eoUnited States Aftorneys United States Attorneys Annual StatisticalReport Fiscal Year 1997 UNITED STATES ATTORNEYS ANNUAL STATISTICAL REPORT FISCAL YEAR 1997 TED PR0 j$T1 The United States Attorney is the representative not of an ordinary party to controversy but whose of sovereignty obligation to govern impartially is as compelling as its obligation to govern at all- and whose interest therefore in criminal prosecution is not that it shall win case but that justice shall be done As he is in such peculiar and very definite sense the servant of the law the twofold aim of which is that shall guilt not escape or innocence suffer He with may prosecute earnestness and vigor -- indeed he should do so But while he may strike hard blows he is not at liberty to strike foul ones Iris as much his duty to refrain from improper methods calculated to produce wrongful conviction as it is to use every legitimate means to bring about just one Quoted from the Statement of Mr Justice Sutherland in Berer United States 295 U.S 88 1935 U.S Department of Justice Executive Office for United States Attorneys Office of the Director Washington DC 20530 MESSAGE FROM THE DIRECTOR am pleased to provide this annual report which summarizes the work and accomplishments of the United States Attorneys offices during Fiscal Year 1997 The United States Attorneys under the direction of the Attorney General are responsible for investigating and prosecuting thOse who violate our nations laws and for asserting and defending the interests of the United States its departments and agencies through the conduct of civil litigation The United States Attorneys appointed to serve in the 94 Federal districts the with judicial throughout country are charged carrying out these prosecution and litigation within their responsibilities respective districts Although there are 94 Federal judicial districts there are only 93 United States Attorneys because one United States Attorney is appointed to serve in both the Districts of Guam and the Northern Mañana Islands The 93 United States Attorneys direct and supervise the work of the Assistant United States Attorneys and support personnel located in each districts headquarters office and as needed in staffed branch offices The United States Attorney system nationwide consisted of 94 headquarters offices and 121 staffed branch offices at the end of Fiscal Year 1997 The United States Attorneys offices conduct most of the criminal prosecutions and civil litigation handled by the Department of Justice They serve as the critical prosecutorial arm of the Department of Justice responsible for ensuring that the investigative efforts of the law enforcement agencies are pursued and as the nations advocates and defenders legal in civil suits brought by and against the government The range of their responsibilities is staggering--from prosecuting those individuals who commit violent or terrorist acts to prosecuting corporations or individuals who commit fraud to defending the nation against exorbitant civil lawsuits As of an integral part their prosecution and litigation efforts the United States Attorneys report to the Executive Office for United States Attorneys in Washington D.C infonnation on the criminal and civil matters cases and appeals that they handle centralized computer database containing this information is maintained by the Executive Office for United States Attorneys The United States Attorneys Annual Statistical Report summarizes and presents the matter and case-related information reported by the United States Attorneys The charts and tables presented in this report reflect statistical summary of the matters and cases handled by the United States Attorneys These charts and tables however cannot and do not reflect the and of quality complexity the criminal prosecutions and civil litigation conducted by the offices of the Additionally the statistics are woefully inadequate in presenting realistic picture time effort and of cases handled the skill required to prosecute and litigate the cases Some examples during year are included in the text to illustrate caseload composition and more importantly the successful efforts of the many men and women who work in the United States Attorneys offices Finally significant liaison work performed by the United States Attorneys Assistant United States Attorneys and other members of the staffs with Federal state and local law enforcement entities the victims of crime the local communities schools and other organizations cannot be quantified Since the role of the United States Attorneys is to 295 88 the true and see that justice shall be done Berger United States U.S 1935 comprehensive tabulated accomplishments of the United States Attorneys cannot be statistically The Executive