FBI CASES DROP AS IT FOCUSES ON TERROR

White-Collar Crime Gives Way to Security

FBI criminal cases have fallen sharply since the 9/11 terrorist
attacks as the bureau shifts its focus from drugs and white-collar
offenses to anti-terrorism, Justice Department statistics show.

Over the past five years, prosecutions in which the FBI acted as lead
investigator have fallen about 25%, from nearly 19,000 in fiscal 2001
to just more than 14,000 in fiscal 2005. Convictions in FBI cases are
down roughly 11% during the same period, from about 13,500 to just
more than 12,000.

At the same time, convictions in the FBI's national security and
terrorism cases quadrupled, from 84 to 336.

The declining number of FBI cases runs counter to rising numbers of
overall federal prosecutions, which have increased 13% since 2001.

"It's a healthy step," said Robert Precht, a Honolulu attorney and
former federal public defender who has represented defendants in
terrorism cases. "It moves us away from the federalization of
(lesser) crimes and toward a focus on the truly big ones."

The numbers were collected by the Executive Office for U.S.
Attorneys, a Justice Department agency, and archived by TRACFED,
Syracuse University's federal justice data-collection program.

The FBI's shifting emphasis is clearly visible in the caseloads for
white-collar crime and narcotics investigations, traditionally the
bureau's busiest investigative categories.

White-collar prosecutions based on FBI investigations fell from 4,950
in fiscal 2001 to 2,945 last year, a drop of more than 40%. Drug
cases also declined more than 40%.

The pattern holds true in the FBI offices that handle the most cases.
New York, Detroit and Los Angeles all showed increases in terrorism
prosecutions and dramatic declines in other types of cases.

In December, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said the new emphasis
had produced a "track record of success" including several
"significant convictions" in 2005. Among other cases, he cited that
of Ali al-Timimi, a Northern Virginia mosque leader sentenced to life
in prison for encouraging Muslim men to travel to Pakistan for
terrorist training.

However, the average sentence for a national security or terrorism
conviction last year was 58 months -- about half of what drug
violators received and a third of the average for weapons violators.

Half of those convicted of terrorism or national security violations
received sentences of 12 months or less, Justice Department records show.

Gregory Wallance, a former federal prosecutor who practices law in
New York City, says those figures show that the Justice Department
may be padding its numbers by labeling immigration and other
low-level violations as terrorism cases.

In January 2003, the agency now known as the Government
Accountability Office studied 174 terrorism convictions and concluded
that about three-fourths should not have been labeled "terrorism."

The mislabeled convictions included the cases of 60 students of
Middle Eastern background who cheated on English-language proficiency tests.

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CHANGING PRIORITIES

As the FBI has increased its emphasis on terrorism and security
cases, other prosecutions where it is the lead agency have tailed off.

Type of case FY 2001 FY 2005 Change

National internal security or terrorism 84 336 +300%

White-collar crime 5,031 2,945 -41%

Drugs 4,884 2,678 -45%

Sources: Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys; Syracuse University's
Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse