Prosecutions for October 2025
Referring Agency: Internal Revenue Service
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during October 2025 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 1.6 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 2025 prosecutions of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, the number of filings was up (15.4%). 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 9.1 percent from levels reported in 2020.
The 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 prosecutions is 5.2 percent instead of 9.1 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 Prosecutions
The increase 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 October 2025 was for "Withheld by Govt from TRAC (FOIA challen", accounting for 45.3 percent of prosecutions. Prosecutions were also filed for "Fraud-Tax" (34.4%), "Fraud-Other" (6.3%). See Figure 2.
Prosecutions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In October 2025, 1 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 October the most frequently cited lead charge was Title 18 U.S.C Section 1952 involving "Racketeering -interstate/foreign travel/transport". This was the lead charge for 100 percent of all magistrate filings in October.
Prosecutions in U.S. District Courts
In October 2025, 63 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during October there were an additional 5 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 matters filed in U.S. District Court during October 2025 referred by the Internal Revenue Service.
Lead Charge Count Rank 26 USC 7201 - Attempt to evade or defeat tax 11 1 More 18 USC 371 - Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US 4 2 More 26 USC 7202 - Willful failure to collect or pay over tax 4 2 More 26 USC 7206 - Fraud and False statements 4 2 More 18 USC 1343 - Fraud by wire, radio, or television 3 5 More 18 USC 1956 - Laundering of monetary instruments 3 5 More 18 USC 286 - Conspiracy to defraud the Government claims 2 7 More 18 USC 287 - False, fictitious or fraudulent claims 2 7 More 18 USC 641 - Public money, property or records 1 10 More 18 USC 1521 - Retaliate against federal judge/law enforcement false claim/slander 1 10 More 18 USC 1957 - Monetary transactions w/property from unlawful act 1 10 More 18 USC 3146 - Penalty for failure to appear 1 10 More Table 2. Top Charges Filed
"Attempt to evade or defeat tax" (Title 26 U.S.C Section 7201) was the most frequent recorded lead charge.
Ranked 2nd in frequency were the lead charges "Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 371, "Willful failure to collect or pay over tax" under Title 26 U.S.C Section 7202 and "Fraud and False statements" under Title 26 U.S.C Section 7206.
Top Ranked Judicial Districts
In October 2025 the Justice Department's case-by-case records show that the government brought 24 prosecutions for every ten million people in the United States.
Understandably, there is great variation in the per capita 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 per capita for these matters last month are shown in Table 3. Districts must have at least 5 prosecutions to receive a ranking.
Judicial District Percapita Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago Cal, E 313 22 1 6 40 More Table 3. Top 10 Districts (per ten million people)
The Eastern District of California (Sacramento) — with 313 prosecutions as compared with 24 prosecutions per ten million population in the United States — was the most active during October 2025. The Eastern District of California (Sacramento) was ranked 6 a year ago.
A recent entry to the top 10 list was Eastern District of California (Sacramento), now ranked 1st . This district ranked 17th one year ago and 42nd five years ago.
The federal judicial district which showed the greatest growth in the rate of prosecutions compared to one year ago — 190 percent — was Eastern District of California (Sacramento). This was the same district that had the largest increase — 1350 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 crime cases of this type during October 2025 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago Thurston, Jennifer L. Cal, E 21 1 2 - More Slomsky, Joel Harvey Penn, E 3 2 33 - More Lanza, Dominic William Arizona 2 3 - 48 More Carter, David O. Cal, C 2 3 33 - More Cogburn, Max Oliver, Jr. N Car, W 2 3 33 3 More Williamson, Karen M. N. J. 2 3 - - More Chen, Pamela Ki Mai N. Y., E 2 3 - - More Hoyt, Kenneth M. Texas, S 2 3 - - More Burke, Liles Clifton Ala, N 1 9 - - More Mendez, John A. Cal, E 1 9 - 48 More Moskowitz, Barry Ted Cal, S 1 9 - - More Covington, Virginia Maria Hernandez Fla, M 1 9 - - More Honeywell, Charlene Vanessa Edwards Fla, M 1 9 33 20 More Berger, Wendy Williams Fla, M 1 9 14 - More Ruiz, Rodolfo Armando, II Fla, S 1 9 - - More Cannon, Aileen Mercedes Fla, S 1 9 33 - More Anand, Justin S. Ga, N 1 9 - 10 More Bucklo, Elaine E. Ill, N 1 9 - - More Caldwell, Karen K. Ken, E 1 9 - - More Wier, Robert Earl Ken, E 1 9 - - More Leitman, Matthew Frederick Mich, E 1 9 4 - More Brisbois, Leo I. Minnesota 1 9 33 - More Harpool, M. Douglas Mo, W 1 9 - - More Wigenton, Susan Davis N. J. 1 9 - 7 More Koppe, Nancy J. Nevada 1 9 - - More Rice, Walter Herbert Ohio, S 1 9 - - More Pappert, Gerald John Penn, E 1 9 - - More Lake, Simeon Timothy, III Texas, S 1 9 - - More Pitman, Robert Texas, W 1 9 - - More Goodwin, Joseph Robert W Virg, S 1 9 - - More Skavdahl, Scott Wesley Wyoming 1 9 33 - More Table 4. Top Ten Judges
A total of 2 out of the "top ten" judges were in districts which were in the top ten with the largest number of filings per capita, while the remaining 29 judges were from other districts. (Because of ties, there were a total of 31 judges in the "top ten" rankings.)
Judge Jennifer L. Thurston in the Eastern District of California (Sacramento) ranked 1st with 21 defendants in cases. Judge Thurston also appeared in the top ten rankings one year ago (ranked 2).
Judge Joel Harvey Slomsky in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia) ranked 2nd with 3 defendants in cases.
Judges Dominic William Lanza in the District of Arizona, David O. Carter in the Central District of California (Los Angeles), Max Oliver Cogburn, Jr. in the Western District of North Carolina (Asheville), Karen M. Williamson in the District of New Jersey, Pamela Ki Mai Chen in the Eastern District of New York (Brooklyn) and Kenneth M. Hoyt in the Southern District of Texas (Houston) ranked 3rd with 2 defendants in cases.
Report Generated: February 19, 2026
