Prosecutions for September 2018

Number Latest Month 16,994
Percent Change from previous month -2.9
Percent Change from 1 year ago 55.1
Percent Change from 5 years ago
(Including Magistrate Court)
15.0
Percent Change from 5 years ago
(Excluding Magistrate Court)
-6.6
Table 1. Criminal Prosecutions

The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during September 2018 the government reported 16994 new prosecutions. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is down 2.9 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 2018 prosecutions of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, the number of filings was up (55.1%). 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 15 percent from levels reported in 2013.

Bar and line plot of FYMON

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 September 2018 was for "Immigration", accounting for 66.6 percent of prosecutions. Prosecutions were also filed for "Withheld by Govt from TRAC (FOIA challen" (8%), "Drugs-Drug Trafficking" (7.1%), "Weapons-Operation Triggerlock Major" (4.6%), "Drugs-Organized Crime Task Force" (2.7%). See Figure 2.

The lead investigative agency for prosecutions in September 2018 was DHS accounting for 71 percent of prosecutions referred. Other agencies with substantial numbers of referrals were: FBI (7% ), DEA (7%), ATF (5%), Defense (2%). See Figure 3.

Pie chart of progcatlabel

Figure 2. Specific Types of Prosecutions
Pie chart of agenrevgrp

Figure 3. Prosecutions by Investigative Agency

Prosecutions in U.S. Magistrate Courts

Top Ranked Lead Charges

In September 2018, 11816 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 September 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 67.3 percent of all magistrate filings in September.

Other frequently prosecuted lead charges include: "08 USC 1326 - Reentry of deported alien" (17.1%).

Prosecutions in U.S. District Courts

In September 2018, 5178 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during September there were an additional 2287 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 September.

Top Ranked Lead Charges

Table 2 shows the top lead charges recorded in the prosecutions of matters filed in U.S. District Court during September 2018.

Lead Charge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago  
08 USC 1326 - Reentry of deported alien 1,947 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 674 3 3 4 More
21 USC 846 - Attempt and conspiracy 451 4 4 3 More
08 USC 1324 - Bringing in and harboring certain aliens 341 5 5 5 More
21 USC 952 - Importation of controlled substances 169 6 6 6 More
18 USC 1343 - Fraud by wire, radio, or television 87 7 7 10 More
18 USC 2252 - Material involving sexual exploitation of minors 85 8 8 7 More
18 USC 2113 - Bank robbery and incidental crimes 61 10 10 12 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 98.7 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 — 424.4 % — 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 21.6 percent — was " Attempt and conspiracy " (Title 21 U.S.C Section 846 ). This was the same statute that had the largest decrease — 32.9 % — when compared with five years ago.

Top Ranked Judicial Districts

In September 2018 the Justice Department said the government brought 2772.3 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 17,011 295 1 5 4 More
Cal, S 16,121 470 2 3 3 More
Texas, W 13,261 784 3 1 2 More
D. C. 12,860 73 4 79 61 More
S Dakota 9,306 66 5 37 37 More
W Virg, S 9,048 68 6 69 73 More
Texas, S 8,840 708 7 2 1 More
Tenn, W 7,417 97 8 26 32 More
W Virg, N 7,232 56 9 61 54 More
Arizona 6,614 382 10 4 5 More
Table 3. Top 10 Districts (per ten million people)

  • The District of New Mexico — with 17011 prosecutions as compared with 2772.3 prosecutions per ten million population in the United States — was the most active during September 2018. 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 3 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 2 for most frequent use five years ago.

Recent entrants to the top 10 list were Western District of Tennessee (Memphis), now ranked 8th , and South Dakota at 5th In the same order, these districts ranked 26th and 37th one year ago and 32nd and 37th five years ago.

The federal judicial district which showed the greatest growth in the rate of prosecutions compared to one year ago — 153.3 percent — was Washington, D.C. (Washington). This was the same district that had the largest increase — 46.9 percent — when compared with five years ago.

In the last year, the judicial District Court recording the largest drop in the rate of prosecutions — 2.7 percent — was Northern District of West Virginia (Wheeling).  This was the same district that had the largest increase — 26 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 September 2018 are shown in Table 4.

Judge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago  
Moses, Alia M. Texas, W 231 1 1 2 More
Ramos, Nelva Gonzales Texas, S 114 2 6 4 More
Guaderrama, David C. Texas, W 98 3 11 13 More
Montalvo, Frank Texas, W 85 4 10 10 More
Gonzales, Kenneth John N Mexico 82 5 3 - More
Counts, Walter David, III Texas, W 82 5 875 - More
Briones, David Texas, W 75 7 12 11 More
Crane, Randy Texas, S 71 8 5 7 More
Hinojosa, Ricardo H. Texas, S 70 9 7 6 More
Alvarez, Micaela Texas, S 70 9 4 9 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 231 defendants in cases. Judge Moses appeared in the top ten rankings one year (ranked 1) and five years ago (rank 2).

  • Judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos in the Southern District of Texas (Houston) ranked 2nd with 114 defendants in cases. Judge Ramos appeared in the top ten rankings one year (ranked 6) and five years ago (rank 4).

  • Judge David C. Guaderrama in the Western District of Texas (San Antonio) ranked 3rd with 98 defendants in cases.

Report Generated: October 22, 2018
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