Prosecutions for March 2020
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during March 2020 the government reported 11219 new prosecutions. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is down 19 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 2020 prosecutions of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, the number of filings was down (-19.6%). 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 13 percent from levels reported in 2015.
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 March 2020 was for "Immigration", accounting for 61.5 percent of prosecutions. Prosecutions were also filed for "Withheld by Govt from TRAC (FOIA challen" (9.5%), "Drugs-Drug Trafficking" (8.9%), "Weapons-Operation Triggerlock Major" (5.6%), "Assimilated Crimes" (2.1%), "Other Criminal Prosecutions" (2%). See Figure 2.
The lead investigative agency for prosecutions in March 2020 was DHS accounting for 66 percent of prosecutions referred. Other agencies with substantial numbers of referrals were: DEA (8% ), FBI (8%), ATF (6%). See Figure 3.
Prosecutions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In March 2020, 7629 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 March 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 43.2 percent of all magistrate filings in March.
Other frequently prosecuted lead charges include: "08 USC 1326 - Reentry of deported alien" (33%).
Prosecutions in U.S. District Courts
In March 2020, 3590 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during March there were an additional 2414 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 March.
Top Ranked Lead Charges
Table 2 shows the top lead charges recorded in the prosecutions of matters filed in U.S. District Court during March 2020.
Lead Charge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago 08 USC 1326 - Reentry of deported alien 1,989 1 1 1 More 21 USC 841 - Drug Abuse Prevention & Control-Prohibited acts A 625 2 2 2 More 18 USC 922 - Firearms; Unlawful acts 517 3 3 4 More 21 USC 846 - Attempt and conspiracy 368 4 4 3 More 08 USC 1324 - Bringing in and harboring certain aliens 244 5 5 5 More 21 USC 952 - Importation of controlled substances 96 6 6 6 More 18 USC 1343 - Fraud by wire, radio, or television 66 7 10 9 More 18 USC 1546 - Fraud and misuse of visas, permits, and other documents 54 9 11 14 More 18 USC 2252 - Material involving sexual exploitation of minors 52 10 9 7 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 36.5 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 — 360.7 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 14.9 percent — was " Fraud and misuse of visas, permits, and other documents " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 1546 ). Compared to five years ago, the most significant decline in prosecutions — 22.8 percent — was for filings where the lead charge was " Attempt and conspiracy " (Title 21 U.S.C Section 846 ).
Top Ranked Judicial Districts
In March 2020 the Justice Department's case-by-case records show that the government brought 2202.2 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 19,356 338 1 4 4 More Texas, W 10,846 664 2 1 2 More Cal, S 10,825 318 3 3 5 More Texas, S 9,385 771 4 2 1 More Arizona 7,714 461 5 5 3 More S Dakota 7,604 55 6 35 40 More Wyoming 5,608 27 7 85 70 More W Virg, N 4,921 38 8 61 51 More Alaska 4,700 28 9 84 72 More Ga, S 4,596 61 10 31 75 More Table 3. Top 10 Districts (per ten million people)
The District of New Mexico — with 19356 prosecutions as compared with 2202.2 prosecutions per ten million population in the United States — was the most active during March 2020. The District of New Mexico was ranked 4 a year ago, while it was ranked 4 for most frequent use five years ago.
The Western District of Texas (San Antonio) ranked 2nd. The Western District of Texas (San Antonio) was ranked 1 a year ago, while it was ranked 2 for most frequent use five years ago.
Southern District of California (San Diego) is now ranking 3rd. 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.
Recent entrants to the top 10 list were Southern District of Georgia (Savannah), now ranked 10th , and South Dakota at 6th In the same order, these districts ranked 31st and 35th one year ago and 75th and 40th five years ago.
The federal judicial district which showed the greatest growth in the rate of prosecutions compared to one year ago — 75.6 percent — was Arizona . Compared to five years ago, the district with the largest growth — 106.6 percent — was Southern District of Georgia (Savannah).
In the last year, the judicial District Court recording the largest drop in the rate of prosecutions — 37.7 percent — was Northern District of West Virginia (Wheeling). This was the same district that had the largest increase — 37.1 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 March 2020 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago Moses, Alia M. Texas, W 178 1 3 2 More Saldana, Diana Texas, S 130 2 17 26 More Garcia Marmolejo, Marina Texas, S 114 3 19 21 More Counts, Walter David, III Texas, W 110 4 1 875 More Gonzales, Kenneth John N Mexico 99 5 5 3 More Ramos, Nelva Gonzales Texas, S 95 6 14 5 More Morales, David Steven Texas, S 80 7 - - More Riggs, Kea W. N Mexico 77 8 - - More Cardone, Kathleen Texas, W 64 9 6 14 More Martinez, Philip Ray Texas, W 59 10 4 19 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 178 defendants in cases. Judge Moses appeared in the top ten rankings one year (ranked 3) and five years ago (rank 2).
Judge Diana Saldana in the Southern District of Texas (Houston) ranked 2nd with 130 defendants in cases.
Judge Marina Garcia Marmolejo in the Southern District of Texas (Houston) ranked 3rd with 114 defendants in cases.
Report Generated: May 15, 2020
