Prosecutions for January 2026
Referring Agency: Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during January 2026 the government reported 524 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 6.7 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 (0.9%). 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 25.3 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 January 2026 was for "Weapons-Operation Triggerlock Major", accounting for 55 percent of prosecutions. Prosecutions were also filed for "Withheld by Govt from TRAC (FOIA challen" (19.8%), "Drugs-Drug Trafficking" (14.9%), "Violence-Other" (4.6%), "Drugs-Organized Crime Task Force" (2.3%). See Figure 2.
Prosecutions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In January 2026, 98 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 48 percent of all magistrate filings in January.
Other frequently prosecuted lead charges include: "21 USC 841 - Drug Abuse Prevention & Control-Prohibited acts A" (10.2%), "18 USC 371 - Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US" (9.2%), "08 USC 1326 - Reentry of deported alien" (7.1%).
Prosecutions in U.S. District Courts
In January 2026, 426 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during January there were an additional 78 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 2026 referred by the Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Lead Charge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago 18 USC 922 - Firearms; Unlawful acts 257 1 1 1 More 21 USC 841 - Drug Abuse Prevention & Control-Prohibited acts A 54 2 2 2 More 21 USC 846 - Attempt and conspiracy 35 4 4 3 More 18 USC 844 - Explosives - Importation and storage of explosives 5 5 9 7 More 18 USC 924 - Firearms; Penalties 5 5 7 6 More 18 USC 1951 - Hobbs Act 5 5 5 5 More 08 USC 1326 - Reentry of deported alien 3 8 18 - More 18 USC 113 - Assaults within maritime and territorial jurisdictions 1 9 28 28 More 18 USC 842 - Explosives - Importation, manufacture, etc 1 9 15 15 More 18 USC 930 - Possession of firearms/dangerous weapons in federal facility 1 9 - - More 18 USC 1201 - Kidnaping 1 9 18 19 More 26 USC 5681 - Penalty relating to signs 1 9 - 28 More 26 USC 5841 - Registration of firearms 1 9 21 19 More 26 USC 5861 - Tax on Making Firearms - Prohibited acts 1 9 6 8 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 4 five years ago.
Among these top ten lead charges, the one showing the greatest increase in prosecutions — up 800 percent — compared to one year ago was Title 18 U.S.C Section 113 that involves " Assaults within maritime and territorial jurisdictions ". This was the same statute that had the largest increase — 800 % — 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 37.6 percent — was " Hobbs Act " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 1951 ). This was the same statute that had the largest decrease — 49.5 % — when compared with five years ago.
Top Ranked Judicial Districts
In January 2026 the Justice Department's case-by-case records show that the government brought 177.8 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 N Dakota 1,356 9 1 56 67 More Okla, E 959 6 2 37 89 More Tenn, W 772 10 3 38 22 More Ind, N 766 17 4 18 13 More Ga, S 716 10 5 34 35 More Montana 633 6 6 22 25 More Mo, W 579 16 7 15 11 More La, W 575 10 8 44 30 More Ken, W 568 11 9 36 51 More Texas, N 531 35 10 1 3 More Table 3. Top 10 Districts (per ten million people)
The District of North Dakota — with 1356 prosecutions as compared with 177.8 prosecutions per ten million population in the United States — was the most active during January 2026.
The Eastern District of Oklahoma (Muskogee) ranked 2nd.
Western District of Tennessee (Memphis) is now ranking 3rd.
Recent entrants to the top 10 list were Western District of Missouri (Kansas City), now ranked 7th , and Northern District of Indiana (South Bend) at 4th In the same order, these districts ranked 15th and 18th one year ago and 11th and 13th five years ago.
The federal judicial district which showed the greatest growth in the rate of prosecutions compared to one year ago — 92.1 percent — was Western District of Tennessee (Memphis). Compared to five years ago, the district with the largest growth — 950 percent — was Eastern District of Oklahoma (Muskogee).
In the last year, the judicial District Court recording the largest drop in the rate of prosecutions — 5.3 percent — was Montana . But over the past five years, Northern District of Indiana (South Bend) showed the largest drop — 21.9 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 2026 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago Fitzgerald, Michael Walter Cal, C 20 1 284 324 More Marbley, Algenon L. Ohio, S 12 2 43 180 More Brady, Holly Ann Ind, N 5 3 77 18 More Boom, Claria Horn Ken, E 5 3 77 539 More White, Ronald A. Okla, E 5 3 1 421 More McShane, Michael Jerome Oregon 5 3 214 82 More Tucker, Josephine Staton Cal, C 4 7 164 - More Hall, James Randal Ga, S 4 7 164 26 More Melgren, Eric F. Kansas 4 7 106 49 More Wimes, Brian Curtis Mo, W 4 7 36 33 More Morrison, Sarah Daggett Ohio, S 4 7 16 12 More Ramos, Nelva Gonzales Texas, S 4 7 77 152 More Table 4. Top Ten Judges
A total of 4 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 8 judges were from other districts. (Because of ties, there were a total of 12 judges in the "top ten" rankings.)
Judge Michael Walter Fitzgerald in the Central District of California (Los Angeles) ranked 1st with 20 defendants in cases.
Judge Algenon L. Marbley in the Southern District of Ohio (Cincinnati) ranked 2nd with 12 defendants in cases.
Judges Holly Ann Brady in the Northern District of Indiana (South Bend), Claria Horn Boom in the Eastern District of Kentucky (Lexington), Ronald A. White in the Eastern District of Oklahoma (Muskogee) and Michael Jerome McShane in the District of Oregon ranked 3rd with 5 defendants in cases. Judge White also appeared in the top ten rankings one year ago (ranked 1).
Report Generated: April 16, 2026
