Convictions for February 2021
Referring Agency: Internal Revenue Service
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during February 2021 the government reported 27 new convictions 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 30.8 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 2021 convictions of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, the number of convictions was down (-39.2%). 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 66.5 percent from levels reported in 2016.
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 February 2021 was for "Fraud-Tax", accounting for 48.1 percent of convictions. Convictions were also filed for "Withheld by Govt from TRAC (FOIA challen" (14.8%), "Fraud-Financial Institution" (7.4%), "Fraud-Identity Theft-Aggravated" (7.4%), "Drugs-Organized Crime Task Force" (3.7%), "Fraud-Computer" (3.7%), "Fraud-Federal Program" (3.7%), "Money Laundering-Drug" (3.7%), "Organized Crime-Emerging Organization" (3.7%), "Other Criminal Prosecutions" (3.7%). See Figure 2.
Convictions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In February 2021, no defendants in cases for these matters 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.
Convictions in U.S. District Courts
In February 2021, 27 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during February 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 February.
Top Ranked Lead Charges
Table 2 shows the top lead charges recorded in the convictions of matters filed in U.S. District Court during February 2021 referred by the Internal Revenue Service.
Lead Charge Count Rank 26 USC 7201 - Attempt to evade or defeat tax 8 1 More 26 USC 7206 - Fraud and False statements 5 2 More 18 USC 1028A - Aggravated Identity Theft 2 3 More 18 USC 1344 - Bank Fraud 2 3 More 26 USC 7202 - Willful failure to collect or pay over tax 2 3 More 18 USC 4 - Misprision of Felony 1 6 More 18 USC 922 - Firearms; Unlawful acts 1 6 More 18 USC 1349 - Mail Fraud - Attempt and Conspiracy 1 6 More 18 USC 1956 - Laundering of monetary instruments 1 6 More Table 2. Top Charges for Convictions
"Attempt to evade or defeat tax" (Title 26 U.S.C Section 7201) was the most frequent recorded lead charge.
Ranked 2nd in frequency was the lead charge "Fraud and False statements" under Title 26 U.S.C Section 7206.
Ranked 3rd were "Aggravated Identity Theft" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 1028, "Bank Fraud" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 1344 and "Willful failure to collect or pay over tax" under Title 26 U.S.C Section 7202.
Top Ranked Judicial Districts
In February 2021 the Justice Department's case-by-case records show that the government obtained 9.9 convictions for every ten million people in the United States.
Understandably, there is great variation in the number of convictions in each of the nation's ninety-four federal judicial districts.
The districts registering the largest number of convictions of this type last month are shown in Table 3.
Judicial District Count Rank Ala, N 4 1 More N. J. 3 2 More Ohio, S 3 2 More Texas, N 2 4 More Virg, E 2 4 More Cal, C 1 6 More Colorado 1 6 More Fla, M 1 6 More Fla, S 1 6 More Idaho 1 6 More Ind, S 1 6 More La, E 1 6 More N Car, E 1 6 More Oregon 1 6 More Penn, E 1 6 More Penn, M 1 6 More Penn, W 1 6 More Virg, W 1 6 More Table 3. Top 10 Districts
The Northern District of Alabama (Birmingham) — with 4 convictions — was the most active during February 2021.
The District of New Jersey and Southern District of Ohio (Cincinnati) 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 resulting in convictions of this type during February 2021 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank Wigenton, Susan Davis N. J. 3 1 More Proctor, R. David Ala, N 2 2 More Marbley, Algenon L. Ohio, S 2 2 More Kallon, Abdul Karim Ala, N 1 4 More Axon, Annemarie Carney Ala, N 1 4 More Tucker, Josephine Staton Cal, C 1 4 More Blackburn, Robert E. Colorado 1 4 More Presnell, Gregory A. Fla, M 1 4 More Scola, Robert Nichols, Jr. Fla, S 1 4 More Nye, David Charles Idaho 1 4 More Barbier, Carl J. La, E 1 4 More Boyle, Terrence William N Car, E 1 4 More Morrison, Sarah Daggett Ohio, S 1 4 More Simon, Michael Howard Oregon 1 4 More Bartle, Harvey, III Penn, E 1 4 More Jones, John E., III Penn, M 1 4 More Cercone, David S. Penn, W 1 4 More Doumar, Robert George Virg, E 1 4 More Gibney, John Adrian, Jr. Virg, E 1 4 More Jones, James Parker Virg, W 1 4 More Table 4. Top Ten Judges
All 20 of the "top ten" judges were in districts which were in the top ten with the largest number of convictions. (Because of ties, there were a total of 20 judges in the "top ten" rankings.)
Judge Susan Davis Wigenton in the District of New Jersey ranked 1st with 3 convicted in convictions.
Judges R. David Proctor in the Northern District of Alabama (Birmingham) and Algenon L. Marbley in the Southern District of Ohio (Cincinnati) ranked 2nd with 2 convicted in convictions.
Report Generated: March 17, 2021
