Government Regulatory Prosecutions for July 2025
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during July 2025 the government reported 61 new government regulatory prosecutions. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is down 11.6 percent over the previous month.
The comparisons of the number of defendants charged with government regulatory-related offenses 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%). 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 66.9 percent from levels reported in 2020.
The substantial 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 government regulatory prosecutions is 4.4 percent instead of 66.9 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 Government Regulatory Prosecutions
The increase from the levels five years ago in government regulatory prosecutions for these matters is shown more clearly in Figure 1. The vertical bars in Figure 1 represent the number of government regulatory 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.
Within the broad category of government regulatory, cases were classified by prosecutors into more specific types.
Case types within government regulatory are
Counterfeiting and Forgery
Customs Violations - Duty
Customs Violations - Currency
Energy Pricing and Related Fraud
Health and Safety Violations - Employees
Health and Safety Violations - General Public
Copyright Violations
Trafficking in Contraband Cigarettes
Energy Violations - Nuclear Waste Issues
Money Laundering/Structuring (Narcotics)
Money Laundering/Structuring (Other)
Export Enforcement General
Other Government Regulatory Offenses
The largest number of prosecutions of these matters in July 2025 was for "Money Laundering-Other", accounting for 34.4 percent of prosecutions. Prosecutions were also filed for "Other-Regulatory Offenses" (29.5%), "Money Laundering-Drug" (16.4%), "Customs-Currency Violations" (8.2%), "Counterfeiting and Forgery" (4.9%), "Customs-Duty Violations" (3.3%), "Export Enforcement General" (3.3%). See Figure 2.
The lead investigative agency for government regulatory prosecutions in July 2025 was DHS accounting for 39 percent of prosecutions referred. Other agencies with substantial numbers of government regulatory referrals were: DEA (13% ), Defense (8%), FBI (8%), Interior (8%). See Figure 3.
Government Regulatory Prosecutions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In July 2025, 27 defendants in government regulatory 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 July the most frequently cited lead charge was Title 18 U.S.C Section 13 involving "Laws of States Adopted in Federal jurisdiction". This was the lead charge for 22.2 percent of all magistrate filings in July.
Other frequently prosecuted lead charges include: "31 USC 5332 - Bulk Cash Smuggling into or out of the United States" (18.5%).
Government Regulatory Prosecutions in U.S. District Courts
In July 2025, 34 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during July there were an additional 11 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 July.
Top Ranked Lead Charges
Table 2 shows the top lead charges recorded in the prosecutions of government regulatory matters filed in U.S. District Court during July 2025.
Lead Charge Count Rank 12 USC 1957 - Financial record keeing - additional crim penalty 10 1 More 18 USC 1956 - Laundering of monetary instruments 5 2 More 18 USC 1029 - Fraud and related activity - access devices 3 4 More 31 USC 5332 - Bulk Cash Smuggling into or out of the United States 3 4 More 16 USC 470 - Archeological Resource Protection 2 6 More 18 USC 371 - Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US 2 6 More 18 USC 472 - Uttering counterfeit obligations or securities 2 6 More 18 USC 1343 - Fraud by wire, radio, or television 2 6 More 18 USC 1349 - Mail Fraud - Attempt and Conspiracy 2 6 More 18 USC 1703 - Delay or destruction of mail or newspapers 2 6 More 18 USC 1957 - Monetary transactions w/property from unlawful act 2 6 More Table 2. Top Charges Filed
"Financial record keeing - additional crim penalty" (Title 12 U.S.C Section 1957) was the most frequent recorded lead charge.
Ranked 2nd in frequency was the lead charge "Laundering of monetary instruments" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 1956.
Ranked 3rd was "Other US Code Section" under Title U.S.C Section.
Top Ranked Judicial Districts
In July 2025 the Justice Department's case-by-case records show that the government brought 16.1 government regulatory prosecutions for every ten million people in the United States.
Understandably, there is great variation in the number of government regulatory prosecutions that are filed in each of the nation's ninety-four federal judicial districts.
The districts registering the largest number of prosecutions of this type last month are shown in Table 3.
Judicial District Count Rank Fla, M 12 1 More Cal, C 6 2 More Virg, E 5 3 More Texas, W 3 4 More Ala, M 2 5 More N. Y., S 2 5 More Nevada 2 5 More Utah 2 5 More Arizona 1 9 More Cal, N 1 9 More Ga, S 1 9 More Kansas 1 9 More N Mexico 1 9 More N. Y., E 1 9 More Ohio, S 1 9 More Puer Rico 1 9 More R. I. 1 9 More S Dakota 1 9 More Texas, S 1 9 More Table 3. Top 10 Districts
The Middle District of Florida (Tampa) — with 12 prosecutions — was the most active during July 2025.
The Central District of California (Los Angeles) ranked 2nd.
Eastern District of Virginia (Alexandria) is now ranking 3rd.
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 government regulatory crime cases of this type during July 2025 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank Barber, Thomas Patrick Fla, M 10 1 More Trenga, Anthony John Virg, E 4 2 More Doyle, Stephen Michael Ala, M 2 3 More Kohler, Paul Utah 2 3 More Kronstadt, John Arnold Cal, C 1 5 More Davila, Edward John Cal, N 1 5 More Chappell, Sheri Polster Fla, M 1 5 More Dalton, Roy Bale, Jr. Fla, M 1 5 More Hall, James Randal Ga, S 1 5 More Broomes, John Wesley Kansas 1 5 More Torres, Analisa Nadine N. Y., S 1 5 More Watson, Michael H. Ohio, S 1 5 More Velez-Rive, Camille L. Puer Rico 1 5 More Rodriguez, Fernando, Jr. Texas, S 1 5 More Briones, David Texas, W 1 5 More Pitman, Robert Texas, W 1 5 More Alston, Rossie David, Jr. Virg, E 1 5 More Table 4. Top Ten Judges
All 17 of the "top ten" judges were in districts which were in the top ten with the largest number of government regulatory filings. (Because of ties, there were a total of 17 judges in the "top ten" rankings.)
Judge Thomas Patrick Barber in the Middle District of Florida (Tampa) ranked 1st with 10 defendants in government regulatory cases.
Judge Anthony John Trenga in the Eastern District of Virginia (Alexandria) ranked 2nd with 4 defendants in government regulatory cases.
Judges Stephen Michael Doyle in the Middle District of Alabama (Montgomery) and Paul Kohler in the District of Utah ranked 3rd with 2 defendants in government regulatory cases.
Report Generated: September 25, 2025
