18 U.S.C. 1030, Fraud and related activity in connection with computers: How Federal Cases Ended, FY2016–2025
Not every charge under 18 U.S.C. 1030 was a felony: of 480 federal defendants whose cases ended in fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 73 (15%) faced it as a Class A misdemeanor. Of the 406 convicted, 241 (59%) received a prison term on the charge, with a median of 18 months. Trials ended 26 cases, and 3 of
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In brief: Not every charge under 18 U.S.C. 1030 was a felony: of 480 federal defendants whose cases ended in fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 73 (15%) faced it as a Class A misdemeanor. Of the 406 convicted, 241 (59%) received a prison term on the charge, with a median of 18 months. Trials ended 26 cases, and 3 of those ended in an acquittal (12%).
This post uses the Federal Judicial Center's records of 480 federal defendants whose cases ended in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. The series also draws on the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 659,036 people sentenced in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. 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.
Felony and Misdemeanor Charges
The section's official heading is "Fraud and related activity in connection with computers". No other description of the statute is used here.
The records list the level of the most serious charge at the end of each case. Felonies made up 407 (85%) and Class A misdemeanors 73 (15%). No case was a petty offense.
This mix matters when reading the prison numbers. The sheet does not split prison terms by charge level, so the figures below cover felony and misdemeanor cases together.
How Many Received Prison Terms?
Conviction came in 406 of the 480 cases (85%), by a guilty plea or at trial. Of those 406, 241 (59%) received a prison term on this charge.
For defendants with a term of 1 month or more, the median prison term was 18 months. A median is the midpoint of the terms in the group. It does not include time imposed on other counts.
The Ways Cases Ended
Guilty pleas ended 383 cases (80%). Another 71 (15%) were dismissed, and 26 (5%) went to trial.
In this data, a dismissal means the charges were dismissed. It includes dismissals on the government's motion, such as after the defendant pleaded guilty in another case.
Juries heard 25 of the 26 trials and acquitted in 2 (8%). The single bench trial, decided by a judge, also ended in an acquittal. Across all trials the acquittal count was 3 of 26 (12%).
Year-by-Year Results
The number of cases ending each year ranged from 31 to 62. Fiscal year 2025 had the lowest guilty plea rate, 55%, and the highest dismissal rate, 42%, among 33 cases.
Fiscal year 2023 had 2 acquittals in 3 trials, and fiscal year 2018 had 1 in 4. Every other year recorded none. With yearly counts this small, the table shows each year's record rather than a trend.
| Fiscal year | Cases ended | Pleaded guilty | Dismissed | Trials | Acquitted at trial |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 61 | 85% | 10% | 3 | 0 (0 of 3) |
| 2017 | 55 | 87% | 5% | 4 | 0 (0 of 4) |
| 2018 | 62 | 81% | 13% | 4 | 1 (1 of 4) |
| 2019 | 60 | 78% | 15% | 4 | 0 (0 of 4) |
| 2020 | 43 | 84% | 9% | 3 | 0 (0 of 3) |
| 2021 | 45 | 89% | 11% | 0 | 0 |
| 2022 | 44 | 73% | 23% | 2 | 0 (0 of 2) |
| 2023 | 46 | 78% | 15% | 3 | 2 (2 of 3) |
| 2024 | 31 | 77% | 16% | 2 | 0 (0 of 2) |
| 2025 | 33 | 55% | 42% | 1 | 0 (0 of 1) |
Outcomes by Type of Lawyer
Private (retained) counsel represented 224 defendants (47%). A federal public or community defender represented 131 (27%). A CJA panel attorney, meaning a private lawyer appointed by the court, represented 85 (18%).
Plea rates were close: 88% with retained counsel, 87% with a federal defender, and 85% with a CJA panel attorney. Retained counsel had the lowest dismissal rate, 5%, and the most trials, 17. All 3 acquittals came in that group (18% of its trials). Federal defenders had 0 of 5 and CJA panel attorneys 0 of 4.
These figures describe groups of cases, not the quality of lawyers. Type of counsel is recorded at the end of the case, and defendants who hire a lawyer face different charges and circumstances from those with appointed counsel.
| Type of counsel at the end of the case | Defendants | Pleaded guilty | Dismissed | Trials | Acquitted at trial |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Federal public or community defender | 131 | 87% | 9% | 5 | 0 (0 of 5) |
| CJA panel attorney | 85 | 85% | 11% | 4 | 0 (0 of 4) |
| Private (retained) counsel | 224 | 88% | 5% | 17 | 3 (18%) |
Gaps in the Federal Records
The approved crosswalk has no close court-martial counterpart for this section, so only federal numbers appear. The records count defendants by the most serious charge when the case ended. They do not describe the conduct, the evidence, or the reasons for any dismissal or verdict.
How We Counted
Every federal defendant whose case ended in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 and whose most serious charge at the end of the case (TTITLE1) was under 18 U.S.C. 1030, any subsection (480), Federal Judicial Center, counted as in the federal courts' Table D-4. Type of counsel is TCOUNSEL; labels from the FJC criminal codebook. Section heading from the U.S. Code as published by the Office of the Law Revision Counsel (release point 119-136).
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.
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.
Type of counsel describes groups of cases, not lawyers. The Federal Judicial Center records the type of counsel at the end of the case. Defendants who hire a lawyer differ from defendants who receive an appointed lawyer in their charges, criminal history, and circumstances, and some defendants change lawyers during a case. Differences in outcomes by type of counsel therefore cannot be credited to the type of lawyer.
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)
- 18 U.S.C. 1015, Naturalization, citizenship or alien registry: How Federal Cases Ended, FY2016–2025 (same title of the U.S. Code)
- 18 U.S.C. 1029, Fraud and related activity in connection with access devices: How Federal Cases Ended, FY2016–2025 (same title of the U.S. Code)
- 18 U.S.C. 1031, Major fraud against the United States: How Federal Cases Ended, FY2016–2025 (same title of the U.S. Code)
- 18 U.S.C. 1035, False statements relating to health care matters: How Federal Cases Ended, FY2016–2025 (same title of the U.S. Code)
- Appointed vs. Retained Lawyers in Federal Criminal Cases: How Cases Ended, 2016–2025
- Are Courts-Martial More Likely to End in Acquittal Than Federal Trials?
- 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.