Convictions for September 2025
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during September 2025 the government reported 9559 new convictions. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is up 11.6 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 (37.4%). 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 57.7 percent from levels reported in 2020.
The growth 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 increase in convictions is 36.7 percent instead of 57.7 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 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 September 2025 was for "Immigration", accounting for 50.9 percent of convictions. Convictions were also filed for "Drugs-Drug Trafficking" (11%), "Weapons-Operation Triggerlock Major" (10.7%), "Drugs-Organized Crime Task Force" (7.3%), "Project Safe Childhood" (3.1%). See Figure 2.
The lead investigative agency for convictions in September 2025 was DHS accounting for 57 percent of convictions. Other agencies with substantial numbers of convictions were: FBI (12% ), ATF (9%), DEA (9%), Local (2%). See Figure 3.
Convictions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In September 2025, 2091 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 September 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 89.9 percent of all magistrate convictions in September.
Convictions in U.S. District Courts
In September 2025, 7468 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during September 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 September.
Top Ranked Lead Charges
Table 2 shows the top lead charges recorded in the convictions of matters filed in U.S. District Court during September 2025.
Lead Charge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago 08 USC 1326 - Reentry of deported alien 2,367 1 1 1 More 21 USC 841 - Drug Abuse Prevention & Control-Prohibited acts A 986 2 2 2 More 18 USC 922 - Firearms; Unlawful acts 926 3 3 3 More 21 USC 846 - Attempt and conspiracy 491 4 5 4 More 08 USC 1324 - Bringing in and harboring certain aliens 313 5 4 5 More 18 USC 1343 - Fraud by wire, radio, or television 193 6 6 8 More 08 USC 1325 - Entry of alien at improper time or place; etc. 177 8 29 12 More 18 USC 2252 - Material involving sexual exploitation of minors 110 9 8 7 More 18 USC 2250 - Fail to register as sex offender after traveling interstate commerce 85 10 11 13 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 1086.6 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 — 710.2 % — 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 10.7 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 convictions — 200 percent — was for convictions where the lead charge was " " ( ).
Top Ranked Judicial Districts
In September 2025 the Justice Department's case-by-case records show that the government obtained 2675.8 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 Cal, S 13,430 386 1 4 4 More Texas, W 13,256 876 2 2 2 More N Mexico 11,975 211 3 5 6 More Texas, S 9,218 796 4 3 3 More W Virg, N 8,552 66 5 39 66 More Arizona 8,542 529 6 1 1 More Ala, S 8,284 60 7 74 63 More D. C. 8,130 46 8 24 80 More Mo, E 7,252 176 9 9 9 More N Dakota 5,970 39 10 57 60 More Table 3. Top 10 Districts (per ten million people)
The Southern District of California (San Diego) — with 13430 convictions as compared with 2675.8 convictions per ten million population in the United States — was the most active during September 2025. 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.
The Western District of Texas (San Antonio) ranked 2nd. 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.
District of New Mexico is now ranking 3rd. The District of New Mexico was ranked 5 a year ago, while it was ranked 6 for most frequent use five years ago.
Recent entrants to the top 10 list were Washington, D.C. (Washington), now ranked 8th , and Northern District of West Virginia (Wheeling) at 5th In the same order, these districts ranked 24th and 39th one year ago and 80th and 66th five years ago.
The federal judicial district which showed the greatest growth in the rate of convictions compared to one year ago — 67.7 percent — was Southern District of California (San Diego). Compared to five years ago, the district with the largest growth — 133.7 percent — was Northern District of West Virginia (Wheeling).
In the last year, the judicial District Court recording the largest drop in the rate of convictions — 67 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 September 2025 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago Crane, Randy Texas, S 155 1 4 18 More Saldana, Diana Texas, S 100 2 8 1 More Moses, Alia M. Texas, W 98 3 1 7 More Cardone, Kathleen Texas, W 92 4 3 13 More Schydlower, Leon Texas, W 84 5 45 794 More Kazen, John A. Texas, S 80 6 26 - More Lemmon, Mary Ann Vial Texas, W 68 7 38 43 More Madonald, Bruce Gordon Arizona 63 8 9 469 More Garcia Marmolejo, Marina Texas, S 62 9 7 5 More Markovich, Eric J. Arizona 55 10 5 569 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 Randy Crane in the Southern District of Texas (Houston) ranked 1st with 155 convicted in convictions. Judge Crane also appeared in the top ten rankings one year ago (ranked 4).
Judge Diana Saldana in the Southern District of Texas (Houston) ranked 2nd with 100 convicted in convictions. Judge Saldana appeared in the top ten rankings one year (ranked 8) and five years ago (rank 1).
Judge Alia M. Moses in the Western District of Texas (San Antonio) ranked 3rd with 98 convicted in convictions. Judge Moses appeared in the top ten rankings one year (ranked 1) and five years ago (rank 7).
Report Generated: December 8, 2025
