Convictions for March 2026
Referring Agency: Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during March 2026 the government reported 736 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 15 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 2026 convictions of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, the number of convictions was only slightly up (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 1.1 percent from levels reported in 2021.
Figure 1. Monthly Trends in Convictions
The leveling out 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 2026 was for "Weapons-Operation Triggerlock Major", accounting for 70.7 percent of convictions. Convictions were also filed for "Drugs-Drug Trafficking" (12.4%), "Drugs-Organized Crime Task Force" (6.7%), "Withheld by Govt from TRAC (FOIA challen" (4.3%), "Violence-Other" (3.1%). See Figure 2.
Convictions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In March 2026, 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 2026, 733 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 2026 referred by the Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Lead Charge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago 18 USC 922 - Firearms; Unlawful acts 493 1 1 1 More 21 USC 841 - Drug Abuse Prevention & Control-Prohibited acts A 85 2 2 2 More 21 USC 846 - Attempt and conspiracy 27 3 4 3 More 18 USC 924 - Firearms; Penalties 22 4 7 4 More 18 USC 1951 - Hobbs Act 21 5 5 5 More 26 USC 5861 - Tax on Making Firearms - Prohibited acts 8 6 6 7 More 18 USC 933 - Trafficking in firearms 7 7 - - More 18 USC 932 - Straw purchase firearms 6 8 - - More 18 USC 2119 - Carjacking 6 8 8 10 More 18 USC 1962 - RICO - prohibited activities 4 10 17 11 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 "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 convictions — up 125 percent — compared to one year ago was Title 18 U.S.C Section 1962 that involves " RICO - prohibited activities ". Compared to five years ago, the largest increase — 88.2 percent — was registered for convictions under " Carjacking " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 2119 ).
Again among the top ten lead charges, the one showing the sharpest decline in convictions compared to one year ago — down 46 percent — was " Tax on Making Firearms - Prohibited acts " (Title 26 U.S.C Section 5861 ). Compared to five years ago, the most significant decline in convictions — 26.8 percent — was for convictions where the lead charge was " Attempt and conspiracy " (Title 21 U.S.C Section 846 ).
Top Ranked Judicial Districts
In March 2026 the Justice Department's case-by-case records show that the government obtained 258.6 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 D. C. 1,880 11 1 83 77 More Ala, S 1,506 11 2 32 58 More Ark, E 1,380 19 3 15 14 More Montana 1,372 13 4 20 13 More Tenn, E 1,107 26 5 26 2 More Ala, M 1,095 11 6 40 48 More Mo, W 977 27 7 25 20 More Okla, E 959 6 8 41 81 More Ill, C 726 13 9 69 55 More Ga, S 716 10 10 49 17 More Table 3. Top 10 Districts (per ten million people)
The District of Washington, D.C. (Washington) — with 1880 convictions as compared with 258.6 convictions per ten million population in the United States — was the most active during March 2026.
The Southern District of Alabama (Mobile) ranked 2nd.
Eastern District of Arkansas (Little Rock) is now ranking 3rd.
Recent entrants to the top 10 list were Eastern District of Arkansas (Little Rock), now ranked 3rd , and Montana at 4th In the same order, these districts ranked 15th and 20th one year ago and 14th and 13th five years ago.
The federal judicial district which showed the greatest growth in the rate of convictions compared to one year ago — 425 percent — was Washington, D.C. (Washington). Compared to five years ago, the district with the largest growth — 371.4 percent — was Eastern District of Oklahoma (Muskogee).
In the last year, the judicial District Court recording the largest drop in the rate of convictions — 15.6 percent — was Southern District of Alabama (Mobile). But over the past five years, Eastern District of Tennessee (Knoxville) showed the largest drop — 59.2 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 resulting in convictions of this type during March 2026 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank Wimes, Brian Curtis Mo, W 9 1 More Watters, Susan Pamela Montana 7 2 More Dever, James C., III N Car, E 7 2 More Saldana, Diana Texas, S 7 2 More Counts, Walter David, III Texas, W 7 2 More Phillips, Mary Elizabeth Mo, W 6 6 More Ketchmark, Roseann Ambrosia Mo, W 6 6 More White, Ronald A. Okla, E 6 6 More Lewis, Mary Geiger S Car 6 6 More Thompson, Myron Herbert Ala, M 5 10 More Marshall, Denzil Price, Jr. Ark, E 5 10 More Leitman, Matthew Frederick Mich, E 5 10 More Austin, Jacquelyn D. S Car 5 10 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 6 judges were from other districts. (Because of ties, there were a total of 13 judges in the "top ten" rankings.)
Judge Brian Curtis Wimes in the Western District of Missouri (Kansas City) ranked 1st with 9 convicted in convictions.
Judges Susan Pamela Watters in the District of Montana, James C. Dever, III in the Eastern District of North Carolina (Raleigh), Diana Saldana in the Southern District of Texas (Houston) and Walter David Counts, III in the Western District of Texas (San Antonio) ranked 2nd with 7 convicted in convictions.
Report Generated: May 21, 2026
