Prosecutions for August 2026
Referring Agency: Internal Revenue Service
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during August 2026 the government reported 64 new prosecutions for these matters. Those cases were referred by the Internal Revenue Service. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is up 12.3 percent over the previous month.
The comparisons of the number of defendants charged 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 (7.8%). Prosecutions over the past year are still much lower than they were five years ago. Overall, the data show that prosecutions of this type are down 21.1 percent from levels reported in 2021.
Figure 1. Monthly Trends in Prosecutions
The decrease from the levels five years ago in prosecutions for these matters is shown more clearly in Figure 1. The vertical bars in Figure 1 represent the number of 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.
Cases were classified by prosecutors into more specific types.
The largest number of prosecutions of these matters in August 2026 was for "Fraud-Tax", accounting for 23.4 percent of prosecutions. Prosecutions were also filed for "Withheld by Govt from TRAC (FOIA challen" (17.2%), "Fraud-Other" (15.6%), "Export Enforcement General" (7.8%), "Fraud-Federal Program" (7.8%), "Fraud-Financial Institution" (6.3%), "Money Laundering-Other" (4.7%), "Fraud-Identity Theft-Other" (3.1%), "Money Laundering-Drug" (3.1%). See Figure 2.
Prosecutions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In August 2026, 6 defendants in 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 August the most frequently cited lead charge was Title 18 U.S.C Section 1960 involving "Prohibition of illegal money transmitting business". This was the lead charge for 33.3 percent of all magistrate filings in August.
Prosecutions in U.S. District Courts
In August 2026, 58 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during August there were an additional 2 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 August.
Top Ranked Lead Charges
Table 2 shows the top lead charges recorded in the prosecutions of matters filed in U.S. District Court during August 2026 referred by the Internal Revenue Service.
Lead Charge Count Rank 18 USC 1343 - Fraud by wire, radio, or television 14 1 More 18 USC 1349 - Mail Fraud - Attempt and Conspiracy 7 2 More 26 USC 7201 - Attempt to evade or defeat tax 7 2 More 26 USC 7202 - Willful failure to collect or pay over tax 3 4 More 26 USC 7206 - Fraud and False statements 3 4 More 18 USC 287 - False, fictitious or fraudulent claims 2 6 More 18 USC 371 - Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US 2 6 More 18 USC 1344 - Bank Fraud 2 6 More 18 USC 1956 - Laundering of monetary instruments 2 6 More 18 USC 1957 - Monetary transactions w/property from unlawful act 2 6 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 were the lead charges "Mail Fraud - Attempt and Conspiracy" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 1349 and "Attempt to evade or defeat tax" under Title 26 U.S.C Section 7201.
Top Ranked Judicial Districts
In August 2026 the Justice Department's case-by-case records show that the government brought 21.2 prosecutions for every ten million people in the United States.
Understandably, there is great variation in the number of 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 Southern District of Ohio (Cincinnati) — with 10 prosecutions — was the most active during August 2026.
The Western District of Kentucky (Louisville) ranked 2nd.
District of Washington, D.C. (Washington) 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 crime cases of this type during August 2026 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank Morrison, Sarah Daggett Ohio, S 8 1 More Hale, David Jason Ken, W 5 2 More Bough, Stephen Rogers Mo, W 2 3 More Maze, Corey Landon Ala, N 1 4 More Brooks, Timothy Lloyd Ark, W 1 4 More Berger, Wendy Williams Fla, M 1 4 More Bloom, Beth Francine Fla, S 1 4 More Ruiz, Rodolfo Armando, II Fla, S 1 4 More Bourgeois, Richard L., Jr. La, M 1 4 More Gorton, Nathaniel M. Mass 1 4 More Stearns, Richard Gaylore Mass 1 4 More Dever, James C., III N Car, E 1 4 More Shipp, Michael A. N. J. 1 4 More Williamson, Karen M. N. J. 1 4 More Dlott, Susan J. Ohio, S 1 4 More McShane, Michael Jerome Oregon 1 4 More Slomsky, Joel Harvey Penn, E 1 4 More Beetlestone, Wendy Penn, E 1 4 More Conti, Joy Flowers Penn, W 1 4 More Kernodle, Jeremy Daniel Texas, E 1 4 More Barker, J. Campbell Texas, E 1 4 More Ezra, David Alan Texas, W 1 4 More Pepper, Pamela Wisc, E 1 4 More Table 4. Top Ten Judges
A total of 17 out of the "top ten" judges were in districts which were in the top ten with the largest number of filings , while the remaining 6 judges were from other districts. (Because of ties, there were a total of 23 judges in the "top ten" rankings.)
Judge Sarah Daggett Morrison in the Southern District of Ohio (Cincinnati) ranked 1st with 8 defendants in cases.
Judge David Jason Hale in the Western District of Kentucky (Louisville) ranked 2nd with 5 defendants in cases.
Judge Stephen Rogers Bough in the Western District of Missouri (Kansas City) ranked 3rd with 2 defendants in cases.
Report Generated: October 27, 2026
