Guilty Pleas in Federal Court vs. Courts-Martial, Year by Year
In federal court, 97% of people sentenced in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 pleaded guilty: 642,522 of 659,036. Among courts-martial with a plea recorded, trial dates 2016 to 2025, 64% were guilty pleas: 5,113 of 8,026. Guilty pleas were more common in federal court, but the numbers count different group
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In brief: In federal court, 97% of people sentenced in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 pleaded guilty: 642,522 of 659,036. Among courts-martial with a plea recorded, trial dates 2016 to 2025, 64% were guilty pleas: 5,113 of 8,026. Guilty pleas were more common in federal court, but the numbers count different groups.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 659,036 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 and the Federal Judicial Center's records of 753,808 federal defendants whose cases ended in fiscal years 2016 to 2025, compared with court-martial results from this site's Military Trial Results data (updated November 2, 2026). It is part of the Federal Prosecution Analysis series, which builds on Military Moves Toward Sentencing Guidelines to Mirror the Federal System. How the numbers were built: How the Federal Comparison Data Was Built.
How Often Do Defendants Plead Guilty in Each System?
The U.S. Sentencing Commission counted 659,036 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. Of those, 642,522 (97%) pleaded guilty. Among the guilty pleas, 74% had a written plea agreement. A plea agreement is a written deal between the defendant and the government that is filed with the court.
The court-martial records list a plea for 8,026 cases with trial dates in 2016 to 2025. Of those, 5,113 (64%) were guilty pleas. Another 1,258 courts-martial have no plea recorded, so they are not in the 64%.
Guilty pleas were more common in federal court than in courts-martial in every year of the table below.
| Year | Courts-martial: guilty pleas | Federal sentenced: pleaded guilty | Federal cases ended: pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 176 of 356 (49%) | 97% | 89% |
| 2017 | 361 of 578 (62%) | 97% | 90% |
| 2018 | 336 of 575 (58%) | 97% | 90% |
| 2019 | 329 of 539 (61%) | 98% | 90% |
| 2020 | 465 of 663 (70%) | 98% | 91% |
| 2021 | 753 of 1,214 (62%) | 98% | 90% |
| 2022 | 688 of 1,099 (63%) | 97% | 89% |
| 2023 | 634 of 997 (64%) | 97% | 89% |
| 2024 | 702 of 1,046 (67%) | 97% | 91% |
| 2025 | 669 of 959 (70%) | 98% | 92% |
Why the Federal Numbers Differ by Source
The table shows federal columns from separate sources, and they count different groups. The Sentencing Commission data counts only people who were convicted and sentenced. Acquittals and dismissals are not in it, so the guilty plea share is high by design.
The Federal Judicial Center data counts every defendant whose case ended, including dismissals and acquittals. It covers 753,808 defendants in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. Of those, 678,652 (90%) pleaded guilty, 58,307 (8%) had their cases dismissed, and 16,849 (2%) went to trial.
Both federal sources show guilty pleas as the most common result by a wide margin. Dismissals and trials make up the remainder of the Federal Judicial Center count, and neither is a guilty plea. The 90% figure is the better match for a count of all cases, and the 97% figure describes only those who were sentenced.
What the Court-Martial Number Counts
The court-martial figure counts cases with a plea recorded. It includes cases decided by a judge alone and by members, and it does not separate convictions from acquittals.
A court-martial is contested when the accused pleads not guilty to at least one charge. The guilty plea rate is therefore a share of cases where some accused contested at least one charge.
Guilty Plea Rates by Service
Among courts-martial with a plea recorded, guilty pleas were 69% in the Army (2,493 cases), 36% in the Air Force (1,940 cases), 68% in the Navy (1,930 cases), and 83% in the Marine Corps (1,663 cases).
The Marine Corps rate is higher than the Army and Navy rates. The Air Force rate is lower than the other services. The records cannot show why. They do show that plea information is missing for most Air Force trials before 2020, so the Air Force numbers are less complete than the others.
Changes From Year to Year
The court-martial guilty plea share was 49% in 2016, with 176 of 356 cases. It was 70% in 2025, with 669 of 959 cases. The federal shares stayed between 97% and 98% for people sentenced, and between 89% and 92% for cases that ended. The federal share for cases that ended was 89% in 2016 and 92% in 2025, which is a smaller change than the court-martial share shows.
