Convictions for March 2025
Referring Agency: Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during March 2025 the government reported 815 new convictions 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 23.9 percent over the previous month.
The comparisons of the number of defendants convicted 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 convictions of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, the number of convictions was only slightly up (0.1%). Convictions over the past year are still much lower than they were five years ago. Overall, the data show that convictions of this type are down 13.6 percent from levels reported in 2020.
Figure 1. Monthly Trends in Convictions
The decrease from the levels five years ago in convictions for these matters is shown more clearly in Figure 1. The vertical bars in Figure 1 represent the number of convictions 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 convictions of these matters in March 2025 was for "Weapons-Operation Triggerlock Major", accounting for 68.5 percent of convictions. Convictions were also filed for "Drugs-Drug Trafficking" (13%), "Drugs-Organized Crime Task Force" (5%), "Withheld by Govt from TRAC (FOIA challen" (4.8%), "Violence-Other" (4.2%). See Figure 2.
Convictions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In March 2025, no defendants in cases for these matters were convicted 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.
Convictions in U.S. District Courts
In March 2025, 814 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during March there were an additional 0 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 March.
Top Ranked Lead Charges
Table 2 shows the top lead charges recorded in the convictions of matters filed in U.S. District Court during March 2025 referred by the Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Lead Charge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago 18 USC 922 - Firearms; Unlawful acts 507 1 1 1 More 21 USC 841 - Drug Abuse Prevention & Control-Prohibited acts A 87 2 2 2 More 21 USC 846 - Attempt and conspiracy 38 4 3 3 More 26 USC 5861 - Tax on Making Firearms - Prohibited acts 16 5 7 7 More 18 USC 924 - Firearms; Penalties 15 6 5 4 More 18 USC 1951 - Hobbs Act 15 6 6 5 More 18 USC 844 - Explosives - Importation and storage of explosives 11 8 10 11 More 18 USC 2119 - Carjacking 8 9 9 9 More 18 USC 371 - Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US 5 10 8 10 More Table 2. Top Charges for Convictions
"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 4 a year ago, while it was ranked 6 five years ago.
Among these top ten lead charges, the one showing the greatest increase in convictions — up 78.9 percent — compared to one year ago was Title 18 U.S.C Section 844 that involves " Explosives - Importation and storage of explosives ". This was the same statute that had the largest increase — 88.9 % — when compared with five years ago.
Again among the top ten lead charges, the one showing the sharpest decline in convictions compared to one year ago — down 40.8 percent — was " Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 371 ). Compared to five years ago, the most significant decline in convictions — 55.1 percent — was for convictions where the lead charge was " Firearms; Penalties " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 924 ).
Top Ranked Judicial Districts
In March 2025 the Justice Department's case-by-case records show that the government obtained 291.7 convictions for every ten million people in the United States.
Understandably, there is great variation in the per capita number of convictions in each of the nation's ninety-four federal judicial districts.
The districts registering the largest number of convictions per capita for these matters last month are shown in Table 3. Districts must have at least 5 convictions to receive a ranking.
Judicial District Percapita Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago Montana 3,072 29 1 27 36 More Wyoming 1,849 9 2 67 76 More Ala, N 1,774 45 3 20 7 More W Virg, N 1,555 12 4 33 18 More Ala, S 1,519 11 5 42 42 More La, E 1,317 18 6 47 90 More Ken, W 1,310 25 7 59 18 More Vermont 1,112 6 8 67 72 More Okla, W 1,091 20 9 22 55 More Okla, N 866 8 10 59 55 More Table 3. Top 10 Districts (per ten million people)
The District of Montana — with 3072 convictions as compared with 291.7 convictions per ten million population in the United States — was the most active during March 2025.
The District of Wyoming ranked 2nd.
Northern District of Alabama (Birmingham) is now ranking 3rd.
Recent entrants to the top 10 list were Northern District of Alabama (Birmingham), now ranked 3rd , and Western District of Oklahoma (Oklahoma City) at 9th In the same order, these districts ranked 20th and 22nd one year ago and 7th and 55th five years ago.
The federal judicial district which showed the greatest growth in the rate of convictions compared to one year ago — 133.3 percent — was Western District of Kentucky (Louisville). Compared to five years ago, the district with the largest growth — 920 percent — was Eastern District of Louisiana (New Orleans).
In the last year, the judicial District Court recording the largest drop in the rate of convictions — 9.5 percent — was Northern District of Alabama (Birmingham). This was the same district that had the largest increase — 46.7 percent — when compared with five years ago.
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 resulting in convictions of this type during March 2025 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank Watters, Susan Pamela Montana 14 1 More Axon, Annemarie Carney Ala, N 10 2 More Cogburn, Max Oliver, Jr. N Car, W 10 2 More Haikala, Madeline H. Ala, N 9 4 More Stivers, Gregory N. Ken, W 8 5 More Dever, James C., III N Car, E 8 5 More Crane, Randy Texas, S 8 5 More Coogler, L. Scott Ala, N 7 8 More Hall, James Randal Ga, S 7 8 More Jennings, Rebecca Grady Ken, W 7 8 More Kleeh, Thomas Shawn W Virg, N 7 8 More Table 4. Top Ten Judges
A total of 7 out of the "top ten" judges were in districts which were in the top ten with the largest number of convictions per capita, while the remaining 4 judges were from other districts. (Because of ties, there were a total of 11 judges in the "top ten" rankings.)
Judge Susan Pamela Watters in the District of Montana ranked 1st with 14 convicted in convictions.
Judges Annemarie Carney Axon in the Northern District of Alabama (Birmingham) and Max Oliver Cogburn, Jr. in the Western District of North Carolina (Asheville) ranked 2nd with 10 convicted in convictions.
Report Generated: May 14, 2025
