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2008 Proclaimed 'Banner Year' For Prosecutions

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By ELAINE SILVESTRINI esilvestrini@tampatrib.com

The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 29, 2008

Federal prosecutions in the Middle District of Florida are forecast to be 15 percent higher than last year, according to a research organization that tracks government statistics.

The latest data from the Justice Department show that during the first 11 months this fiscal year, there were 1,881 new prosecutions in the Middle District of Florida, the district that includes the Tampa area.

The report comes after the U.S. Attorney's Office in Tampa announced a "banner year" for prosecutions, with an increase in indictments over last year and $2 million more in seized assets than last year.

Then-U.S. Attorney Robert O'Neill pointed to three factors that led to the upswing in indictments and money seized: a good relationship with local law enforcement agencies, the hiring of 25 new prosecutors over the past year, and the more tenured prosecutors "taking stock of what they have" and realizing they have a good job and have a chance to make a difference.

If prosecutions continue at the same pace, the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse forecasts that the prosecutions total will be 2,052 for this fiscal year, compared with 1,780 last year.

The top spot for prosecutions here goes to drug cases, which made up nearly 33 percent of prosecutions in the district in the first 11 months of this year.

Immigration crime was the second-largest category of prosecutions in district. Those cases made up more than 24 percent of prosecutions in the first 11 months of the fiscal year.
Immigration matters accounted for 54 percent of all new cases filed in August in U.S. Federal Court, according to the clearinghouse, which is based at Syracuse University.

Reporter Elaine Silvestrini can be reached at (813) 259-7837.

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