Prosecutions for January 2025
Referring Agency: Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during January 2025 the government reported 512 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 1.8 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 2025 prosecutions of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, the number of filings was only slightly up (0.4%). 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 29.3 percent from levels reported in 2020.
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 2025 was for "Weapons-Operation Triggerlock Major", accounting for 56.8 percent of prosecutions. Prosecutions were also filed for "Withheld by Govt from TRAC (FOIA challen" (22.9%), "Drugs-Drug Trafficking" (14.1%), "Violence-Other" (2.9%). See Figure 2.
Prosecutions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In January 2025, 95 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 Title 18 U.S.C Section 922 involving "Firearms; Unlawful acts". This was the lead charge for 34.7 percent of all magistrate filings in January.
Other frequently prosecuted lead charges include: "Other US Code Section" (11.6%), "21 USC 846 - Attempt and conspiracy" (10.5%), "21 USC 841 - Drug Abuse Prevention & Control-Prohibited acts A" (9.5%), "18 USC 2342 - Trafficking in contraband cigarettes Unlawful acts" (6.3%).
Prosecutions in U.S. District Courts
In January 2025, 417 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during January there were an additional 64 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 2025 referred by the Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Lead Charge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago 18 USC 922 - Firearms; Unlawful acts 264 1 1 1 More 21 USC 841 - Drug Abuse Prevention & Control-Prohibited acts A 58 2 2 2 More 21 USC 846 - Attempt and conspiracy 9 4 5 3 More 26 USC 5861 - Tax on Making Firearms - Prohibited acts 6 5 8 7 More 18 USC 924 - Firearms; Penalties 4 6 7 5 More 18 USC 1951 - Hobbs Act 4 6 4 4 More 18 USC 371 - Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US 3 8 6 9 More 18 USC 844 - Explosives - Importation and storage of explosives 3 8 10 10 More 18 USC 111 - Assaulting, resisting, impeding certain officers 1 10 24 - More 18 USC 842 - Explosives - Importation, manufacture, etc 1 10 16 19 More 18 USC 1001 - Fraud/false statements or entries generally 1 10 24 19 More 18 USC 1349 - Mail Fraud - Attempt and Conspiracy 1 10 - 24 More 18 USC 1546 - Fraud and misuse of visas, permits, and other documents 1 10 - - More 18 USC 1623 - False declarations before grand jury or court 1 10 - 17 More 18 USC 1959 - Violent crimes in aid of racketeering activity 1 10 11 19 More 18 USC 2119 - Carjacking 1 10 9 8 More 18 USC 3583 - Term of supervised release after imprisonment 1 10 16 19 More 26 USC 5841 - Registration of firearms 1 10 16 17 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 "Other US Code Section" under Title U.S.C Section. "Other US Code Section" under Title U.S.C Section was ranked 3 a year ago, while it was ranked 6 five years ago.
Among these top ten lead charges, the one showing the greatest increase in prosecutions — up 150 percent — compared to one year ago was Title 18 U.S.C Section 842 that involves " Explosives - Importation, manufacture, etc ". This was the same statute that had the largest increase — 66.7 % — 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 86.7 percent — was " Violent crimes in aid of racketeering activity " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 1959 ). Compared to five years ago, the most significant decline in prosecutions — 75 percent — was for filings where the lead charge was " False declarations before grand jury or court " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 1623 ).
Top Ranked Judicial Districts
In January 2025 the Justice Department's case-by-case records show that the government brought 172.3 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 Ala, M 1,505 15 1 21 40 More W Virg, N 1,166 9 2 39 43 More Ala, S 1,105 8 3 48 65 More Okla, E 966 6 4 60 81 More Montana 953 9 5 17 40 More Ga, S 868 12 6 50 17 More Fla, N 849 14 7 54 58 More Ken, E 590 11 8 33 25 More Ga, M 575 10 9 76 47 More Wash, E 493 7 10 56 72 More Table 3. Top 10 Districts (per ten million people)
The Middle District of Alabama (Montgomery) — with 1505 prosecutions as compared with 172.3 prosecutions per ten million population in the United States — was the most active during January 2025.
The Northern District of West Virginia (Wheeling) ranked 2nd.
Southern District of Alabama (Mobile) is now ranking 3rd.
Recent entrants to the top 10 list were Montana , now ranked 5th , and Middle District of Alabama (Montgomery) at 1st In the same order, these districts ranked 17th and 21st one year ago and 40th and 40th five years ago.
The federal judicial district which showed the greatest growth in the rate of prosecutions compared to one year ago — 257.1 percent — was Middle District of Georgia (Macon). Compared to five years ago, the district with the largest growth — 207.7 percent — was Eastern District of Oklahoma (Muskogee).
In the last year, the judicial District Court recording the largest drop in the rate of prosecutions — 19 percent — was Middle District of Alabama (Montgomery). But over the past five years, Southern District of Georgia (Savannah) showed the largest drop — 56.1 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 January 2025 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank Thompson, Myron Herbert Ala, M 6 1 More White, Ronald A. Okla, E 6 1 More Adelman, Lynn S. Wisc, E 6 1 More Rodgers, Margaret Catharine Fla, N 5 4 More Wetherell, T. Kent, II Fla, N 5 4 More Wilson, Billy Roy Ark, E 4 6 More Wier, Robert Earl Ken, E 4 6 More O'Connor, Reed Charles Texas, N 4 6 More Marks, Emily Coody Ala, M 3 9 More Gleason, Sharon Louise Alaska 3 9 More Wu, George H. Cal, C 3 9 More Rosenstengel, Nancy Jo Ill, S 3 9 More Bunning, David L. Ken, E 3 9 More Boom, Claria Horn Ken, E 3 9 More Hale, David Jason Ken, W 3 9 More Stivers, Gregory N. Ken, W 3 9 More Doughty, Terry Alvin La, W 3 9 More Ross, John Andrew Mo, E 3 9 More Bough, Stephen Rogers Mo, W 3 9 More Epps, Willie J., Jr. Mo, W 3 9 More Whitney, Frank DeArmon N Car, W 3 9 More Wolson, Joshua David Penn, E 3 9 More Means, Terry R. Texas, N 3 9 More Hendrix, James Wesley Texas, N 3 9 More Pittman, Mark Timothy Texas, N 3 9 More Moses, Alia M. Texas, W 3 9 More Chambers, Robert Charles W Virg, S 3 9 More Table 4. Top Ten Judges
A total of 8 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 19 judges were from other districts. (Because of ties, there were a total of 27 judges in the "top ten" rankings.)
Judges Myron Herbert Thompson in the Middle District of Alabama (Montgomery), Ronald A. White in the Eastern District of Oklahoma (Muskogee) and Lynn S. Adelman in the Eastern District of Wisconsin (Milwaukee) ranked 1st with 6 defendants in cases.
Report Generated: March 12, 2025
