Prosecutions for March 2024
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during March 2024 the government reported 7318 new prosecutions. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is up 9.2 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 2024 prosecutions of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, the number of filings was only slightly down (-1.6%). 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 60.9 percent from levels reported in 2019.
The substantial 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 prosecutions is 34.4 percent instead of 60.9 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 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 March 2024 was for "Immigration", accounting for 40.6 percent of prosecutions. Prosecutions were also filed for "Withheld by Govt from TRAC (FOIA challen" (13.7%), "Drugs-Drug Trafficking" (10.2%), "Weapons-Operation Triggerlock Major" (9%), "Drugs-Organized Crime Task Force" (3.8%), "Assimilated Crimes" (3.6%), "Project Safe Childhood" (3.1%), "Other Criminal Prosecutions" (2.7%). See Figure 2.
The lead investigative agency for prosecutions in March 2024 was DHS accounting for 49 percent of prosecutions referred. Other agencies with substantial numbers of referrals were: FBI (14% ), DEA (10%), ATF (9%), Defense (4%). See Figure 3.
Prosecutions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In March 2024, 3879 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 1326 involving "Reentry of deported alien". This was the lead charge for 37.4 percent of all magistrate filings in March.
Other frequently prosecuted lead charges include: "08 USC 1325 - Entry of alien at improper time or place; etc." (19.7%), "08 USC 1324 - Bringing in and harboring certain aliens" (9.3%).
Prosecutions in U.S. District Courts
In March 2024, 3439 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during March there were an additional 2012 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 2024.
Lead Charge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago 08 USC 1326 - Reentry of deported alien 1,206 1 1 1 More 18 USC 922 - Firearms; Unlawful acts 602 2 3 3 More 21 USC 841 - Drug Abuse Prevention & Control-Prohibited acts A 572 3 2 2 More 08 USC 1324 - Bringing in and harboring certain aliens 408 4 4 5 More 21 USC 846 - Attempt and conspiracy 225 5 5 4 More 21 USC 952 - Importation of controlled substances 113 6 8 6 More 18 USC 1343 - Fraud by wire, radio, or television 107 7 6 10 More 18 USC 2252 - Material involving sexual exploitation of minors 89 8 9 9 More 18 USC 2250 - Fail to register as sex offender after traveling interstate commerce 71 10 10 14 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 "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.
Ranked 3rd was "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.
Among these top ten lead charges, the one showing the greatest increase in prosecutions — up 14.9 percent — compared to one year ago was Title 18 U.S.C Section 2250 that involves " Fail to register as sex offender after traveling interstate commerce ". Compared to five years ago, the largest increase — 47 percent — was registered for prosecutions under " Fraud by wire, radio, or television " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 1343 ).
Again among the top ten lead charges, the one showing the sharpest decline in prosecutions compared to one year ago — down 19.2 percent — was " Attempt and conspiracy " (Title 21 U.S.C Section 846 ). This was the same statute that had the largest decrease — 46.7 % — when compared with five years ago.
Top Ranked Judicial Districts
In March 2024 the Justice Department's case-by-case records show that the government brought 1962.6 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 D. C. 13,040 73 1 25 56 More Cal, S 12,539 361 2 4 3 More S Dakota 11,648 87 3 25 35 More Texas, W 11,131 724 4 1 1 More N Mexico 6,984 123 5 6 4 More N Dakota 6,468 42 6 53 80 More Texas, S 5,786 492 7 2 2 More Arizona 5,397 331 8 3 5 More Wyoming 4,954 24 9 85 85 More Okla, E 4,708 29 10 79 88 More Table 3. Top 10 Districts (per ten million people)
The District of Washington, D.C. (Washington) — with 13040 prosecutions as compared with 1962.6 prosecutions per ten million population in the United States — was the most active during March 2024.
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 South Dakota is now ranking 3rd.
Recent entrants to the top 10 list were Washington, D.C. (Washington), now ranked 1st , and South Dakota at 3rd In the same order, these districts ranked 25th and 25th one year ago and 56th and 35th five years ago.
The federal judicial district which showed the greatest growth in the rate of prosecutions compared to one year ago — 26.7 percent — was Washington, D.C. (Washington). This was the same district that had the largest increase — 64 percent — when compared with five years ago.
In the last year, the judicial District Court recording the largest drop in the rate of prosecutions — 12.9 percent — was Southern District of Texas (Houston). But over the past five years, New Mexico showed the largest drop — 63.8 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 March 2024 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago Moses, Alia M. Texas, W 358 1 1 3 More Cardone, Kathleen Texas, W 111 2 12 6 More Crane, Randy Texas, S 74 3 8 9 More Counts, Walter David, III Texas, W 62 4 2 1 More Kazen, John A. Texas, S 54 5 - - More Brack, Robert C. N Mexico 48 6 124 28 More Saldana, Diana Texas, S 45 7 7 17 More Garcia Marmolejo, Marina Texas, S 40 8 6 19 More Welte, Peter David N Dakota 38 9 36 - More Markovich, Eric J. Arizona 37 10 135 86 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 358 defendants in cases. Judge Moses appeared in the top ten rankings one year (ranked 1) and five years ago (rank 3).
Judge Kathleen Cardone in the Western District of Texas (San Antonio) ranked 2nd with 111 defendants in cases.
Judge Randy Crane in the Southern District of Texas (Houston) ranked 3rd with 74 defendants in cases. Judge Crane appeared in the top ten rankings one year (ranked 8) and five years ago (rank 9).
Report Generated: May 10, 2024
