Convictions for October 2024
Referring Agency: Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during October 2024 the government reported 645 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 down 24.5 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 2024 convictions of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, the number of convictions was down (-6.8%). 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 15.2 percent from levels reported in 2019.
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 October 2024 was for "Weapons-Operation Triggerlock Major", accounting for 69.9 percent of convictions. Convictions were also filed for "Drugs-Drug Trafficking" (15.2%), "Drugs-Organized Crime Task Force" (5%), "Violence-Other" (3.9%), "Withheld by Govt from TRAC (FOIA challen" (3.6%). See Figure 2.
Convictions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In October 2024, 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 October 2024, 644 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during October 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 October.
Top Ranked Lead Charges
Table 2 shows the top lead charges recorded in the convictions of matters filed in U.S. District Court during October 2024 referred by the Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Lead Charge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago 18 USC 922 - Firearms; Unlawful acts 409 1 1 1 More 21 USC 841 - Drug Abuse Prevention & Control-Prohibited acts A 81 2 2 2 More 21 USC 846 - Attempt and conspiracy 38 3 3 3 More 18 USC 1951 - Hobbs Act 14 5 4 5 More 18 USC 371 - Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US 11 6 9 11 More 26 USC 5861 - Tax on Making Firearms - Prohibited acts 9 7 7 7 More 18 USC 844 - Explosives - Importation and storage of explosives 8 8 10 9 More 18 USC 924 - Firearms; Penalties 8 8 6 4 More 18 USC 2119 - Carjacking 4 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 "Attempt and conspiracy" under Title 21 U.S.C Section 846. "Attempt and conspiracy" under Title 21 U.S.C Section 846 was ranked 3 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 35.3 percent — compared to one year ago was Title U.S.C Section that involves "Other US Code Section ". Compared to five years ago, the largest increase — 125 percent — was registered for convictions under " Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 371 ).
Again among the top ten lead charges, the one showing the sharpest decline in convictions compared to one year ago — down 21.6 percent — was " Carjacking " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 2119 ). Compared to five years ago, the most significant decline in convictions — 57.8 percent — was for convictions where the lead charge was " Firearms; Penalties " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 924 ).
Top Ranked Judicial Districts
In October 2024 the Justice Department's case-by-case records show that the government obtained 230.7 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 Okla, E 2,094 13 1 63 78 More Montana 1,377 13 2 30 36 More Okla, N 1,300 12 3 52 62 More S Dakota 1,192 9 4 42 50 More Vermont 1,112 6 5 75 82 More Ark, E 1,094 15 6 18 32 More N Dakota 1,072 7 7 55 87 More N Car, E 1,049 37 8 2 2 More W Virg, N 907 7 9 13 48 More Mo, E 865 21 10 33 21 More Table 3. Top 10 Districts (per ten million people)
The Eastern District of Oklahoma (Muskogee) — with 2094 convictions as compared with 230.7 convictions per ten million population in the United States — was the most active during October 2024.
The District of Montana ranked 2nd.
Northern District of Oklahoma (Tulsa) is now ranking 3rd.
Recent entrants to the top 10 list were Northern District of West Virginia (Wheeling), now ranked 9th , and Eastern District of Arkansas (Little Rock) at 6th In the same order, these districts ranked 13th and 18th one year ago and 48th and 32nd five years ago.
The federal judicial district which showed the greatest growth in the rate of convictions compared to one year ago — 125 percent — was Vermont . Compared to five years ago, the district with the largest growth — 316.7 percent — was North Dakota .
In the last year, the judicial District Court recording the largest drop in the rate of convictions — 17.4 percent — was Northern District of West Virginia (Wheeling). But over the past five years, South Dakota showed the largest drop — 12.5 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 October 2024 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank Ross, John Andrew Mo, E 11 1 More Flanagan, Louise W. N Car, E 11 1 More Dever, James C., III N Car, E 10 3 More Mariani, Robert David Penn, M 10 3 More Kernodle, Jeremy Daniel Texas, E 7 5 More Watson, Michael H. Ohio, S 6 6 More White, Ronald A. Okla, E 6 6 More Conner, Christopher C. Penn, M 6 6 More Schreier, Karen E. S Dakota 6 6 More Miller, Brian Stacy Ark, E 5 10 More Ruiz, David A. Ohio, N 5 10 More Frizzell, Gregory Kent Okla, N 5 10 More Crane, Randy Texas, S 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.)
Judges John Andrew Ross in the Eastern District of Missouri (St. Louis) and Louise W. Flanagan in the Eastern District of North Carolina (Raleigh) ranked 1st with 11 convicted in convictions.
Judges James C. Dever, III in the Eastern District of North Carolina (Raleigh) and Robert David Mariani in the Middle District of Pennsylvania (Scranton) ranked 3rd with 10 convicted in convictions.
Report Generated: December 17, 2024