The court-martial records are not equally complete across the years. The Army records begin in 2020 and the Marine Corps records in 2017, so the early years rest on fewer services. The records cannot show how much of the change reflects record coverage and how much reflects a change in how often accused plead guilty.
What the Records Cannot Show
The records do not show what a guilty plea gained the accused in either system. They do not show how often a plea agreement shaped the sentence in courts-martial, because this post counts only the plea itself.
The comparison covers all offenses together. Federal court handles a different mix of offenses than a court-martial does, and fiscal years differ from the court-martial trial dates. The numbers describe how often pleas occurred and nothing about whether a plea was a good decision in a given case.
How We Counted
Courts-martial with a plea recorded, trial dates 2016 to 2025 (8,026). Federal: 659,036 people sentenced (U.S. Sentencing Commission) and 753,808 defendants whose cases ended (Federal Judicial Center), fiscal years 2016 to 2025.
Federal fiscal years run from October 1 to September 30. No person, judge, or lawyer is identified in any of these records.
What to Keep in Mind
Who is in each set of numbers. The federal sentencing numbers come from the U.S. Sentencing Commission. They count only people who were convicted and sentenced in federal district court. People whose cases were dismissed or who were acquitted are not in them. The military numbers come from court-martial results, which include acquittals. To compare acquittal or dismissal rates, the federal side uses a different source: the Federal Judicial Center's case data, which counts every defendant whose case ended.
Plea agreements work differently. In federal court, most plea agreements do not bind the judge on the sentence. Since 2019, a military plea agreement can set a minimum and maximum sentence that the military judge must follow if the judge accepts the agreement. The federal numbers count anyone who pleaded guilty, with or without a written agreement.
How "plea" and "trial" are counted. In the federal sentencing numbers, "trial" means the person was convicted after a trial, including people who pleaded guilty to some counts and went to trial on others. People acquitted at trial are not in these numbers at all (see "Who is in each set of numbers"). In the federal case data, the trial rate counts both convictions and acquittals at trial among all defendants whose cases ended, including dismissed cases. Military numbers count contested cases that reached a verdict. These denominators are not the same, and each post states the one it uses.
Time periods. Federal numbers are by federal fiscal year (October 1 to September 30), based on the sentencing date. The military numbers are by trial date. Neither source has the date of the offense, so a change in law shows up in either data set gradually.
Related Analysis
- Military Moves Toward Sentencing Guidelines to Mirror the Federal System (the background article)
- Federal Prosecution Analysis (all federal posts)
- How the Federal Comparison Data Was Built (sources and method)
- Are Courts-Martial More Likely to End in Acquittal Than Federal Trials?
- Child Pornography Sentences: Federal Court vs. Courts-Martial, 2016–2025
- Federal Law Has No Crime of Drug Use: How Article 112a Cases Compare
- Drug Distribution and Importation: Federal vs. Court-Martial Sentences, 2016–2025
- Sexual Abuse of an Adult: Federal Cases vs. Article 120 Courts-Martial
- Child Sexual Abuse and Enticement: Federal Cases vs. Article 120b Courts-Martial
- Theft and Fraud by Dollar Loss: Federal Sentences vs. Article 121 Courts-Martial
- Guilty Plea Rates: Federal Court vs. Army Courts-Martial, 2016–2025
- Guilty Plea Rates: Federal Court vs. Air Force Courts-Martial, 2016–2025
- Guilty Plea Rates: Federal Court vs. Navy Courts-Martial, 2016–2025
- Guilty Plea Rates: Federal Court vs. Marine Corps Courts-Martial, 2016–2025
- Guilty Pleas in 2016: Federal Court vs. Courts-Martial
- Guilty Pleas in 2017: Federal Court vs. Courts-Martial
- Guilty Pleas in 2018: Federal Court vs. Courts-Martial
- Guilty Pleas in 2019: Federal Court vs. Courts-Martial
- U.S. Sentencing Commission, Individual Offender Datafiles (source)
- Federal Judicial Center, Integrated Database (criminal defendants) (source)
About the author. Jocelyn C. Stewart is a retired Army JAG with more than 24 years of trying courts-martial and more than 200 jury trials. She hosts Where All The Bodies Are Buried and runs the Law Office of Jocelyn C. Stewart. This analysis is for education and information only. It is not legal advice, and every case is different.