Prosecutions for August 2026
Referring Agency: Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during August 2026 the government reported 675 new prosecutions for these matters. Those cases were referred by the Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is up 10.1 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 2026 prosecutions of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, the number of filings was only slightly up (2%). 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 16.8 percent from levels reported in 2021.
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 August 2026 was for "Weapons-Operation Triggerlock Major", accounting for 53.8 percent of prosecutions. Prosecutions were also filed for "Withheld by Govt from TRAC (FOIA challen" (27%), "Drugs-Drug Trafficking" (12.9%), "Violence-Other" (4.3%). See Figure 2.
Prosecutions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In August 2026, 111 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 August the most frequently cited lead charge was Title 18 U.S.C Section 922 involving "Firearms; Unlawful acts". This was the lead charge for 52.3 percent of all magistrate filings in August.
Other frequently prosecuted lead charges include: "21 USC 841 - Drug Abuse Prevention & Control-Prohibited acts A" (14.4%).
Prosecutions in U.S. District Courts
In August 2026, 564 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during August there were an additional 79 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 August.
Top Ranked Lead Charges
Table 2 shows the top lead charges recorded in the prosecutions of matters filed in U.S. District Court during August 2026 referred by the Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Lead Charge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago 18 USC 922 - Firearms; Unlawful acts 332 1 1 1 More 21 USC 841 - Drug Abuse Prevention & Control-Prohibited acts A 63 2 2 2 More 21 USC 846 - Attempt and conspiracy 25 3 4 3 More 18 USC 924 - Firearms; Penalties 15 4 6 6 More 18 USC 1951 - Hobbs Act 10 5 5 5 More 18 USC 933 - Trafficking in firearms 6 6 - - More 18 USC 932 - Straw purchase firearms 5 7 - - More 08 USC 1326 - Reentry of deported alien 4 8 12 - More 18 USC 844 - Explosives - Importation and storage of explosives 4 8 10 10 More 18 USC 2314 - Transportation of stolen goods, etc 3 10 - - More 26 USC 5861 - Tax on Making Firearms - Prohibited acts 3 10 7 7 More Table 2. Top Charges Filed
"Firearms; Unlawful acts" (Title 18 U.S.C Section 922) was the most frequent recorded lead charge. "Firearms; Unlawful acts" (Title 18 U.S.C Section 922) was ranked 1 a year ago, while it was ranked 1 five years ago.
Ranked 2nd in frequency was the lead charge "Drug Abuse Prevention & Control-Prohibited acts A" under Title 21 U.S.C Section 841. "Drug Abuse Prevention & Control-Prohibited acts A" under Title 21 U.S.C Section 841 was ranked 2 a year ago, while it was ranked 2 five years ago.
Ranked 3rd was "Attempt and conspiracy" under Title 21 U.S.C Section 846. "Attempt and conspiracy" under Title 21 U.S.C Section 846 was ranked 4 a year ago, while it was ranked 3 five years ago.
Among these top ten lead charges, the one showing the greatest increase in prosecutions — up 62.3 percent — compared to one year ago was Title 18 U.S.C Section 924 that involves " Firearms; Penalties ". This was the same statute that had the largest increase — 26.9 % — 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 10.3 percent — was " Tax on Making Firearms - Prohibited acts " (Title 26 U.S.C Section 5861 ). This was the same statute that had the largest decrease — 37.5 % — when compared with five years ago.
Top Ranked Judicial Districts
In August 2026 the Justice Department's case-by-case records show that the government brought 226.9 prosecutions for every ten million people in the United States.
Understandably, there is great variation in the per capita 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 per capita for these matters last month are shown in Table 3. Districts must have at least 5 prosecutions to receive a ranking.
Judicial District Percapita Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago Tenn, M 2,817 67 1 25 14 More W Virg, N 1,547 12 2 42 8 More Okla, E 1,279 8 3 39 78 More Alaska 1,015 6 4 84 81 More Okla, N 963 9 5 57 54 More La, W 920 16 6 47 44 More Montana 844 8 7 18 32 More N Car, E 806 29 8 14 1 More Tenn, W 772 10 9 56 11 More N Dakota 753 5 10 63 73 More Table 3. Top 10 Districts (per ten million people)
The Middle District of Tennessee (Nashville) — with 2817 prosecutions as compared with 226.9 prosecutions per ten million population in the United States — was the most active during August 2026.
The Northern District of West Virginia (Wheeling) ranked 2nd.
Eastern District of Oklahoma (Muskogee) is now ranking 3rd.
Recent entrants to the top 10 list were Eastern District of North Carolina (Raleigh), now ranked 8th , and Montana at 7th In the same order, these districts ranked 14th and 18th one year ago and 1st and 32nd five years ago.
The federal judicial district which showed the greatest growth in the rate of prosecutions compared to one year ago — 121.2 percent — was Western District of Louisiana (Shreveport). Compared to five years ago, the district with the largest growth — 113.3 percent — was Eastern District of Oklahoma (Muskogee).
In the last year, the judicial District Court recording the largest drop in the rate of prosecutions — 40.3 percent — was Montana . But over the past five years, Eastern District of North Carolina (Raleigh) showed the largest drop — 69.6 percent.
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 August 2026 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank Sargus, Edmund A., Jr. Ohio, S 7 1 More White, Ronald A. Okla, E 7 1 More Flanagan, Louise W. N Car, E 6 3 More Pittman, Mark Timothy Texas, N 6 3 More Gayles, Darrin Phillip Fla, S 5 5 More Simon, Philip P. Ind, N 5 5 More Stivers, Gregory N. Ken, W 5 5 More Crenshaw, Waverly David, Jr. Tenn, M 5 5 More Ballou, Robert S. Virg, W 5 5 More Brady, Holly Ann Ind, N 4 10 More Bunning, David L. Ken, E 4 10 More Dever, James C., III N Car, E 4 10 More Sanchez, Juan Ramon Penn, E 4 10 More Quinones Alejandr, Nitza Ileana Penn, E 4 10 More Richardson, Eli Jeremy Tenn, M 4 10 More Hendrix, James Wesley Texas, N 4 10 More Biery, Samuel Frederick, Jr. Texas, W 4 10 More Table 4. Top Ten Judges
A total of 5 out of the "top ten" judges were in districts which were in the top ten with the largest number of filings per capita, while the remaining 12 judges were from other districts. (Because of ties, there were a total of 17 judges in the "top ten" rankings.)
Judges Edmund A. Sargus, Jr. in the Southern District of Ohio (Cincinnati) and Ronald A. White in the Eastern District of Oklahoma (Muskogee) ranked 1st with 7 defendants in cases.
Judges Louise W. Flanagan in the Eastern District of North Carolina (Raleigh) and Mark Timothy Pittman in the Northern District of Texas (Fort Worth) ranked 3rd with 6 defendants in cases.
Report Generated: October 27, 2026
