Prosecutions for January 2026
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during January 2026 the government reported 7248 new prosecutions. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is down 13.2 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 2026 prosecutions of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, the number of filings was up (26.3%). Prosecutions over the past year are still much higher than they were five years ago. Overall, the data show that prosecutions of this type are up 31.4 percent from levels reported in 2021.
Figure 1. Monthly Trends in Prosecutions
The increase 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 January 2026 was for "Immigration", accounting for 57.7 percent of prosecutions. Prosecutions were also filed for "Withheld by Govt from TRAC (FOIA challen" (9.9%), "Drugs-Drug Trafficking" (9.3%), "Weapons-Operation Triggerlock Major" (6.6%), "Assimilated Crimes" (2.5%), "Other Criminal Prosecutions" (2.2%). See Figure 2.
The lead investigative agency for prosecutions in January 2026 was DHS accounting for 64 percent of prosecutions referred. Other agencies with substantial numbers of referrals were: FBI (11% ), ATF (7%), DEA (6%), Defense (2%). See Figure 3.
Prosecutions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In January 2026, 4506 defendants 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 January the most frequently cited lead charge was Title 8 U.S.C Section 1326 involving "Reentry of deported alien". This was the lead charge for 41.3 percent of all magistrate filings in January.
Other frequently prosecuted lead charges include: "08 USC 1325 - Entry of alien at improper time or place; etc." (29.1%), "08 USC 1324 - Bringing in and harboring certain aliens" (6.6%).
Prosecutions in U.S. District Courts
In January 2026, 2742 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during January there were an additional 2480 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 prosecutions of matters filed in U.S. District Court during January 2026.
Lead Charge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago 08 USC 1326 - Reentry of deported alien 2,159 1 1 1 More 21 USC 841 - Drug Abuse Prevention & Control-Prohibited acts A 434 2 2 2 More 18 USC 922 - Firearms; Unlawful acts 412 3 3 3 More 08 USC 1324 - Bringing in and harboring certain aliens 254 4 4 5 More 21 USC 846 - Attempt and conspiracy 168 5 5 4 More 50 USC 797 - Control of Subversive Activities 64 7 222 - More 18 USC 1343 - Fraud by wire, radio, or television 63 8 6 8 More 18 USC 2252 - Material involving sexual exploitation of minors 61 9 8 9 More 18 USC 1546 - Fraud and misuse of visas, permits, and other documents 59 10 19 13 More Table 2. Top Charges Filed
"Reentry of deported alien" (Title 8 U.S.C Section 1326) was the most frequent recorded lead charge. "Reentry of deported alien" (Title 8 U.S.C Section 1326) 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 "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 98500 percent — compared to one year ago was Title 50 U.S.C Section 797 that involves " Control of Subversive Activities ". Compared to five years ago, the largest increase — 103.5 percent — was registered for prosecutions under " Reentry of deported alien " (Title 8 U.S.C Section 1326 ).
Again among the top ten lead charges, the one showing the sharpest decline in prosecutions compared to one year ago — down 30.7 percent — was " Bringing in and harboring certain aliens " (Title 8 U.S.C Section 1324 ). Compared to five years ago, the most significant decline in prosecutions — 40.6 percent — was for filings where the lead charge was " Attempt and conspiracy " (Title 21 U.S.C Section 846 ).
Top Ranked Judicial Districts
In January 2026 the Justice Department's case-by-case records show that the government brought 1842.5 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 N Mexico 18,195 323 1 5 6 More Cal, S 11,550 335 2 4 4 More Arizona 10,129 640 3 1 3 More Texas, W 8,306 561 4 2 2 More Texas, S 7,854 699 5 3 1 More Ga, S 6,085 85 6 62 42 More S Dakota 4,872 37 7 25 29 More N Dakota 4,821 32 8 48 69 More D. C. 4,785 28 9 19 58 More Montana 3,693 35 10 31 67 More Table 3. Top 10 Districts (per ten million people)
The District of New Mexico — with 18195 prosecutions as compared with 1842.5 prosecutions per ten million population in the United States — was the most active during January 2026. The District of New Mexico was ranked 5 a year ago, while it was ranked 6 for most frequent use five years ago.
The Southern District of California (San Diego) ranked 2nd. The Southern District of California (San Diego) was ranked 4 a year ago, while it was ranked 4 for most frequent use five years ago.
District of Arizona is now ranking 3rd. The District of Arizona was ranked 1 a year ago, while it was ranked 3 for most frequent use five years ago.
Recent entrants to the top 10 list were Washington, D.C. (Washington), now ranked 9th , and South Dakota at 7th In the same order, these districts ranked 19th and 25th one year ago and 58th and 29th five years ago.
The federal judicial district which showed the greatest growth in the rate of prosecutions compared to one year ago — 183.8 percent — was New Mexico . This was the same district that had the largest increase — 264.2 percent — when compared with five years ago.
In the last year, the judicial District Court recording the largest drop in the rate of prosecutions — 53.1 percent — was Arizona . But over the past five years, South Dakota showed the largest drop — 16.6 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 January 2026 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago Crane, Randy Texas, S 113 1 6 4 More Rodriguez, Fernando, Jr. Texas, S 106 2 21 12 More Cardone, Kathleen Texas, W 96 3 7 13 More Schydlower, Leon Texas, W 90 4 8 819 More Garcia Marmolejo, Marina Texas, S 82 5 10 5 More Kimmins, Lynnette C. Arizona 71 6 1 175 More Brack, Robert C. N Mexico 61 7 12 46 More Saldana, Diana Texas, S 60 8 11 7 More Moses, Alia M. Texas, W 60 8 5 1 More Olvera, Jose Rolando, Jr. Texas, S 57 10 21 11 More Table 4. Top Ten Judges
All 10 of the "top ten" judges were in districts which were in the top ten with the largest number of filings per capit.
Judge Randy Crane in the Southern District of Texas (Houston) ranked 1st with 113 defendants in cases. Judge Crane appeared in the top ten rankings one year (ranked 6) and five years ago (rank 4).
Judge Fernando Rodriguez, Jr. in the Southern District of Texas (Houston) ranked 2nd with 106 defendants in cases.
Judge Kathleen Cardone in the Western District of Texas (San Antonio) ranked 3rd with 96 defendants in cases. Judge Cardone also appeared in the top ten rankings one year ago (ranked 7).
Report Generated: April 16, 2026
