Prosecutions for October 2024
Referring Agency: Drug Enforcement Administration
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during October 2024 the government reported 728 new prosecutions for these matters. Those cases were referred by the Drug Enforcement Administration. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is up 18.6 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 2024 prosecutions of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, the number of filings was down (-2.6%). 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 40.7 percent from levels reported in 2019.
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 October 2024 was for "Drugs-Drug Trafficking", accounting for 42 percent of prosecutions. Prosecutions were also filed for "Withheld by Govt from TRAC (FOIA challen" (32.7%), "Drugs-Organized Crime Task Force" (20.7%). See Figure 2.
Prosecutions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In October 2024, 168 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 October the most frequently cited lead charge was Title 21 U.S.C Section 841 involving "Drug Abuse Prevention & Control-Prohibited acts A". This was the lead charge for 48.8 percent of all magistrate filings in October.
Other frequently prosecuted lead charges include: "21 USC 846 - Attempt and conspiracy" (16.7%).
Prosecutions in U.S. District Courts
In October 2024, 560 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during October there were an additional 96 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 prosecutions of matters filed in U.S. District Court during October 2024 referred by the Drug Enforcement Administration.
Lead Charge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago 21 USC 841 - Drug Abuse Prevention & Control-Prohibited acts A 303 1 1 1 More 21 USC 846 - Attempt and conspiracy 99 2 2 2 More 18 USC 922 - Firearms; Unlawful acts 14 3 3 3 More 46 USC 70503 - Possession control substance on vessel subject to jurisdiction of US 9 5 7 6 More 21 USC 963 - Attempt and conspiracy 6 6 5 8 More 18 USC 846 - Explosives - Additional powers of the Secretary 2 7 15 12 More 18 USC 1956 - Laundering of monetary instruments 2 7 8 8 More 18 USC 1001 - Fraud/false statements or entries generally 1 9 - 33 More 18 USC 1349 - Mail Fraud - Attempt and Conspiracy 1 9 - - More 18 USC 2250 - Fail to register as sex offender after traveling interstate commerce 1 9 - 33 More 21 USC 856 - Establishment for manufacturing operations 1 9 21 26 More 21 USC 952 - Importation of controlled substances 1 9 11 5 More 21 USC 959 - Possession, manufacture, or distribution for purpo 1 9 10 16 More Other US Code Section 1 9 21 - More Table 2. Top Charges Filed
"Drug Abuse Prevention & Control-Prohibited acts A" (Title 21 U.S.C Section 841) was the most frequent recorded lead charge. "Drug Abuse Prevention & Control-Prohibited acts A" (Title 21 U.S.C Section 841) was ranked 1 a year ago, while it was ranked 1 five years ago.
Ranked 2nd in frequency was the lead charge "Attempt and conspiracy" under Title 21 U.S.C Section 846. "Attempt and conspiracy" under Title 21 U.S.C Section 846 was ranked 2 a year ago, while it was ranked 2 five years ago.
Ranked 3rd was "Firearms; Unlawful acts" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 922. "Firearms; Unlawful acts" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 922 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 prosecutions — up 200 percent — compared to one year ago was Title 21 U.S.C Section 856 that involves " Establishment for manufacturing operations ". Compared to five years ago, the largest increase — 137.5 percent — was registered for prosecutions under " Possession, manufacture, or distribution for purpo " (Title 21 U.S.C Section 959 ).
Again among the top ten lead charges, the one showing the sharpest decline in prosecutions compared to one year ago — down 51.9 percent — was " Possession control substance on vessel subject to jurisdiction of US " (Title 46 U.S.C Section 70503 ). Compared to five years ago, the most significant decline in prosecutions — 84.9 percent — was for filings where the lead charge was " Importation of controlled substances " (Title 21 U.S.C Section 952 ).
Top Ranked Judicial Districts
In October 2024 the Justice Department's case-by-case records show that the government brought 235 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 S Dakota 1,590 12 1 32 55 More N Mexico 1,476 26 2 13 21 More New Hamp 1,455 17 3 54 62 More Okla, W 1,418 26 4 27 38 More Ark, E 1,166 16 5 12 14 More W Virg, N 1,166 9 5 26 68 More N Dakota 1,072 7 7 59 53 More La, E 952 13 8 59 49 More La, M 844 6 9 78 87 More Ill, S 692 7 10 61 36 More Table 3. Top 10 Districts (per ten million people)
The District of South Dakota — with 1590 prosecutions as compared with 235 prosecutions per ten million population in the United States — was the most active during October 2024.
The District of New Mexico ranked 2nd.
District of New Hampshire is now ranking 3rd.
Recent entrants to the top 10 list were Eastern District of Arkansas (Little Rock), now ranked 5th , and New Mexico at 2nd In the same order, these districts ranked 12th and 13th one year ago and 14th and 21st five years ago.
The federal judicial district which showed the greatest growth in the rate of prosecutions compared to one year ago — 87 percent — was Southern District of Illinois (East St. Louis). Compared to five years ago, the district with the largest growth — 25 percent — was Northern District of West Virginia (Wheeling).
In the last year, the judicial District Court recording the largest drop in the rate of prosecutions — 50 percent — was Middle District of Louisiana (Baton Rouge). But over the past five years, Eastern District of Arkansas (Little Rock) showed the largest drop — 41.8 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 October 2024 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank Goodwin, Charles Barnes Okla, W 18 1 More Hendrix, James Wesley Texas, N 13 2 More Wimes, Brian Curtis Mo, W 12 3 More Crone, Marcia A. Texas, E 11 4 More Mendoza, Carlos Eduardo Fla, M 10 5 More Fleissig, Audrey Goldstein Mo, E 9 6 More Marquez, Rosemary Arizona 8 7 More Cercone, David S. Penn, W 7 8 More Schwab, Arthur J. Penn, W 7 8 More O'Connor, Reed Charles Texas, N 7 8 More Table 4. Top Ten Judges
A total of 1 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 9 judges were from other districts.
Judge Charles Barnes Goodwin in the Western District of Oklahoma (Oklahoma City) ranked 1st with 18 defendants in cases.
Judge James Wesley Hendrix in the Northern District of Texas (Fort Worth) ranked 2nd with 13 defendants in cases.
Judge Brian Curtis Wimes in the Western District of Missouri (Kansas City) ranked 3rd with 12 defendants in cases.
Report Generated: December 17, 2024
