Prosecutions for June 2022
Referring Agency: Internal Revenue Service
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during June 2022 the government reported 42 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 up 2.4 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 2022 prosecutions of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, the number of filings was down (-15.7%). 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 39.3 percent from levels reported in 2017.
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 June 2022 was for "Fraud-Tax", accounting for 50 percent of prosecutions. Prosecutions were also filed for "Fraud-Other" (14.3%), "Withheld by Govt from TRAC (FOIA challen" (11.9%), "Corruption(Govt Off)-Fed Procurement" (4.8%), "Fraud-Consumer" (4.8%), "Corruption(Govt Off)-State" (2.4%), "Drugs-Organized Crime Task Force" (2.4%), "Fraud-Commodities" (2.4%), "Fraud-Federal Procurement" (2.4%), "Fraud-Financial Institution" (2.4%), "Money Laundering-Other" (2.4%). See Figure 2.
Prosecutions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In June 2022, no 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.
Prosecutions in U.S. District Courts
In June 2022, 42 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during June 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 June.
Top Ranked Lead Charges
Table 2 shows the top lead charges recorded in the prosecutions of matters filed in U.S. District Court during June 2022 referred by the Internal Revenue Service.
Lead Charge Count Rank 18 USC 1343 - Fraud by wire, radio, or television 11 1 More 26 USC 7206 - Fraud and False statements 8 2 More 26 USC 7201 - Attempt to evade or defeat tax 3 3 More 26 USC 7202 - Willful failure to collect or pay over tax 3 3 More 18 USC 371 - Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US 2 5 More 18 USC 1344 - Bank Fraud 2 5 More 18 USC 1956 - Laundering of monetary instruments 2 5 More 12 USC 1956 - Structuring Transactions to Evade Reporting Requirements 1 8 More 18 USC 401 - Power of Court 1 8 More 18 USC 666 - Theft or bribery in programs receiving Fed funds 1 8 More 18 USC 1040 - Fraud in connection with major disaster or emergency benefits 1 8 More 18 USC 1341 - Mail Fraud - Frauds and swindles 1 8 More 26 USC 7203 - Willful failure to file return, supply information 1 8 More Table 2. Top Charges Filed
"Fraud by wire, radio, or television" (Title 18 U.S.C Section 1343) 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 "Attempt to evade or defeat tax" under Title 26 U.S.C Section 7201 and "Willful failure to collect or pay over tax" under Title 26 U.S.C Section 7202.
Top Ranked Judicial Districts
In June 2022 the Justice Department's case-by-case records show that the government brought 15.7 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.
The Central District of California (Los Angeles), District of New Jersey, Northern District of Ohio (Cleveland) and Middle District of Pennsylvania (Scranton) — with 3 prosecutions — were the most active during June 2022.
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 June 2022 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank Brimmer, Philip A. Colorado 2 1 More Nugent, Donald C. Ohio, N 2 1 More Hittner, David Texas, S 2 1 More Freudenthal, Nancy Dell Wyoming 2 1 More Marks, Emily Coody Ala, M 1 5 More Bolton, Susan Ritchie Arizona 1 5 More Liburdi, Michael Thomas Arizona 1 5 More Carter, David O. Cal, C 1 5 More Thurston, Jennifer L. Cal, E 1 5 More Howard, Marcia Morales Fla, M 1 5 More Bloom, Beth Francine Fla, S 1 5 More Ruiz, Rodolfo Armando, II Fla, S 1 5 More Alonso, Jorge Luis Ill, N 1 5 More Blake, Catherine C. Maryland 1 5 More Montgomery, Ann D. Minnesota 1 5 More Tunheim, John R. Minnesota 1 5 More Rodriguez, Joseph H. N. J. 1 5 More Williamson, Karen M. N. J. 1 5 More Oliver, Solomon, Jr. Ohio, N 1 5 More Mannion, Malachy E. Penn, M 1 5 More Brann, Matthew William Penn, M 1 5 More Schwab, Susan E. Penn, M 1 5 More Gilstrap, James Rodney Texas, E 1 5 More Campbell, Tena Utah 1 5 More Jones, James Parker Virg, W 1 5 More Coughenour, John C. Wash, W 1 5 More Table 4. Top Ten Judges
A total of 18 out of the "top ten" judges were in districts which were in the top ten with the largest number of filings , while the remaining 8 judges were from other districts. (Because of ties, there were a total of 26 judges in the "top ten" rankings.)
Judges Philip A. Brimmer in the District of Colorado, Donald C. Nugent in the Northern District of Ohio (Cleveland), David Hittner in the Southern District of Texas (Houston) and Nancy Dell Freudenthal in the District of Wyoming ranked 1st with 2 defendants in cases.
Report Generated: August 3, 2022
