Convictions for January 2026
Referring Agency: Federal Bureau of Investigation
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during January 2026 the government reported 654 new convictions for these matters. Those cases were referred by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is down 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 2026 convictions of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, the number of convictions was down (-4.7%). Convictions over the past year are still much higher than they were five years ago. Overall, the data show that convictions of this type are up 31.7 percent from levels reported in 2021.
Figure 1. Monthly Trends in Convictions
The increase 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 January 2026 was for "Drugs-Organized Crime Task Force", accounting for 16.4 percent of convictions. Convictions were also filed for "Drugs-Drug Trafficking" (16.1%), "Project Safe Childhood" (14.4%), "Weapons-Operation Triggerlock Major" (9.9%), "Violence-Other" (6%), "Violence-Indian Country" (5.2%), "Fraud-Other" (3.5%), "Withheld by Govt from TRAC (FOIA challen" (3.4%), "Fraud-Financial Institution" (3.2%), "Other Criminal Prosecutions" (2.9%), "Bank Robbery" (2.8%), "Fraud-Federal Program" (2.1%). See Figure 2.
Convictions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In January 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 January 2026, 652 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during January 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 January.
Top Ranked Lead Charges
Table 2 shows the top lead charges recorded in the convictions of matters filed in U.S. District Court during January 2026 referred by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Lead Charge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago 21 USC 841 - Drug Abuse Prevention & Control-Prohibited acts A 113 1 1 1 More 18 USC 922 - Firearms; Unlawful acts 68 2 3 3 More 21 USC 846 - Attempt and conspiracy 63 3 2 2 More 18 USC 2252 - Material involving sexual exploitation of minors 35 4 5 7 More 18 USC 1343 - Fraud by wire, radio, or television 33 5 4 4 More 18 USC 2113 - Bank robbery and incidental crimes 20 7 8 5 More 18 USC 1951 - Hobbs Act 19 8 6 6 More 18 USC 2250 - Fail to register as sex offender after traveling interstate commerce 18 9 13 16 More 18 USC 2252A - Activity relating material constituting/containing chil 14 10 12 9 More Table 2. Top Charges for Convictions
"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 "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.
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 2 a year ago, while it was ranked 2 five years ago.
Among these top ten lead charges, the one showing the greatest increase in convictions — up 56.6 percent — compared to one year ago was Title 18 U.S.C Section 2250 that involves " Fail to register as sex offender after traveling interstate commerce ". Compared to five years ago, the largest increase — 177.1 percent — was registered for convictions under "Other US Code Section " (Title U.S.C Section ).
Again among the top ten lead charges, the one showing the sharpest decline in convictions compared to one year ago — down 22.5 percent — was " Attempt and conspiracy " (Title 21 U.S.C Section 846 ). Compared to five years ago, the most significant decline in convictions — 16 percent — was for convictions where the lead charge was " Bank robbery and incidental crimes " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 2113 ).
Top Ranked Judicial Districts
In January 2026 the Justice Department's case-by-case records show that the government obtained 230 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 1,688 16 1 35 15 More W Virg, S 1,287 9 2 66 79 More Ala, S 1,232 9 3 75 49 More La, E 1,019 14 4 43 81 More S Dakota 922 7 5 48 30 More Okla, N 856 8 6 28 65 More D. C. 854 5 7 1 57 More N Dakota 753 5 8 40 60 More Mo, E 697 17 9 16 19 More Ga, M 627 11 10 51 46 More Table 3. Top 10 Districts (per ten million people)
The District of Montana — with 1688 convictions as compared with 230 convictions per ten million population in the United States — was the most active during January 2026.
The Southern District of West Virginia (Charleston) ranked 2nd.
Southern District of Alabama (Mobile) is now ranking 3rd.
Recent entrants to the top 10 list were Eastern District of Missouri (St. Louis), now ranked 9th , and Northern District of Oklahoma (Tulsa) at 6th In the same order, these districts ranked 16th and 28th one year ago and 19th and 65th five years ago.
The federal judicial district which showed the greatest growth in the rate of convictions compared to one year ago — 108.7 percent — was Southern District of Alabama (Mobile). Compared to five years ago, the district with the largest growth — 308.3 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 — 69.5 percent — was Washington, D.C. (Washington). But over the past five years, showed the largest drop — 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 January 2026 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank Delgado-Colon, Aida M. Puer Rico 9 1 More Hollander, Ellen Lipton Maryland 5 2 More Morris, Brian Matthew Montana 5 2 More Watters, Susan Pamela Montana 5 2 More Bazis, Susan M. Nebraska 5 2 More Rose, Thomas M. Ohio, S 5 2 More Jordan, Sean D. Texas, E 5 2 More Goodwin, Joseph Robert W Virg, S 5 2 More Drozd, Dale A. Cal, E 4 9 More Nunley, Troy Lynne Cal, E 4 9 More Walker, Mark Eaton Fla, N 4 9 More Dever, James C., III N Car, E 4 9 More Adams, John R. Ohio, N 4 9 More Mosman, Michael W. Oregon 4 9 More Immergut, Karin Johanna Oregon 4 9 More Carreņo-Coll, Silvia Luisa Puer Rico 4 9 More Table 4. Top Ten Judges
A total of 3 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 13 judges were from other districts. (Because of ties, there were a total of 16 judges in the "top ten" rankings.)
Judge Aida M. Delgado-Colon in the District of Puerto Rico ranked 1st with 9 convicted in convictions.
Judges Ellen Lipton Hollander in the District of Maryland, Brian Matthew Morris in the District of Montana, Susan Pamela Watters in the District of Montana, Susan M. Bazis in the District of Nebraska, Thomas M. Rose in the Southern District of Ohio (Cincinnati), Sean D. Jordan in the Eastern District of Texas (Tyler) and Joseph Robert Goodwin in the Southern District of West Virginia (Charleston) ranked 2nd with 5 convicted in convictions.
Report Generated: April 16, 2026
