from levels reported in 2011.
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 June 2016 was for "Immigration", accounting for 51.3 percent of prosecutions. Prosecutions were also filed for "Drugs-Drug Trafficking" (11.7%), "Withheld by Govt from TRAC (FOIA challen" (9.1%), "Weapons-Operation Triggerlock Major" (5.7%), "Drugs-Organized Crime Task Force" (3.6%), "Other Criminal Prosecutions" (2.9%), "Assimilated Crimes" (2.8%). See Figure 2.
The lead investigative agency for prosecutions in June 2016 was DHS accounting for 59 percent of prosecutions referred. Other agencies with substantial numbers of referrals were: FBI (11% ), DEA (8%), ATF (7%), Defense (3%). See Figure 3.
Prosecutions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In June 2016, 6292 defendants in cases for these matters 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 June 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 43.6 percent of all magistrate filings in June.
Other frequently prosecuted lead charges include: "08 USC 1326 - Reentry of deported alien" (26.7%).
Prosecutions in U.S. District Courts
In June 2016, 4510 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during June there were an additional 2280 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 June.
Top Ranked Lead Charges
Table 2 shows the top lead charges recorded in the prosecutions of matters filed in U.S. District Court during June 2016.
Lead Charge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago 08 USC 1326 - Reentry of deported alien 1,659 1 1 1 More 21 USC 841 - Drug Abuse Prevention & Control-Prohibited acts A 927 2 2 2 More 18 USC 922 - Firearms; Unlawful acts 573 3 4 4 More 21 USC 846 - Attempt and conspiracy 523 4 3 3 More 08 USC 1324 - Bringing in and harboring certain aliens 318 5 5 5 More 21 USC 952 - Importation of controlled substances 133 6 7 6 More 18 USC 2252 - Material involving sexual exploitation of minors 82 7 6 8 More 18 USC 371 - Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US 74 8 12 7 More 18 USC 1951 - Hobbs Act 66 9 10 19 More 18 USC 2113 - Bank robbery and incidental crimes 66 9 11 11 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 4 a year ago, while it was ranked 4 five years ago.
Among these top ten lead charges, the one showing the greatest increase in prosecutions — up 18.8 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 — 44.4 percent — was registered for prosecutions under " Hobbs Act " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 1951 ).
Again among the top ten lead charges, the one showing the sharpest decline in prosecutions compared to one year ago — down 15 percent — was " Material involving sexual exploitation of minors " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 2252 ). Compared to five years ago, the most significant decline in prosecutions — 43.2 percent — was for filings where the lead charge was " Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 371 ).
Top Ranked Judicial Districts
In June 2016 the Justice Department said the government brought 2535 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 N Mexico 26,991 469 1 4 5 More Cal, S 11,104 322 2 5 4 More Texas, W 10,816 629 3 2 2 More Texas, S 9,128 721 4 1 3 More Arizona 8,488 483 5 3 1 More N Dakota 6,659 42 6 49 73 More D. C. 6,248 35 7 83 56 More Vermont 5,367 28 8 74 85 More Montana 5,112 44 9 63 60 More S Dakota 4,549 32 10 38 46 More Table 3. Top 10 Districts (per ten million people)
The District of New Mexico — with 26991 prosecutions as compared with 2535 prosecutions per ten million population in the United States — was the most active during June 2016. The District of New Mexico was ranked 4 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 5 a year ago, while it was ranked 4 for most frequent use five years ago.
Western District of Texas (San Antonio) is now ranking 3rd. The Western District of Texas (San Antonio) was ranked 2 a year ago, while it was ranked 2 for most frequent use five years ago.
Recent entrants to the top 10 list were South Dakota , now ranked 10th , and North Dakota at 6th In the same order, these districts ranked 38th and 49th one year ago and 46th and 73rd five years ago.
The federal judicial district which showed the greatest growth in the rate of prosecutions compared to one year ago — 42.4 percent — was Montana . Compared to five years ago, the district with the largest growth — 68.1 percent — was New Mexico .
In the last year, the judicial District Court recording the largest drop in the rate of prosecutions — 12 percent — was Southern District of California (San Diego). This was the same district that had the largest increase — 44.2 percent — when compared with five years ago.
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 June 2016 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago Moses, Alia M. Texas, W 209 1 2 1 More Brack, Robert C. N Mexico 162 2 1 15 More Gonzales, Kenneth John N Mexico 156 3 3 - More Olvera, Jose Rolando, Jr. Texas, S 79 4 - - More Alvarez, Micaela Texas, S 74 5 11 9 More Crane, Randy Texas, S 73 6 9 5 More Hanen, Andrew S. Texas, S 73 6 4 17 More Junell, Robert A. Texas, W 72 8 7 4 More Hinojosa, Ricardo H. Texas, S 66 9 6 7 More Ramos, Nelva Gonzales Texas, S 62 10 8 - 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 209 defendants in cases. Judge Moses appeared in the top ten rankings one year (ranked 2) and five years ago (rank 1).
Judge Robert C. Brack in the District of New Mexico ranked 2nd with 162 defendants in cases. Judge Brack also appeared in the top ten rankings one year ago (ranked 1).
Judge Kenneth John Gonzales in the District of New Mexico ranked 3rd with 156 defendants in cases. Judge Gonzales also appeared in the top ten rankings one year ago (ranked 3).
Report Generated: August 5, 2016
