Prosecutions for January 2019
Referring Agency: Social Security Administration
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during January 2019 the government reported 35 new prosecutions for these matters. Those cases were referred by the Social Security Administration. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is up 9.4 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 2019 prosecutions of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, the number of filings was up (52.3%). 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 9.5 percent from levels reported in 2014.
The dip in these cases is partly related to increases in the matters filed in U.S. Magistrate Courts. If magistrate cases are excluded and only Federal District Court cases are counted, the overall decrease in prosecutions is 5.8 percent instead of 9.5 percent. The evidence suggests that part of the difference may be the result of improvements in the recording of the magistrate cases by the Justice Department.
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 January 2019 was for "Fraud-Federal Program", accounting for 34.3 percent of prosecutions. Prosecutions were also filed for "Withheld by Govt from TRAC (FOIA challen" (22.9%), "Theft-Government Property" (20%), "Fraud-Other" (8.6%), "Corruption(Govt Off)-Fed Other" (5.7%), "Fraud-Identity Theft-Other" (2.9%), "Government Property-Crimes Against" (2.9%), "Other Criminal Prosecutions" (2.9%). See Figure 2.
Prosecutions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In January 2019, 1 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 January the most frequently cited lead charge was involving "&mg_pos1_uscdescription.". This was the lead charge for percent of all magistrate filings in January.
Prosecutions in U.S. District Courts
In January 2019, 34 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during January there were an additional 2 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 January.
Top Ranked Lead Charges
Table 2 shows the top lead charges recorded in the prosecutions of matters filed in U.S. District Court during January 2019 referred by the Social Security Administration.
Lead Charge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago 18 USC 641 - Public money, property or records 23 1 1 1 More 18 USC 1343 - Fraud by wire, radio, or television 2 2 5 5 More 42 USC 408 - Fed Old Age, Survivors & Disab Insur -Penalties 2 2 2 2 More 18 USC 875 - Interstate Communications 1 4 - 14 More 18 USC 1028A - Aggravated Identity Theft 1 4 7 10 More Table 2. Top Charges Filed
"Public money, property or records" (Title 18 U.S.C Section 641) was the most frequent recorded lead charge. "Public money, property or records" (Title 18 U.S.C Section 641) was ranked 1 a year ago, while it was ranked 1 five years ago.
Ranked 2nd in frequency were the lead charges "Fraud by wire, radio, or television" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 1343 and "Fed Old Age, Survivors & Disab Insur -Penalties" under Title 42 U.S.C Section 408. "Fraud by wire, radio, or television" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 1343 was ranked 5 a year ago, while it was ranked 5 five years ago."Fed Old Age, Survivors & Disab Insur -Penalties" under Title 42 U.S.C Section 408 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 133.3 percent — compared to one year ago was Title 18 U.S.C Section 1028 that involves " Aggravated Identity Theft ". This was the same statute that had the largest increase — 250 % — 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 20 percent — was " Fraud by wire, radio, or television " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 1343 ). This was the same statute that had the largest decrease — 20 % — when compared with five years ago.
Top Ranked Judicial Districts
In January 2019 the Justice Department's case-by-case records show that the government brought 13.3 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 5 1 More Cal, N 3 2 More Cal, S 3 2 More Texas, N 3 2 More Cal, E 2 5 More Fla, S 2 5 More Maryland 2 5 More Mo, E 2 5 More Ala, N 1 9 More Ark, E 1 9 More Ill, N 1 9 More Ind, N 1 9 More La, W 1 9 More Mich, W 1 9 More Minnesota 1 9 More N Car, E 1 9 More N. Y., S 1 9 More Nebraska 1 9 More Ohio, S 1 9 More Penn, E 1 9 More Texas, S 1 9 More Wash, W 1 9 More Table 3. Top 10 Districts
The Middle District of Florida (Tampa) — with 5 prosecutions — was the most active during January 2019.
The Northern District of California (San Francisco), Southern District of California (San Diego) and Northern District of Texas (Fort Worth) 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 January 2019 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank Shubb, William B. Cal, E 2 1 More Hamilton, Phyllis Jean Cal, N 2 1 More Bowdre, Karon O. Ala, N 1 3 More Baker, Kristine Gerhard Ark, E 1 3 More Seeborg, Richard G. Cal, N 1 3 More Sabraw, Dana Makoto Cal, S 1 3 More Battaglia, Anthony Joseph Cal, S 1 3 More Berg, Michael Cal, S 1 3 More Scriven, Mary Stenson Fla, M 1 3 More Mendoza, Carlos Eduardo Fla, M 1 3 More Cooke, Marcia G. Fla, S 1 3 More Marra, Kenneth A. Fla, S 1 3 More Cox, Susan E. Ill, N 1 3 More Van Bokkelen, Joseph S. Ind, N 1 3 More Drell, Dee D. La, W 1 3 More Hollander, Ellen Lipton Maryland 1 3 More Russell, George Levi, III Maryland 1 3 More Jonker, Robert James Mich, W 1 3 More Davis, Michael James Minnesota 1 3 More Sippel, Rodney W. Mo, E 1 3 More Autrey, Henry Edward Mo, E 1 3 More Gerrard, John Melvin Nebraska 1 3 More Litkovitz, Karen L. Ohio, S 1 3 More Surrick, R[ichard] Barclay Penn, E 1 3 More Godbey, David C. Texas, N 1 3 More Boyle, Jane J. Texas, N 1 3 More Bryant, D. Gordon, Jr. Texas, N 1 3 More Lake, Simeon Timothy, III Texas, S 1 3 More Lasnik, Robert S. Wash, W 1 3 More Table 4. Top Ten Judges
All 29 of the "top ten" judges were in districts which were in the top ten with the largest number of filings. (Because of ties, there were a total of 29 judges in the "top ten" rankings.)
Judges William B. Shubb in the Eastern District of California (Sacramento) and Phyllis Jean Hamilton in the Northern District of California (San Francisco) ranked 1st with 2 defendants in cases.
Judges Karon O. Bowdre in the Northern District of Alabama (Birmingham), Kristine Gerhard Baker in the Eastern District of Arkansas (Little Rock), Richard G. Seeborg in the Northern District of California (San Francisco), Dana Makoto Sabraw in the Southern District of California (San Diego), Anthony Joseph Battaglia in the Southern District of California (San Diego), Michael Berg in the Southern District of California (San Diego), Mary Stenson Scriven in the Middle District of Florida (Tampa), Carlos E ranked 3rd with 1 defendants in cases.
Report Generated: March 19, 2019
