Federal prosecutors in Cincinnati charged firearms offenders at two and a half times the previous year’s pace in fiscal year 2026, part of a record-setting year for violent-crime prosecutions across the Southern District of Ohio, U.S. Attorney Dominick S. Gerace II announced Monday in a release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
The numbers describe a deliberate strategy. “I am extremely proud of what my Office has accomplished since I became U.S. Attorney just over a year ago,” Gerace said in the release. “My tenure began amid a significant uptick in violent and gun crimes, particularly in downtown Cincinnati, and I promised the public that we would aggressively pursue federal charges against those offenders. The statistics show that we have done just that. I asked my prosecutors to target repeat violent offenders and to focus on the safety of the streets in our communities and they continue to answer the bell.”
In Cincinnati, the office charged 63 defendants with firearms offenses under federal law, an increase of 250 percent over fiscal year 2025, according to the release. Violent-crime prosecutions in Cincinnati rose 148.5 percent, with 82 defendants charged. Districtwide, 236 defendants were charged with firearms offenses — up more than 93 percent — and 237 were charged with violent crimes, up 92.7 percent.
The combined total of defendants charged with firearms offenses and violent crimes across the district is a Southern District of Ohio record, based on available statistics going back to fiscal year 2004, the release said. Fiscal year 2026 ran from Oct. 1, 2025, through Sept. 30, 2026.
The surge was not limited to Cincinnati. In Columbus, prosecutors charged 99 defendants with violent crimes, up 67.8 percent, and 96 with firearms offenses, up 62.7 percent. In Dayton, 56 defendants faced violent-crime charges, up 80.6 percent, and 77 faced firearms charges, up 71.1 percent, according to the office’s figures.
Gerace credited the partnerships behind the cases. “None of these cases are possible without strong partnerships with our local, state and federal law enforcement agencies who investigate these crimes. I thank them for joining us in the fight against violence,” he said in the release. He also thanked Ohio Attorney General Andy Wilson for providing a Special Assistant United States Attorney dedicated to federal gun cases.
Fraud prosecutions climbed as well. The district charged 60 white-collar defendants, up 46.3 percent from fiscal year 2025, with the largest increases in the Dayton area — up 125 percent — and Columbus, up 68.4 percent, according to the release. Cincinnati charged 19 white-collar defendants, up 5.6 percent.
“The fight against fraud, especially fraud against taxpayer-funded government benefits programs, is a top priority for this Office,” Gerace said in the release. “This fiscal year, we brought charges against several individuals who allegedly stole tens of millions of dollars from government programs designed to provide healthcare and food benefits to Americans in need — including a Medicaid fraud scheme involving $30 million and a SNAP fraud scheme involving $29.7 million. We will continue to hold fraudsters accountable for stealing taxpayer dollars and for depriving vulnerable citizens of these services.”
For residents of Southwest Ohio, the figures describe the federal half of a local public-safety effort: the cases charged in Cincinnati began, in large part, as investigations by city and county officers whose arrests were adopted for federal prosecution, where firearms charges under 18 U.S.C. 922(g) and 924(c) carry significant mandatory penalties for repeat offenders. The office says its work also continues in child exploitation, homeland security, drug trafficking, immigration enforcement and transnational criminal organizations.
What we know — and what we’re still waiting on
What we know: federal charging volume for violent crime and firearms offenses set a district record in fiscal year 2026, Cincinnati saw the steepest increases in the district, and white-collar prosecutions rose by nearly half. What we’re still waiting on: conviction and sentencing outcomes for the defendants charged this year — charges are allegations until cases are resolved in court — and whether the charging pace holds in fiscal year 2027.
What happens next: the cases charged during fiscal year 2026 move through the federal courts in Cincinnati, Columbus and Dayton over the coming months, with trials and plea hearings scheduled case by case. Related coverage: the Butler County Sheriff’s warning after a needle was found in Halloween candy.