Convictions for March 2022
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during March 2022 the government reported 7554 new convictions. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is up 48.3 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 2022 convictions of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, the number of convictions was up (19.6%). 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 37 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 convictions is 2.5 percent instead of 37 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 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 March 2022 was for "Immigration", accounting for 26.6 percent of convictions. Convictions were also filed for "Drugs-Drug Trafficking" (19.6%), "Weapons-Operation Triggerlock Major" (16.2%), "Drugs-Organized Crime Task Force" (7.8%), "Withheld by Govt from TRAC (FOIA challen" (5.1%), "Project Safe Childhood" (4.4%), "Other Criminal Prosecutions" (2.4%). See Figure 2.
The lead investigative agency for convictions in March 2022 was DHS accounting for 36 percent of convictions. Other agencies with substantial numbers of convictions were: FBI (17% ), DEA (14%), ATF (14%), Local (4%). See Figure 3.
Convictions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In March 2022, 426 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 March 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 23.9 percent of all magistrate convictions in March.
Other frequently prosecuted lead charges include: "Other US Code Section" (17.1%), "18 USC 19 - Petty Offense Defined" (9.2%), "08 USC 1325 - Entry of alien at improper time or place; etc." (7.5%), "18 USC 7 - Special Maritime/Territorial Jurisdiction of US" (7.5%).
Convictions in U.S. District Courts
In March 2022, 7128 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during March 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 March.
Top Ranked Lead Charges
Table 2 shows the top lead charges recorded in the convictions of matters filed in U.S. District Court during March 2022.
Lead Charge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago 08 USC 1326 - Reentry of deported alien 1,234 1 1 1 More 21 USC 841 - Drug Abuse Prevention & Control-Prohibited acts A 1,127 2 2 2 More 18 USC 922 - Firearms; Unlawful acts 1,117 3 3 4 More 21 USC 846 - Attempt and conspiracy 601 4 4 3 More 08 USC 1324 - Bringing in and harboring certain aliens 480 5 5 5 More 21 USC 952 - Importation of controlled substances 250 6 6 6 More 18 USC 1343 - Fraud by wire, radio, or television 127 7 9 8 More 18 USC 2252 - Material involving sexual exploitation of minors 119 8 8 7 More 18 USC 1951 - Hobbs Act 94 10 10 12 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 4 five years ago.
Among these top ten lead charges, the one showing the greatest increase in convictions — up 52.4 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 — 402.1 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 5.2 percent — was " Reentry of deported alien " (Title 8 U.S.C Section 1326 ). Compared to five years ago, the most significant decline in convictions — 24.6 percent — was for convictions where the lead charge was " Attempt and conspiracy " (Title 21 U.S.C Section 846 ).
Top Ranked Judicial Districts
In March 2022 the Justice Department's case-by-case records show that the government obtained 2605.9 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 Cal, S 17,082 501 1 4 5 More D. C. 14,453 85 2 69 77 More N Mexico 12,362 216 3 7 4 More S Dakota 9,926 72 4 26 41 More Texas, S 9,511 787 5 1 1 More Mo, E 9,313 227 6 11 17 More Texas, W 8,623 536 7 3 2 More Okla, N 6,618 59 8 73 81 More N Dakota 6,299 40 9 52 50 More Arizona 5,820 353 10 2 3 More Table 3. Top 10 Districts (per ten million people)
The Southern District of California (San Diego) — with 17082 convictions as compared with 2605.9 convictions per ten million population in the United States — was the most active during March 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 7 a year ago, while it was ranked 4 for most frequent use five years ago.
Recent entrants to the top 10 list were Eastern District of Missouri (St. Louis), now ranked 6th , and South Dakota at 4th In the same order, these districts ranked 11th and 26th one year ago and 17th and 41st five years ago.
The federal judicial district which showed the greatest growth in the rate of convictions compared to one year ago — 208.8 percent — was Northern District of Oklahoma (Tulsa). This was the same district that had the largest increase — 178.2 percent — when compared with five years ago.
In the last year, the judicial District Court recording the largest drop in the rate of convictions — 12.7 percent — was Southern District of Texas (Houston). But over the past five years, New Mexico showed the largest drop — 51 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 March 2022 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago Saldana, Diana Texas, S 181 1 1 10 More Garcia Marmolejo, Marina Texas, S 172 2 2 16 More Moses, Alia M. Texas, W 116 3 12 4 More Crane, Randy Texas, S 75 4 3 7 More Bencivengo, Cathy Ann Cal, S 72 5 25 38 More Counts, Walter David, III Texas, W 64 6 7 997 More Alvarez, Micaela Texas, S 61 7 4 14 More Bashant, Cynthia Ann Cal, S 57 8 40 46 More Zipps, Jennifer Guerin Arizona 50 9 10 21 More Montalvo, Frank Texas, W 48 10 18 17 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 convictions per capit.
Judge Diana Saldana in the Southern District of Texas (Houston) ranked 1st with 181 convicted in convictions. Judge Saldana appeared in the top ten rankings one year (ranked 1) and five years ago (rank 10).
Judge Marina Garcia Marmolejo in the Southern District of Texas (Houston) ranked 2nd with 172 convicted in convictions. Judge Garcia Marmolejo also appeared in the top ten rankings one year ago (ranked 2).
Judge Alia M. Moses in the Western District of Texas (San Antonio) ranked 3rd with 116 convicted in convictions.
Report Generated: May 3, 2022
