Government Regulatory Prosecutions for June 2026
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during June 2026 the government reported 78 new government regulatory prosecutions. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is up 27.9 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 2026 prosecutions of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, the number of filings was up (54.3%). 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 61.1 percent from levels reported in 2021.
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 2026 was for "Other-Regulatory Offenses", accounting for 56.4 percent of prosecutions. Prosecutions were also filed for "Money Laundering-Other" (20.5%), "Export Enforcement General" (6.4%), "Customs-Currency Violations" (5.1%), "Money Laundering-Drug" (5.1%), "Counterfeiting and Forgery" (3.8%). See Figure 2.
The lead investigative agency for government regulatory prosecutions in June 2026 was Interior accounting for 24 percent of prosecutions referred. Other agencies with substantial numbers of government regulatory referrals were: FBI (17% ), DHS (14%), Veteran (12%), Postal (9%). See Figure 3.
Government Regulatory Prosecutions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In June 2026, 51 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 U.S.C Section involving "Federal Regulation". This was the lead charge for 21.6 percent of all magistrate filings in June.
Government Regulatory Prosecutions in U.S. District Courts
In June 2026, 27 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during June there were an additional 9 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 2026.
Lead Charge Count Rank 18 USC 1349 - Mail Fraud - Attempt and Conspiracy 7 1 More 18 USC 1956 - Laundering of monetary instruments 6 2 More 18 USC 1343 - Fraud by wire, radio, or television 3 3 More 31 USC 5332 - Bulk Cash Smuggling into or out of the United States 3 3 More 49 USC 40103 - Sovereignty and use of airspace 3 3 More 08 USC 1326 - Reentry of deported alien 2 6 More 18 USC 401 - Power of Court 2 6 More 50 USC 4819 - Export controls - penalties 2 6 More 07 USC 2156 - Animal Fighting Venture Prohibited 1 9 More 18 USC 371 - Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US 1 9 More 18 USC 472 - Uttering counterfeit obligations or securities 1 9 More 18 USC 641 - Public money, property or records 1 9 More 18 USC 1344 - Bank Fraud 1 9 More 18 USC 3056 - Powers, authorities, and duties US Secret Service 1 9 More 29 USC 666 - Occupational safety and health - penalties 1 9 More 31 USC 5316 - Exporting and importing monetary instruments( 1 9 More Table 2. Top Charges Filed
"Mail Fraud - Attempt and Conspiracy" (Title 18 U.S.C Section 1349) 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 were "Fraud by wire, radio, or television" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 1343, "Bulk Cash Smuggling into or out of the United States" under Title 31 U.S.C Section 5332 and "Sovereignty and use of airspace" under Title 49 U.S.C Section 40103.
Top Ranked Judicial Districts
In June 2026 the Justice Department's case-by-case records show that the government brought 12.7 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.
The District of Connecticut — with 7 prosecutions — was the most active during June 2026.
The Southern District of New York (Manhattan) and Northern District of Texas (Fort Worth) ranked 2nd.
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 2026 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank Burke, Liles Clifton Ala, N 2 1 More Oetken, James Paul N. Y., S 2 1 More Lauck, M. Hannah Virg, E 2 1 More Houston, John A. Cal, S 1 4 More Story, Richard W. Ga, N 1 4 More Yandle, Staci Michelle Ill, S 1 4 More Cain, James David, Jr. La, W 1 4 More Block, Frederic N. Y., E 1 4 More Irizarry, Dora L. N. Y., E 1 4 More Marbley, Algenon L. Ohio, S 1 4 More Fowlkes, John Thomas, Jr. Tenn, W 1 4 More Lipman, Sheryl Halle Tenn, W 1 4 More Table 4. Top Ten Judges
A total of 9 out of the "top ten" judges were in districts which were in the top ten with the largest number of government regulatory filings , while the remaining 3 judges were from other districts. (Because of ties, there were a total of 12 judges in the "top ten" rankings.)
Judges Liles Clifton Burke in the Northern District of Alabama (Birmingham), James Paul Oetken in the Southern District of New York (Manhattan) and M. Hannah Lauck in the Eastern District of Virginia (Alexandria) ranked 1st with 2 defendants in government regulatory cases.
Report Generated: August 12, 2026
