7/12/2017 Convictions through May 2017

Convictions for 2017

ThelatestavailabledatafromtheJusticeDepartment NumberYeartodate 69,378
showthatduringthefirsteightmonthsofFY2017the
PercentChangefrompreviousyear 12.1
governmentreported69,378newconvictions.Ifthis
activitycontinuesatthesamepace,theannualtotalof PercentChangefrom5yearsago 31.1
convictionswillbe104,067forthisfiscalyear. PercentChangefrom10yearsago 8.9
Accordingtothecasebycaseinformationanalyzedby
PercentChangefrom20yearsago 108
theTransactionalRecordsAccessClearinghouse(TRAC),
thisestimateisdown12.1%overthepastfiscalyear Table 1: Criminal Convictions
whenthenumberofconvictionstotaled118,384.

Thecomparisonsofthenumberofdefendantsconvictedforoffensesarebasedoncasebycase
informationobtainedbyTRACundertheFreedomofInformationActfromtheExecutiveOfficefor
UnitedStatesAttorneys(seeTable1).

Comparedtofiveyearsagowhentherewere151,129,theestimateofFY2017convictionsofthis
typeisdown31.1percent.Convictionsoverthepastyeararestillhigherthantheyweretenyears
ago.Overall,thedatashowthatconvictionsofthistypeareup8.9percentfromthelevelof
95,557reportedin2007andup108percentfromthelevelof50,142reportedin1997.

ThelongtermtrendinconvictionsforthesemattersgoingbacktoFY1997isshownmoreclearly
inFigure1.TheverticalbarsinFigure1representthenumberofconvictionsofthistyperecorded
eachfiscalyear.Projectedfiguresforthecurrentfiscalyearareshown.Eachpresidential
administrationisdistinguishedbythecolorofthebars.Toviewtrendsmonthbymonthrather
thanyearbyyear,seeTRAC'smonthlyreportseriesforthelatestdata.

Figure 1: Criminal Convictions over the last 20 years

Leading Program Areas

Caseswereclassifiedbyprosecutorsintomorespecifictypes.Thesinglelargestnumberof
convictionsofthesemattersthroughMay2017wasfor"Immigration",accountingfor52.7percent
ofconvictions.

ThesecondlargestnumberofmatterswereConvictionsfiledundertheprogramareaof
"Narcotics/Drugs"(18.8%).The"Other"categoryinFigure2iscomprisedofadiversegroupof
programs.Thelargestspecificprogramswithinthe"Other"categorywere:Weapons"(6.7%),
"WhiteCollarCrime"(5.3%).

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7/12/2017 Convictions through May 2017
[TheDepartmentofJusticeiswithholdingtheprogramareafor3.4%ofthecases.Thesematters
arealsoincludedinthe"Other"category.TRAC,inongoinglitigation,haschallengedthe
government'swithholdingofprogramcategoryinformation,winningasubstantialvictoryin
September2006decision.Thegovernment,however,hasfiledanoticeofappealwhichhas
stayedtheorderrequiringittoreleaseprograminformation.]

Leading Investigative Agencies

TheleadinvestigativeagencyforconvictionsthroughMay2017was"HomelandSecurity
CustomsandBorderProtection"accountingfor47.1percentofconvictions.

AsshowninFigure3,additionalagencieswithsubstantialnumbersofconvictionswere:Homeland
SecurityImmigrationandCustomsEnforcement(10.8%),"JusticeFederalBureauof
Investigation"(9.6%),"JusticeDrugEnforcementAdministration"(9.1%),"JusticeAlcohol,
Tobacco,Firearms,andExplosives"(6.5%).The"Other"categoryinFigure3iscomprisedofa
diversegroupofagencies.Theagencieswithsubstantialnumbersofwithinthe"Other"category
were:Interior"(2.4%),"OtherState/LocalAuthorities"(2.1%).

Figure 2: Specific types of convictions Figure 3: Convictions by Investigative Agency

Top Ranked Lead Charges

Table2showsthetopleadchargesrecordedintheconvictionsofmattersfiledinU.S.District
CourtduringthefirsteightmonthsofFY2017.

Note:Therewereanadditional479otherleadchargeswhichwerenotindividuallyranked.See
latestmonthlyreportifyouwantallleadchargesincludedinrankingsforthelatestmonth,oruse
TRACFEDcriminalanalyzertoolforcompletelistingforanyyear.

