Qualitative and quantitative data are drawn from 10 Federal district courts (9,068 cases prosecuted and 6,562 cases sentenced) whose statutes and resources provided greater potential for the prosecution of the white-collar crimes of more highly educated offenders. The data are analyzed from a perspective that emphasizes organizational considerations. It is proposed that the criminal justice process is a loosely coupled system and that the use of prosecutorial resources are both proactive and reactive. The reactive policy is one in which prosecutors respond to cases police bring to them; proactive policy requires that prosecutors look for cases to bring to trial. The expanded prosecution of white-collar persons to their white-collar crimes requires a proactive prosecutorial policy and a tightening of the coupling between plea negotiations and sentencing decisions in the prosecutorial and judicial subsystems. The quantitative analysis reveals that one district follows a uniquely proactive pattern. As expected, this proactive district also exhibits a unique leniency in the sentencing of college educated white-collar criminals that is related to earlier pleas and charging decisions. A rather different and unanticipated pattern of leniency is found in this district for less educated white-collar offenders. The study concludes that there may be an inverse relationship between the volume of white-collar prosecutions and the severity with which they are sentenced. Tabular data and 32 references are appended. (Author abstract modified)