Prosecutions for June 2019
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during June 2019 the government reported 14107 new prosecutions. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is down 6.6 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 2019 prosecutions of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, the number of filings was up (9.7%). Prosecutions over the past year are still much higher than they were five years ago. Overall, the data show that prosecutions of this type are up 22.1 percent from levels reported in 2014.
The growth 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 increase in prosecutions is 5.7 percent instead of 22.1 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 increase 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 2019 was for "Immigration", accounting for 63.4 percent of prosecutions. Prosecutions were also filed for "Withheld by Govt from TRAC (FOIA challen" (8.2%), "Drugs-Drug Trafficking" (7.7%), "Weapons-Operation Triggerlock Major" (5.6%), "Drugs-Organized Crime Task Force" (2.7%), "Other Criminal Prosecutions" (2.3%). See Figure 2.
The lead investigative agency for prosecutions in June 2019 was DHS accounting for 67 percent of prosecutions referred. Other agencies with substantial numbers of referrals were: FBI (8% ), DEA (7%), ATF (6%), Defense (2%). See Figure 3.
Prosecutions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In June 2019, 9106 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 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 49.1 percent of all magistrate filings in June.
Other frequently prosecuted lead charges include: "08 USC 1326 - Reentry of deported alien" (30.4%).
Prosecutions in U.S. District Courts
In June 2019, 5001 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during June there were an additional 2349 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 2019.
Lead Charge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago 08 USC 1326 - Reentry of deported alien 2,238 1 1 1 More 21 USC 841 - Drug Abuse Prevention & Control-Prohibited acts A 802 2 2 2 More 18 USC 922 - Firearms; Unlawful acts 702 3 3 4 More 21 USC 846 - Attempt and conspiracy 395 4 4 3 More 08 USC 1324 - Bringing in and harboring certain aliens 368 5 5 5 More 21 USC 952 - Importation of controlled substances 137 6 7 7 More 18 USC 1951 - Hobbs Act 76 8 9 14 More 18 USC 2252 - Material involving sexual exploitation of minors 67 9 8 6 More 18 USC 1343 - Fraud by wire, radio, or television 61 10 10 8 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 4 five years ago.
Among these top ten lead charges, the one showing the greatest increase in prosecutions — up 44 percent — compared to one year ago was Title U.S.C Section that involves "Other US Code Section ". This was the same statute that had the largest increase — 496.9 % — when compared with five years ago.
Again among the top ten lead charges, the one showing the sharpest decline in prosecutions compared to one year ago — down 7.4 percent — was " Material involving sexual exploitation of minors " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 2252 ). This was the same statute that had the largest decrease — 33.8 % — when compared with five years ago.
Top Ranked Judicial Districts
In June 2019 the Justice Department's case-by-case records show that the government brought 2707.9 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 18,448 321 1 5 4 More Cal, S 14,452 424 2 3 5 More Texas, W 14,145 851 3 1 1 More Texas, S 13,137 1,067 4 2 2 More Ark, E 8,407 115 5 23 62 More D. C. 7,781 45 6 45 72 More Arizona 5,627 329 7 4 3 More N Dakota 5,560 35 8 62 57 More Vermont 5,388 28 9 90 77 More S Dakota 4,630 33 10 33 38 More Table 3. Top 10 Districts (per ten million people)
The District of New Mexico — with 18448 prosecutions as compared with 2707.9 prosecutions per ten million population in the United States — was the most active during June 2019. The District of New Mexico was ranked 5 a year ago, while it was ranked 4 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 3 a year ago, while it was ranked 5 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 1 a year ago, while it was ranked 1 for most frequent use five years ago.
Recent entrants to the top 10 list were Eastern District of Arkansas (Little Rock), now ranked 5th , and South Dakota at 10th In the same order, these districts ranked 23rd and 33rd one year ago and 62nd and 38th five years ago.
The federal judicial district which showed the greatest growth in the rate of prosecutions compared to one year ago — 78.9 percent — was Vermont . Compared to five years ago, the district with the largest growth — 80.3 percent — was Eastern District of Arkansas (Little Rock).
In the last year, the judicial District Court recording the largest drop in the rate of prosecutions — 21.2 percent — was Arizona . But over the past five years, North Dakota showed the largest drop — 26.8 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 June 2019 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago Garcia Marmolejo, Marina Texas, S 168 1 19 26 More Saldana, Diana Texas, S 153 2 20 21 More Ramos, Nelva Gonzales Texas, S 153 2 4 10 More Counts, Walter David, III Texas, W 133 4 2 - More Gonzales, Kenneth John N Mexico 115 5 5 3 More Cardone, Kathleen Texas, W 108 6 8 11 More Guaderrama, David C. Texas, W 107 7 13 15 More Martinez, Philip Ray Texas, W 106 8 6 19 More Montalvo, Frank Texas, W 97 9 11 16 More Moses, Alia M. Texas, W 80 10 1 2 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 Marina Garcia Marmolejo in the Southern District of Texas (Houston) ranked 1st with 168 defendants in cases.
Judges Diana Saldana in the Southern District of Texas (Houston) and Nelva Gonzales Ramos in the Southern District of Texas (Houston) ranked 2nd with 153 defendants in cases. Judge Ramos appeared in the top ten rankings one year (ranked 4) and five years ago (rank 10).
Report Generated: August 9, 2019