Count Rank 1yr 5yrs 10yrs 20yrs

LeadCharge
ago ago ago ago
08USC1326Reentryofdeportedalien 17,716 1 2 2 1 3 More
08USC1325Entryofalienatimpropertimeorplace
etc. 15,938 2 1 1 2 13 More
21USC841DrugAbusePrevention&Control
ProhibitedactsA 6,366 3 3 3 3 2 More
21USC846Attemptandconspiracy 5,097 4 4 4 4 1 More
18USC922FirearmsUnlawfulacts 4,120 5 5 5 5 5 More
08USC1324Bringinginandharboringcertainaliens 2,211 6 6 6 6 10 More
FederalRegulation 915 7 7 8 17 129 More
21USC952Importationofcontrolledsubstances 741 8 9 7 8 7 More
18USC2252Materialinvolvingsexualexploitationof
minors 671 9 8 9 16 35 More
18USC641Publicmoney,propertyorrecords 572 10 10 13 12 14 More

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7/12/2017 Convictions through May 2017

Table 2: Top charges for convictions

"Reentryofdeportedalien"(Title8U.S.CSection1326)wasthemostfrequentrecorded
leadcharge.Title8U.S.CSection1326wasranked2ndayearago,whileitwasthe2nd
mostfrequentlyinvokedfiveyearsago.Itwasranked1sttenyearsagoand3rdtwenty
yearsago.

Ranked2ndinfrequencywastheleadcharge"Entryofalienatimpropertimeorplace
etc."underTitle8U.S.CSection1325.Title8U.S.CSection1325wasranked1stayear
ago,whileitwasthe1stmostfrequentlyinvokedfiveyearsago.Itwasranked2ndten
yearsagoand13thtwentyyearsago.

Ranked3rdwas"DrugAbusePrevention&ControlProhibitedactsA"underTitle21U.S.C
Section841.Title21U.S.CSection841wasranked3rdayearago,whileitwasthe3rd
mostfrequentlyinvokedfiveyearsago.Itwasranked3rdtenyearsagoand2ndtwenty
yearsago.

Againamongthetoptenleadcharges,theoneshowingthesharpestprojecteddeclinein
convictionscomparedtooneyearagodown32percentwas"Entryofalienatimpropertime
orplaceetc."(Title8U.S.CSection1325).Thiswasthesamestatutethathadthelargest
projecteddecrease49%whencomparedwithfiveyearsago.

Top Ranked Judicial Districts

DuringFY2016theJusticeDepartmentsaidthegovernmentobtained368.3convictionsforevery
onemillionpeopleintheUnitedStates.IfpaceduringthefirsteightmonthsofFY2017continues
atthesamerate,convictionsforonemillionpeopleintheUnitedStatesthisyearwillbe323.8.
Understandably,thereisgreatvariationinthepercapitanumberofconvictionsineachofthe
nation'sninetyfourfederaljudicialdistricts

JudicialDistrict Percapita Count Rank 1yrago 5yrsago 10yrsago 20yrsago

Texas,W 2,659 12,372 1 1 2 6 17 More
Arizona 2,542 11,571 2 4 1 3 4 More
NMexico 1,876 2,608 3 3 4 5 5 More
Texas,S 1,801 11,383 4 2 3 2 10 More
Wyoming 1,638 640 5 5 5 1 15 More
Cal,S 1,115 2,586 6 6 6 4 1 More
SDakota 599 337 7 7 7 9 6 More
NDakota 482 243 8 8 11 13 23 More
Montana 439 302 9 9 13 12 9 More
Vermont 386 161 10 15 14 30 21 More

Table 3: Top 10 districts (per one million people)

TheWesternDistrictofTexas(SanAntonio)with2,659.17convictionsascomparedwith
323.8convictionsperonemillionpeopleintheUnitedStateswasthemostactivethrough
May2017.TheWesternDistrictofTexas(SanAntonio)wasranked1stayearago,whileit
wasranked2ndfiveyearsago.Thedistrict'spositiontenyearsagowas6thand17thtwenty
yearsago.

TheDistrictofArizonaranked2nd.TheDistrictofArizonawasranked4thayearago,while
itwasranked1stfiveyearsago.Thedistrict'spositiontenyearsagowas3rdand4thtwenty
yearsago.

TheDistrictofNewMexiconowranks3rd.TheDistrictofNewMexicowasranked3rdayear
ago,whileitwasranked4thfiveyearsago.Thedistrict'spositiontenyearsagowas5thas
wellastwentyyearsago.

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7/12/2017 Convictions through May 2017

Arecententrytothetop10listwasVermont,nowranked10th.Thisdistrictranked15thoneyear
agoand14thfiveyearsago.

Comparedto10yearsago,Montana,NorthDakotaandVermontnowrankedinthetop10didnot
appearinthetopten.

Andcomparedto20yearsago,Wyoming,WesternDistrictofTexas(SanAntonio),Vermontand
NorthDakotawerenotsufficientlyactivetothenmakethetop10.

Thefederaljudicialdistrictwhichshowedthegreatestprojectedgrowthintherateofconvictions
comparedtooneyearago26.4percentwasVermont.Comparedtofiveyearsago,thedistrict
withthelargestprojectedgrowth4.21percentwasMontana.

Inthelastyear,thejudicialDistrictCourtrecordingthelargestprojecteddropintherateof
convictions33.2percentwasSouthernDistrictofTexas(Houston).

ReportGenerated:July12,2017

Copyright2017,TRACReports,Inc.

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