Office for United States Attorneys provides oversight general executive assistance and direction to the Offices of the United States Attorneys and coordinates the relationship of other United organizational units of the Department of Justice and other Federal agencies with the States of the United States is the Attorneys offices One of its responsibilities on behalf Attorneys publication statistical and the of this annual report As detailed throughout the narrative and summary highlighted on offices achieved clear and firm results in following pages it is apparent that the United States Attorneys and our nations the prosecution of those who violated our nations laws most strenuously represented interests in civil litigation and appellate arenas and them and am proud to publish this report on behalf of the United States Attorneys applaud the members of their staffs for their outstanding work and accomplishments during the year Donna Bucella Director April 1998 This Annual Statistical Report prepared by Data Analysis Staff Resource Management and Planning Executive Office for United States Attorneys Bicentennial Building 600 Street N.W Washington D.C 20530 FISCAL YEAR 1997 STATISTICAL HIGHLIGHTS OVERALL CRIMINAL PROSECUTIONS 39291 cases filed against 58906 defendants--case filings up three percent 34634 cases against 51492 defendants terminated--case terminations down one percent 45375 defendants convicted 88 percent conviction rate 75 percent of convicted defendants sentenced to prison VIOLENT CRIME 6248 cases filed against 8079 defendants--case filings up one percent 5715 cases against 7520 defendants terminated--case terminations down seven percent 6569 defendants convicted 87 percent conviction rate 87 percent of convicted defendants sentenced to prison OVERALL NARCOTICS 11935 drug cases filed against 23542 defendants--case filings up 14 percent 9701 cases against 19155 defendants terminated--case terminations up five percent 16705 defendants convicted 87 percent conviction rate 89 percent of convicted defendants sentenced to prison OCDETF 1557 cases filed against 5501 defendants--case filings up four percent 1293 cases against 4258 defendants terminated--case terminations down 11 percent 3683 defendants convicted 87 percent conviction rate 90 percent of convicted defendants sentenced to prison NON-OCDETF 10378 cases filed against 18041 defendants--case filings up 15 percent 8408 cases against 14897 defendants terminated--case terminations up eight percent 13022 defendants convicted 87 percent conviction rate 89 percent of convicted defendants sentenced to prison Data presented for Overall Narcotics including OCDETF and Non-OCDETF does not include those drug cases classified under the Government Regulatory and Violent Crime program categories IMMIGRATION 6929 cases filed against 7644 defendants--case filings up 20 percent terminated--case 5974 cases against 6554 defendants terminations up 16 percent 6254 defendants convicted 95 percent conviction rate 80 percent of convicted defendants sentenced to prison ORGANIZED CRIME2 195 cases filed against 561 defendants--case filings down 14 percent 183 cases against 519 defendants terminated--case terminations up ten percent 454 defendants convicted 88 percent conviction rate 66 percent of convicted defendants sentenced to prison OFFICIAL CORRUPTION 487 cases filed against 754 defendants--case filings up four percent 418 cases against 602 defendants terminated--case terminations down seven percent 531 defendants convicted 88 percent conviction rate 49 percent of convicted defendants sentenced to prison WHITE COLLAR CRIME 6312 cases filed against 8839 defendants--case filings down seven percent 5969 cases against 8386 defendants terminated--case terminations down five percent 7406 defendants convicted 88 percent conviction rate 56 percent of convicted defendants sentenced to prison ASSET FORFEITURE LITIGATION Asset forfeiture counts filed in 1214 criminal cases--down 28 percent total of 1964 civil asset forfeiture actions filed--up eight percent Estimated recoveries of over $570 million in forfeited cash and property--up 51 percent 2Data presented for Organized Crime does not include those organized crime cases classified under the Violent Crime program category OVERALL CIVIL LITIGATION 91241 cases filed or responded to--up four percent 80669 cases terminated--down six percent 16811 judgments or 85 percent were in favor of the United States 22397 settlements--28 percent of all cases terminated AFFIRMATIVE CIVIL LITIGATION 14396 cases filed--down two percent 14122 cases terminated--up three percent 6122 judgments or 98 percent were in favor of the United States 3176 settlements--23 percent of all affirmative cases terminated AFFIRMATIVE CIVIL ENFORCEMENT 2554 cases filed--up