Prosecutions for April 2024
Referring Agency: Internal Revenue Service
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during April 2024 the government reported 72 new prosecutions for these matters. Those cases were referred by the Internal Revenue Service. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is down 10 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 up (14.7%). 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 20.3 percent from levels reported in 2019.
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 April 2024 was for "Fraud-Tax", accounting for 48.6 percent of prosecutions. Prosecutions were also filed for "Withheld by Govt from TRAC (FOIA challen" (22.2%), "Fraud-Federal Program" (11.1%), "Fraud-Other" (6.9%), "Money Laundering-Other" (2.8%). See Figure 2.
Prosecutions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In April 2024, 4 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 April the most frequently cited lead charge was Title 18 U.S.C Section 1343 involving "Fraud by wire, radio, or television". This was the lead charge for 25 percent of all magistrate filings in April.
Prosecutions in U.S. District Courts
In April 2024, 68 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during April there were an additional 1 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 April.
Top Ranked Lead Charges
Table 2 shows the top lead charges recorded in the prosecutions of matters filed in U.S. District Court during April 2024 referred by the Internal Revenue Service.
Lead Charge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago 26 USC 7206 - Fraud and False statements 23 1 1 1 More 18 USC 1343 - Fraud by wire, radio, or television 8 2 3 4 More 26 USC 7201 - Attempt to evade or defeat tax 5 3 2 2 More 18 USC 371 - Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US 4 4 8 3 More 18 USC 1956 - Laundering of monetary instruments 3 5 7 6 More 26 USC 7202 - Willful failure to collect or pay over tax 3 5 4 5 More 08 USC 1326 - Reentry of deported alien 1 8 - - More 18 USC 641 - Public money, property or records 1 8 6 16 More 18 USC 1028A - Aggravated Identity Theft 1 8 - 14 More 18 USC 1957 - Monetary transactions w/property from unlawful act 1 8 15 21 More 26 USC 7203 - Willful failure to file return, supply information 1 8 15 22 More 31 USC 5324 - Structuring transactions to evade reporting requir 1 8 10 12 More Table 2. Top Charges Filed
"Fraud and False statements" (Title 26 U.S.C Section 7206) was the most frequent recorded lead charge. "Fraud and False statements" (Title 26 U.S.C Section 7206) was ranked 1 a year ago, while it was ranked 1 five years ago.
Ranked 2nd in frequency was the lead charge "Fraud by wire, radio, or television" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 1343. "Fraud by wire, radio, or television" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 1343 was ranked 3 a year ago, while it was ranked 4 five years ago.
Ranked 3rd was "Attempt to evade or defeat tax" under Title 26 U.S.C Section 7201. "Attempt to evade or defeat tax" under Title 26 U.S.C Section 7201 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 200 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 — 200 % — 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 92.3 percent — was " Public money, property or records " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 641 ). Compared to five years ago, the most significant decline in prosecutions — 85.7 percent — was for filings where the lead charge was " Structuring transactions to evade reporting requir " (Title 31 U.S.C Section 5324 ).
Top Ranked Judicial Districts
In April 2024 the Justice Department's case-by-case records show that the government brought 24.8 prosecutions for every ten million people in the United States.
Understandably, there is great variation in the 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 of this type last month are shown in Table 3.
Judicial District Count Rank Fla, M 9 1 More Fla, S 5 2 More N Car, E 5 2 More Cal, C 3 4 More Cal, E 3 4 More Ga, N 3 4 More Texas, E 3 4 More Texas, S 3 4 More Texas, W 3 4 More Ill, N 2 10 More Maryland 2 10 More Mass 2 10 More N Car, M 2 10 More N. J. 2 10 More Ohio, N 2 10 More Ohio, S 2 10 More Penn, M 2 10 More Table 3. Top 10 Districts
The Middle District of Florida (Tampa) — with 9 prosecutions — was the most active during April 2024.
The Southern District of Florida (Miami) and Eastern District of North Carolina (Raleigh) ranked 2nd.
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 April 2024 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank Berger, Wendy Williams Fla, M 7 1 More Flanagan, Louise W. N Car, E 3 2 More Drozd, Dale A. Cal, E 2 3 More Cohn, James I. Fla, S 2 3 More Smith, Rodney Fla, S 2 3 More Logan, Steven P. Arizona 1 6 More Carter, David O. Cal, C 1 6 More Wright, Otis D., II Cal, C 1 6 More Sneed, Julie S. Fla, M 1 6 More Barber, Thomas Patrick Fla, M 1 6 More Thrash, Thomas W., Jr. Ga, N 1 6 More Grimberg, Steven Daniel Ga, N 1 6 More Tallman, Richard C. Idaho 1 6 More Cole, Jeffrey Ill, N 1 6 More Weisman, M. David Ill, N 1 6 More Yandle, Staci Michelle Ill, S 1 6 More Gallagher, Stephanie A. Maryland 1 6 More Talwani, Indira Mass 1 6 More Burroughs, Allison Dale Mass 1 6 More Aycock, Sharion Miss, N 1 6 More Sippel, Rodney W. Mo, E 1 6 More Riggs, Kea Whetzal N Mexico 1 6 More Martini, William J. N. J. 1 6 More Kugler, Robert B. N. J. 1 6 More Ramos, Edgardo N. Y., S 1 6 More Navarro, Gloria Maria Nevada 1 6 More Nugent, Donald C. Ohio, N 1 6 More Boyko, Christopher A. Ohio, N 1 6 More Rose, Thomas M. Ohio, S 1 6 More Hopkins, Jeffery Paul Ohio, S 1 6 More Jones, Bernard M. Okla, W 1 6 More Conner, Christopher C. Penn, M 1 6 More Mazzant, Amos L. Texas, E 1 6 More Priest Johnson, Kimberly C. Texas, E 1 6 More Truncale, Michael Joseph Texas, E 1 6 More Lake, Simeon Timothy, III Texas, S 1 6 More Garcia, Orlando Luis Texas, W 1 6 More Cardone, Kathleen Texas, W 1 6 More Stewart, Brian Theadore Utah 1 6 More Table 4. Top Ten Judges
A total of 29 out of the "top ten" judges were in districts which were in the top ten with the largest number of filings , while the remaining 10 judges were from other districts. (Because of ties, there were a total of 39 judges in the "top ten" rankings.)
Judge Wendy Williams Berger in the Middle District of Florida (Tampa) ranked 1st with 7 defendants in cases.
Judge Louise W. Flanagan in the Eastern District of North Carolina (Raleigh) ranked 2nd with 3 defendants in cases.
Judges Dale A. Drozd in the Eastern District of California (Sacramento), James I. Cohn in the Southern District of Florida (Miami) and Rodney Smith in the Southern District of Florida (Miami) ranked 3rd with 2 defendants in cases.
Report Generated: June 17, 2024
