Prosecutions for August 2026
Referring Agency: Social Security Administration
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during August 2026 the government reported 28 new prosecutions for these matters. Those cases were referred by the Social Security Administration. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is up 27.3 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 (19.8%). 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 28.3 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 "Theft-Government Property", accounting for 35.7 percent of prosecutions. Prosecutions were also filed for "Fraud-Federal Program" (28.6%), "Withheld by Govt from TRAC (FOIA challen" (21.4%), "Fraud-Computer" (3.6%), "Fraud-Corporate" (3.6%), "Fraud-Health Care" (3.6%), "Fraud-Identity Theft-Aggravated" (3.6%). See Figure 2.
Prosecutions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In August 2026, 2 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 641 involving "Public money, property or records". This was the lead charge for 50 percent of all magistrate filings in August.
Prosecutions in U.S. District Courts
In August 2026, 26 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 Social Security Administration.
Lead Charge Count Rank 18 USC 641 - Public money, property or records 14 1 More 18 USC 1343 - Fraud by wire, radio, or television 3 2 More 42 USC 408 - Fed Old Age, Survivors & Disab Insur -Penalties 2 3 More 18 USC 922 - Firearms; Unlawful acts 1 4 More 18 USC 1028 - Fraud and related activity - id documents 1 4 More 18 USC 1349 - Mail Fraud - Attempt and Conspiracy 1 4 More Table 2. Top Charges Filed
"Public money, property or records" (Title 18 U.S.C Section 641) 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 "Fed Old Age, Survivors & Disab Insur -Penalties" under Title 42 U.S.C Section 408.
Top Ranked Judicial Districts
In August 2026 the Justice Department's case-by-case records show that the government brought 9.9 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 Texas (Houston) — with 7 prosecutions — was the most active during August 2026.
The Eastern District of Missouri (St. Louis) ranked 2nd.
Southern District of California (San Diego), District of Colorado, District of Idaho and District of Oregon 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 of this type during August 2026 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank Sammartino, Janis Lynn Cal, S 1 1 More Wang, Nina Y. Colorado 1 1 More Winmill, B. Lynn Idaho 1 1 More Brady, Holly Ann Ind, N 1 1 More Guirola, Louis, Jr. Miss, S 1 1 More Sippel, Rodney W. Mo, E 1 1 More Autrey, Henry Edward Mo, E 1 1 More McShane, Michael Jerome Oregon 1 1 More Kasubhai, Mustafa T. Oregon 1 1 More Table 4. Top Ten Judges
All 9 of the "top ten" judges were in districts which were in the top ten with the largest number of filings.
Judges Janis Lynn Sammartino in the Southern District of California (San Diego), Nina Y. Wang in the District of Colorado, B. Lynn Winmill in the District of Idaho, Holly Ann Brady in the Northern District of Indiana (South Bend), Louis Guirola, Jr. in the Southern District of Mississippi (Jackson), Rodney W. Sippel in the Eastern District of Missouri (St. Louis), Henry Edward Autrey in the Eastern District of Missouri (St. Louis), Michael Jerome McShane in the District of Oregon and Mustafa T. Kasubha ranked 1st with 1 defendants in cases.
Report Generated: October 27, 2026
