Prosecutions for September 2019
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during September 2019 the government reported 13847 new prosecutions. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is down 5.8 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 down (-10.2%). 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 7.5 percent from levels reported in 2014.
Figure 1. Monthly Trends in Prosecutions
The leveling out 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 2019 was for "Immigration", accounting for 55.1 percent of prosecutions. Prosecutions were also filed for "Withheld by Govt from TRAC (FOIA challen" (11.5%), "Drugs-Drug Trafficking" (10.3%), "Weapons-Operation Triggerlock Major" (6.6%), "Drugs-Organized Crime Task Force" (3%). See Figure 2.
The lead investigative agency for prosecutions in September 2019 was DHS accounting for 63 percent of prosecutions referred. Other agencies with substantial numbers of referrals were: FBI (10% ), DEA (9%), ATF (7%), Local (2%). See Figure 3.
Prosecutions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In September 2019, 8059 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 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 41.3 percent of all magistrate filings in September.
Other frequently prosecuted lead charges include: "08 USC 1326 - Reentry of deported alien" (31%), "08 USC 1324 - Bringing in and harboring certain aliens" (5.4%).
Prosecutions in U.S. District Courts
In September 2019, 5788 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during September there were an additional 2388 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 2019.
Lead Charge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago 08 USC 1326 - Reentry of deported alien 2,269 1 1 1 More 21 USC 841 - Drug Abuse Prevention & Control-Prohibited acts A 844 2 2 2 More 18 USC 922 - Firearms; Unlawful acts 782 3 3 4 More 21 USC 846 - Attempt and conspiracy 512 4 4 3 More 08 USC 1324 - Bringing in and harboring certain aliens 321 5 5 5 More 21 USC 952 - Importation of controlled substances 244 6 6 8 More 18 USC 371 - Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US 85 7 17 10 More 18 USC 1951 - Hobbs Act 65 9 9 15 More 18 USC 2252 - Material involving sexual exploitation of minors 65 9 8 6 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 43.1 percent — compared to one year ago was Title 21 U.S.C Section 952 that involves " Importation of controlled substances ". Compared to five years ago, the largest increase — 459.2 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 7.8 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 — 30.2 % — when compared with five years ago.
Top Ranked Judicial Districts
In September 2019 the Justice Department's case-by-case records show that the government brought 3012.2 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 30,459 530 1 5 3 More Cal, S 21,951 644 2 3 4 More Texas, W 13,613 819 3 1 1 More Texas, S 12,768 1,037 4 2 2 More W Virg, S 8,901 66 5 66 69 More N Dakota 8,737 55 6 72 51 More Wyoming 8,700 42 7 85 60 More D. C. 7,090 41 8 42 81 More Ga, S 6,807 90 9 60 29 More Mo, E 6,227 152 10 11 27 More Table 3. Top 10 Districts (per ten million people)
The District of New Mexico — with 30459 prosecutions as compared with 3012.2 prosecutions per ten million population in the United States — was the most active during September 2019. The District of New Mexico was ranked 5 a year ago, while it was ranked 3 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 4 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 Missouri (St. Louis), now ranked 10th , and Washington, D.C. (Washington) at 8th In the same order, these districts ranked 11th and 42nd one year ago and 27th and 81st five years ago.
The federal judicial district which showed the greatest growth in the rate of prosecutions compared to one year ago — 53.3 percent — was Southern District of Texas (Houston). Compared to five years ago, the district with the largest growth — 125.1 percent — was Eastern District of Missouri (St. Louis).
In the last year, the judicial District Court recording the largest drop in the rate of prosecutions — 19.4 percent — was Washington, D.C. (Washington). But over the past five years, Wyoming showed the largest drop — 40.7 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 September 2019 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago Moses, Alia M. Texas, W 224 1 1 1 More Gonzales, Kenneth John N Mexico 161 2 5 3 More Bencivengo, Cathy Ann Cal, S 137 3 20 33 More Saldana, Diana Texas, S 137 3 18 17 More Garcia Marmolejo, Marina Texas, S 123 5 16 20 More Ramos, Nelva Gonzales Texas, S 119 6 3 10 More Counts, Walter David, III Texas, W 106 7 2 - More Hoyt, Kenneth M. Texas, S 101 8 342 375 More Brack, Robert C. N Mexico 97 9 9 2 More Martinez, Philip Ray Texas, W 90 10 7 15 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 224 defendants in cases. Judge Moses appeared in the top ten rankings one year (ranked 1) and five years ago (rank 1).
Judge Kenneth John Gonzales in the District of New Mexico ranked 2nd with 161 defendants in cases. Judge Gonzales appeared in the top ten rankings one year (ranked 5) and five years ago (rank 3).
Judges Cathy Ann Bencivengo in the Southern District of California (San Diego) and Diana Saldana in the Southern District of Texas (Houston) ranked 3rd with 137 defendants in cases.
Report Generated: October 25, 2019
