Convictions for March 2026
Referring Agency: Internal Revenue Service
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during March 2026 the government reported 66 new convictions 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 53.5 percent over the previous month.
The comparisons of the number of defendants convicted 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 convictions of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, the number of convictions was up (6.4%). Convictions over the past year are still much higher than they were five years ago. Overall, the data show that convictions of this type are up 24.7 percent from levels reported in 2021.
Figure 1. Monthly Trends in Convictions
The increase from the levels five years ago in convictions for these matters is shown more clearly in Figure 1. The vertical bars in Figure 1 represent the number of convictions 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 convictions of these matters in March 2026 was for "Fraud-Tax", accounting for 53 percent of convictions. Convictions were also filed for "Drugs-Organized Crime Task Force" (10.6%), "Fraud-Other" (10.6%), "Fraud-Federal Program" (9.1%), "Money Laundering-Other" (4.5%), "Organized Crime-Emerging Organization" (4.5%), "Fraud-Computer" (3%), "Fraud-Financial Institution" (3%). See Figure 2.
Convictions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In March 2026, 1 defendants in cases for these matters were convicted 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 March the most frequently cited lead charge was Title 26 U.S.C Section 7201 involving "Attempt to evade or defeat tax". This was the lead charge for 100 percent of all magistrate convictions in March.
Convictions in U.S. District Courts
In March 2026, 65 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during March there were an additional 0 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 March.
Top Ranked Lead Charges
Table 2 shows the top lead charges recorded in the convictions of matters filed in U.S. District Court during March 2026 referred by the Internal Revenue Service.
Lead Charge Count Rank 26 USC 7201 - Attempt to evade or defeat tax 13 1 More 18 USC 1343 - Fraud by wire, radio, or television 11 2 More 26 USC 7206 - Fraud and False statements 9 3 More 26 USC 7202 - Willful failure to collect or pay over tax 6 4 More 18 USC 1956 - Laundering of monetary instruments 5 5 More 18 USC 371 - Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US 4 6 More 18 USC 1955 - Prohibition of illegal gambling businesses 3 7 More 21 USC 846 - Attempt and conspiracy 3 7 More 18 USC 1344 - Bank Fraud 2 9 More 18 USC 1960 - Prohibition of illegal money transmitting business 2 9 More Table 2. Top Charges for Convictions
"Attempt to evade or defeat tax" (Title 26 U.S.C Section 7201) was the most frequent recorded lead charge.
Ranked 2nd in frequency was the lead charge "Fraud by wire, radio, or television" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 1343.
Ranked 3rd was "Fraud and False statements" under Title 26 U.S.C Section 7206.
Top Ranked Judicial Districts
In March 2026 the Justice Department's case-by-case records show that the government obtained 22.9 convictions for every ten million people in the United States.
Understandably, there is great variation in the number of convictions in each of the nation's ninety-four federal judicial districts.
The districts registering the largest number of convictions of this type last month are shown in Table 3.
The Eastern District of California (Sacramento) and Western District of Missouri (Kansas City) — with 5 convictions — were the most active during March 2026.
Western District of Kentucky (Louisville) and District of Nevada 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 crime cases resulting in convictions of this type during March 2026 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank Mendez, John A. Cal, E 3 1 More Boom, Claria Horn Ken, W 3 1 More Kays, David Gregory Mo, W 3 1 More Immergut, Karin Johanna Oregon 3 1 More Lanza, Dominic William Arizona 2 5 More Smith, Rodney Fla, S 2 5 More Young, Richard L. Ind, S 2 5 More Boulware, Richard Franklin, II Nevada 2 5 More Sam, David Utah 2 5 More Kleeh, Thomas Shawn W Virg, N 2 5 More Table 4. Top Ten Judges
A total of 6 out of the "top ten" judges were in districts which were in the top ten with the largest number of convictions , while the remaining 4 judges were from other districts.
Judges John A. Mendez in the Eastern District of California (Sacramento), Claria Horn Boom in the Western District of Kentucky (Louisville), David Gregory Kays in the Western District of Missouri (Kansas City) and Karin Johanna Immergut in the District of Oregon ranked 1st with 3 convicted in convictions.
Report Generated: May 21, 2026
