Government Regulatory Prosecutions for October 2025
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during October 2025 the government reported 79 new government regulatory prosecutions. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is down 4.8 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 up (3.6%). 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 90 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 29.6 percent instead of 90 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 October 2025 was for "Money Laundering-Other", accounting for 54.4 percent of prosecutions. Prosecutions were also filed for "Other-Regulatory Offenses" (20.3%), "Money Laundering-Drug" (6.3%), "Counterfeiting and Forgery" (5.1%), "Export Enforcement General" (5.1%), "Customs-Currency Violations" (3.8%), "Customs-Duty Violations" (3.8%). See Figure 2.
The lead investigative agency for government regulatory prosecutions in October 2025 was FBI accounting for 42 percent of prosecutions referred. Other agencies with substantial numbers of government regulatory referrals were: DHS (24% ), Veteran (9%), Agri (5%). See Figure 3.
Government Regulatory Prosecutions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In October 2025, 23 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 October the most frequently cited lead charge was Title U.S.C Section involving "Other US Code Section". This was the lead charge for 26.1 percent of all magistrate filings in October.
Government Regulatory Prosecutions in U.S. District Courts
In October 2025, 56 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during October there were an additional 12 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 October.
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 October 2025.
Lead Charge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago 18 USC 1343 - Fraud by wire, radio, or television 32 1 18 7 More 18 USC 1956 - Laundering of monetary instruments 15 2 1 1 More 18 USC 1028 - Fraud and related activity - id documents 5 3 - 20 More 18 USC 472 - Uttering counterfeit obligations or securities 3 4 7 2 More 18 USC 554 - Smuggling goods from the United States 3 4 5 17 More 18 USC 510 - Forging endorsements on Treasury checks, bonds se 2 6 - - More 08 USC 1326 - Reentry of deported alien 1 7 - - More 18 USC 371 - Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US 1 7 11 4 More 18 USC 1344 - Bank Fraud 1 7 24 17 More 18 USC 1349 - Mail Fraud - Attempt and Conspiracy 1 7 7 29 More 19 USC 1433 - Report of arrival of vessels, vehicles, and aircra 1 7 - - More 31 USC 5332 - Bulk Cash Smuggling into or out of the United States 1 7 3 3 More 43 CFR 8365.1-2a - Camping Longer Than Permitted 1 7 - - More Table 2. Top Charges Filed
"Fraud by wire, radio, or television" (Title 18 U.S.C Section 1343) 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. "Laundering of monetary instruments" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 1956 was ranked 1 a year ago, while it was ranked 1 five years ago.
Ranked 3rd was "Fraud and related activity - id documents" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 1028.
Among these top ten lead charges, the one showing the greatest increase in prosecutions — up 1900 percent — compared to one year ago was Title 18 U.S.C Section 1343 that involves " Fraud by wire, radio, or television ". Compared to five years ago, the largest increase — 1100 percent — was registered for prosecutions under " Mail Fraud - Attempt and Conspiracy " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 1349 ).
Again among the top ten lead charges, the one showing the sharpest decline in prosecutions compared to one year ago — down 60 percent — was " Smuggling goods from the United States " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 554 ). Compared to five years ago, the most significant decline in prosecutions — 50 percent — was for filings where the lead charge was " Uttering counterfeit obligations or securities " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 472 ).
Top Ranked Judicial Districts
In October 2025 the Justice Department's case-by-case records show that the government brought 24 government regulatory prosecutions for every ten million people in the United States.
Understandably, there is great variation in the per capita 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 per capita for these matters last month are shown in Table 3. Districts must have at least 5 government regulatory prosecutions to receive a ranking.
Judicial District Percapita Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago N. Y., E 474 33 1 14 - More Table 3. Top 10 Districts (per ten million people)
The Eastern District of New York (Brooklyn) — with 474 prosecutions as compared with 24 prosecutions per ten million population in the United States — was the most active during October 2025.
A recent entry to the top 10 list was Eastern District of New York (Brooklyn), now ranked 1st . This district ranked 14th one year ago and .th five years ago.
The federal judicial district which showed the greatest growth in the rate of government regulatory prosecutions compared to one year ago — 825 percent — was Eastern District of New York (Brooklyn). This was the same district that had the largest increase — 3400 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 government regulatory crime cases of this type during October 2025 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago Azrack, Joan Marie N. Y., E 31 1 - - More Williams, Kathleen Mary Fla, S 2 2 28 - More Ballou, Robert S. Virg, W 2 2 - - More Walter, John F. Cal, C 1 4 28 - More Breyer, Charles R. Cal, N 1 4 - - More Battaglia, Anthony Joseph Cal, S 1 4 - 40 More Bolden, Victor Allen Conn 1 4 - - More Honeywell, Charlene Vanessa Edwards Fla, M 1 4 - - More Bennett, Richard D. Maryland 1 4 - - More Pappert, Gerald John Penn, E 1 4 - - More Crane, Randy Texas, S 1 4 5 - More Counts, Walter David, III Texas, W 1 4 - 40 More Pitman, Robert Texas, W 1 4 - - More Shickich, R. Michael Wyoming 1 4 - - More Table 4. Top Ten Judges
A total of 1 out of the "top ten" judges were in districts which were in the top ten with the largest number of government regulatory filings per capita, while the remaining 13 judges were from other districts. (Because of ties, there were a total of 14 judges in the "top ten" rankings.)
Judge Joan Marie Azrack in the Eastern District of New York (Brooklyn) ranked 1st with 31 defendants in government regulatory cases.
Judges Kathleen Mary Williams in the Southern District of Florida (Miami) and Robert S. Ballou in the Western District of Virginia (Roanoke) ranked 2nd with 2 defendants in government regulatory cases.
Report Generated: February 19, 2026
