Convictions for March 2025
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during March 2025 the government reported 10965 new convictions. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is up 46.6 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 2025 convictions of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, the number of convictions was up (20.3%). 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 41.7 percent from levels reported in 2020.
The dip in these cases is partly related to increases in the matters filed in U.S. Magistrate Courts. If magistrate cases are excluded and only Federal District Court cases are counted, the overall decrease in convictions is 10.7 percent instead of 41.7 percent. The evidence suggests that part of the difference may be the result of improvements in the recording of the magistrate cases by the Justice Department.
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 March 2025 was for "Immigration", accounting for 57.5 percent of convictions. Convictions were also filed for "Drugs-Drug Trafficking" (10%), "Weapons-Operation Triggerlock Major" (8.5%), "Drugs-Organized Crime Task Force" (5.6%), "Withheld by Govt from TRAC (FOIA challen" (2.5%), "Project Safe Childhood" (2.5%). See Figure 2.
The lead investigative agency for convictions in March 2025 was DHS accounting for 64 percent of convictions. Other agencies with substantial numbers of convictions were: FBI (11% ), DEA (8%), ATF (7%), Local (2%). See Figure 3.
Convictions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In March 2025, 1549 defendants 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.
In the magistrate courts in March the most frequently cited lead charge was Title 8 U.S.C Section 1325 involving "Entry of alien at improper time or place; etc.". This was the lead charge for 85.4 percent of all magistrate convictions in March.
Convictions in U.S. District Courts
In March 2025, 9416 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during March 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 March.
Top Ranked Lead Charges
Table 2 shows the top lead charges recorded in the convictions of matters filed in U.S. District Court during March 2025.
Lead Charge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago 08 USC 1326 - Reentry of deported alien 3,875 1 1 1 More 21 USC 841 - Drug Abuse Prevention & Control-Prohibited acts A 977 2 2 2 More 18 USC 922 - Firearms; Unlawful acts 842 3 3 3 More 08 USC 1324 - Bringing in and harboring certain aliens 771 4 5 5 More 21 USC 846 - Attempt and conspiracy 443 5 4 4 More 08 USC 1325 - Entry of alien at improper time or place; etc. 228 6 17 15 More 18 USC 1343 - Fraud by wire, radio, or television 157 7 6 10 More 21 USC 952 - Importation of controlled substances 120 9 9 6 More 18 USC 2252 - Material involving sexual exploitation of minors 87 10 8 7 More Table 2. Top Charges for Convictions
"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 convictions — up 228.6 percent — compared to one year ago was Title 8 U.S.C Section 1325 that involves " Entry of alien at improper time or place; etc. ". This was the same statute that had the largest increase — 117.1 % — when compared with five years ago.
Again among the top ten lead charges, the one showing the sharpest decline in convictions compared to one year ago — down 9.3 percent — was " Importation of controlled substances " (Title 21 U.S.C Section 952 ). This was the same statute that had the largest decrease — 47.9 % — when compared with five years ago.
Top Ranked Judicial Districts
In March 2025 the Justice Department's case-by-case records show that the government obtained 3373.8 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 Arizona 33,846 2,096 1 1 3 More Cal, S 22,580 649 2 4 5 More Texas, W 18,522 1,224 3 2 2 More N Mexico 13,167 232 4 6 4 More Texas, S 12,982 1,121 5 3 1 More Montana 9,958 94 6 44 56 More Wyoming 9,657 47 7 85 80 More Mo, E 7,129 173 8 10 9 More W Virg, N 6,609 51 9 65 44 More Ala, S 5,661 41 10 74 49 More Table 3. Top 10 Districts (per ten million people)
The District of Arizona — with 33846 convictions as compared with 3373.8 convictions per ten million population in the United States — was the most active during March 2025. The District of Arizona was ranked 1 a year ago, while it was ranked 3 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 5 for most frequent use five years ago.
Western District of Texas (San Antonio) is now ranking 3rd. The Western District of Texas (San Antonio) was ranked 2 a year ago, while it was ranked 2 for most frequent use five years ago.
Recent entrants to the top 10 list were Montana , now ranked 6th , and Northern District of West Virginia (Wheeling) at 9th In the same order, these districts ranked 44th and 65th one year ago and 56th and 44th five years ago.
The federal judicial district which showed the greatest growth in the rate of convictions compared to one year ago — 136 percent — was Arizona . This was the same district that had the largest increase — 163.7 percent — when compared with five years ago.
In the last year, the judicial District Court recording the largest drop in the rate of convictions — 10.5 percent — was New Mexico . This was the same district that had the largest increase — 75.3 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 resulting in convictions of this type during March 2025 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago Kimmins, Lynnette C. Arizona 465 1 121 675 More Madonald, Bruce Gordon Arizona 201 2 33 816 More Rateau, Jacqueline M. Arizona 176 3 21 884 More Counts, Walter David, III Texas, W 174 4 2 1 More Garcia Marmolejo, Marina Texas, S 159 5 5 2 More Moses, Alia M. Texas, W 157 6 3 19 More Crane, Randy Texas, S 150 7 4 15 More Markovich, Eric J. Arizona 140 8 32 884 More Kazen, John A. Texas, S 129 9 425 - More Saldana, Diana Texas, S 117 10 6 4 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 convictions per capit.
Judge Lynnette C. Kimmins in the District of Arizona ranked 1st with 465 convicted in convictions.
Judge Bruce Gordon Madonald in the District of Arizona ranked 2nd with 201 convicted in convictions.
Judge Jacqueline M. Rateau in the District of Arizona ranked 3rd with 176 convicted in convictions.
Report Generated: May 14, 2025
