Government Regulatory Prosecutions for June 2025
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during June 2025 the government reported 68 new government regulatory prosecutions. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is down 2.9 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 (-12.9%). 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 37.5 percent from levels reported in 2020.
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 June 2025 was for "Other-Regulatory Offenses", accounting for 63.2 percent of prosecutions. Prosecutions were also filed for "Customs-Currency Violations" (8.8%), "Money Laundering-Drug" (7.4%), "Money Laundering-Other" (7.4%), "Counterfeiting and Forgery" (5.9%), "Customs-Duty Violations" (2.9%), "Health and Safety Violations-Employees" (2.9%). See Figure 2.
The lead investigative agency for government regulatory prosecutions in June 2025 was Postal accounting for 29 percent of prosecutions referred. Other agencies with substantial numbers of government regulatory referrals were: DHS (22% ), FBI (15%), Interior (10%), Defense (6%). See Figure 3.
Government Regulatory Prosecutions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In June 2025, 41 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 June the most frequently cited lead charge was Title 43 U.S.C Section . involving "Parking Violation". This was the lead charge for 43.9 percent of all magistrate filings in June.
Other frequently prosecuted lead charges include: "Other US Code Section" (12.2%).
Government Regulatory Prosecutions in U.S. District Courts
In June 2025, 27 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during June there were an additional 7 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 June.
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 June 2025.
Lead Charge Count Rank 31 USC 5332 - Bulk Cash Smuggling into or out of the United States 8 1 More 18 USC 1956 - Laundering of monetary instruments 5 2 More 18 USC 1349 - Mail Fraud - Attempt and Conspiracy 4 3 More 41 CFR 102-74.385 - Failure to Comply with Official Signs 3 4 More 08 USC 1253 - Alien hindering his/her removal from the US 2 5 More 18 USC 545 - Smuggling goods into the United States 2 5 More 18 USC 1546 - Fraud and misuse of visas, permits, and other documents 2 5 More 08 USC 1326 - Reentry of deported alien 1 8 More 16 USC 3372 - Illegally Taken Fish & Wildlife - prohibited acts 1 8 More 18 USC 1365 - Tampering with consumer products 1 8 More 18 USC 1542 - False statement in application and use of passport 1 8 More 18 USC 2320 - Trafficking in counterfeit goods or services 1 8 More 21 USC 331 - Fed Food, Drug & Cosmetics Act - Prohibited acts 1 8 More 21 USC 843 - Drug Abuse Prevention & Control-Prohibited acts C 1 8 More Table 2. Top Charges Filed
"Bulk Cash Smuggling into or out of the United States" (Title 31 U.S.C Section 5332) 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 "Mail Fraud - Attempt and Conspiracy" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 1349.
Top Ranked Judicial Districts
In June 2025 the Justice Department's case-by-case records show that the government brought 12.2 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 Texas, S 9 1 More Puer Rico 4 2 More Oregon 3 3 More Virg, E 3 3 More Arizona 2 5 More N Mar Is 2 5 More Texas, W 2 5 More Ala, M 1 8 More Cal, C 1 8 More Cal, S 1 8 More Iowa, N 1 8 More N Car, M 1 8 More N. Y., E 1 8 More Ohio, S 1 8 More Penn, W 1 8 More Wisc, W 1 8 More Table 3. Top 10 Districts
The Southern District of Texas (Houston) — with 9 prosecutions — was the most active during June 2025.
The District of Puerto Rico ranked 2nd.
District of Oregon and Eastern District of Virginia (Alexandria) are 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 June 2025 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank Crane, Randy Texas, S 4 1 More Delgado Hernandez, Pedro Alberto Puer Rico 2 2 More Olvera, Jose Rolando, Jr. Texas, S 2 2 More Rodriguez, Fernando, Jr. Texas, S 2 2 More Nachmanoff, Michael S. Virg, E 2 2 More Strand, Leonard T. Iowa, N 1 6 More Sargus, Edmund A., Jr. Ohio, S 1 6 More Simon, Michael Howard Oregon 1 6 More Schwab, Arthur J. Penn, W 1 6 More Rosenthal, Lee Hyman Texas, S 1 6 More Briones, David Texas, W 1 6 More Conley, William Martin Wisc, W 1 6 More Table 4. Top Ten Judges
All 12 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 12 judges in the "top ten" rankings.)
Judge Randy Crane in the Southern District of Texas (Houston) ranked 1st with 4 defendants in government regulatory cases.
Judges Pedro Alberto Delgado Hernandez in the District of Puerto Rico, Jose Rolando Olvera, Jr. in the Southern District of Texas (Houston), Fernando Rodriguez, Jr. in the Southern District of Texas (Houston) and Michael S. Nachmanoff in the Eastern District of Virginia (Alexandria) ranked 2nd with 2 defendants in government regulatory cases.
Report Generated: July 29, 2025
