Prosecutions for October 2025
Referring Agency: Drug Enforcement Administration
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during October 2025 the government reported 653 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 down 9.9 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 2025 prosecutions of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, the number of filings was down (-7.3%). 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 34.8 percent from levels reported in 2020.
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 2025 was for "Drugs-Drug Trafficking", accounting for 56.8 percent of prosecutions. Prosecutions were also filed for "Withheld by Govt from TRAC (FOIA challen" (26.3%), "Drugs-Organized Crime Task Force" (12.3%), "Weapons-Operation Triggerlock Major" (2.8%). See Figure 2.
Prosecutions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In October 2025, 145 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 60 percent of all magistrate filings in October.
Other frequently prosecuted lead charges include: "21 USC 846 - Attempt and conspiracy" (17.9%).
Prosecutions in U.S. District Courts
In October 2025, 508 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during October there were an additional 102 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 2025 referred by the Drug Enforcement Administration.
Lead Charge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago 21 USC 841 - Drug Abuse Prevention & Control-Prohibited acts A 298 1 1 1 More 21 USC 846 - Attempt and conspiracy 123 2 2 2 More 18 USC 922 - Firearms; Unlawful acts 5 4 4 3 More 21 USC 959 - Possession, manufacture, or distribution for purpo 3 5 6 9 More 08 USC 1326 - Reentry of deported alien 1 6 - - More 18 USC 846 - Explosives - Additional powers of the Secretary 1 6 15 11 More 18 USC 959 - Enlistment in foreign service 1 6 - - More 18 USC 1951 - Hobbs Act 1 6 25 12 More 18 USC 1956 - Laundering of monetary instruments 1 6 6 7 More 18 USC 2250 - Fail to register as sex offender after traveling interstate commerce 1 6 25 - More 46 USC 70503 - Possession control substance on vessel subject to jurisdiction of US 1 6 9 6 More Other US Code Section 1 6 25 25 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 "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 121.1 percent — compared to one year ago was Title 18 U.S.C Section 1956 that involves " Laundering of monetary instruments ". Compared to five years ago, the largest increase — 100 percent — was registered for prosecutions under "Other US Code Section " (Title U.S.C Section ).
Again among the top ten lead charges, the one showing the sharpest decline in prosecutions compared to one year ago — down 92.3 percent — was " Possession control substance on vessel subject to jurisdiction of US " (Title 46 U.S.C Section 70503 ). This was the same statute that had the largest decrease — 97.8 % — when compared with five years ago.
Top Ranked Judicial Districts
In October 2025 the Justice Department's case-by-case records show that the government brought 215.2 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 Vermont 2,961 16 1 81 76 More Okla, E 2,398 15 2 81 81 More Ga, S 1,718 24 3 38 46 More Texas, E 1,096 42 4 5 4 More Ark, W 1,086 13 5 35 31 More N Dakota 1,055 7 6 53 19 More S Dakota 790 6 7 47 18 More Ill, S 691 7 8 31 44 More N. Y., S 590 26 9 18 19 More La, W 575 10 10 60 63 More Table 3. Top 10 Districts (per ten million people)
The District of Vermont — with 2961 prosecutions as compared with 215.2 prosecutions per ten million population in the United States — was the most active during October 2025.
The Eastern District of Oklahoma (Muskogee) ranked 2nd.
Southern District of Georgia (Savannah) is now ranking 3rd.
Recent entrants to the top 10 list were Southern District of New York (Manhattan), now ranked 9th , and Southern District of Illinois (East St. Louis) at 8th In the same order, these districts ranked 18th and 31st one year ago and 19th and 44th five years ago.
The federal judicial district which showed the greatest growth in the rate of prosecutions compared to one year ago — 337.5 percent — was Eastern District of Oklahoma (Muskogee). This was the same district that had the largest increase — 337.5 percent — when compared with five years ago.
In the last year, the judicial District Court recording the largest drop in the rate of prosecutions — 22.5 percent — was Western District of Arkansas (Fort Smith). This was the same district that had the largest increase — 48.3 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 of this type during October 2025 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank Gayles, Darrin Phillip Fla, S 12 1 More Mazzant, Amos L. Texas, E 11 2 More Brooks, Timothy Lloyd Ark, W 10 3 More Cain, James David, Jr. La, W 9 4 More Pepper, Pamela Wisc, E 9 4 More Seeborg, Richard G. Cal, N 5 6 More Barber, Thomas Patrick Fla, M 5 6 More Kennelly, Matthew F. Ill, N 5 6 More Zainey, Jay C. La, E 5 6 More Reeves, Carlton Wayne Miss, S 5 6 More McShane, Michael Jerome Oregon 5 6 More Hornak, Mark Raymond Penn, W 5 6 More Corker, Clifton Leland Tenn, E 5 6 More Barker, J. Campbell Texas, E 5 6 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 10 judges were from other districts. (Because of ties, there were a total of 14 judges in the "top ten" rankings.)
Judge Darrin Phillip Gayles in the Southern District of Florida (Miami) ranked 1st with 12 defendants in cases.
Judge Amos L. Mazzant in the Eastern District of Texas (Tyler) ranked 2nd with 11 defendants in cases.
Judge Timothy Lloyd Brooks in the Western District of Arkansas (Fort Smith) ranked 3rd with 10 defendants in cases.
Report Generated: February 19, 2026
