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# 18 U.S.C. 1201, Kidnapping: How Federal Cases Ended, FY2016–2025
- URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-statute-18-usc-1201-case-outcomes/
- Published: 2026-11-03T06:55:27.000Z
- Updated: 2026-11-03T06:55:27.000Z
- Description: Federal cases under 18 U.S.C. 1201 went to trial in 191 of 944 defendants' cases (20%) in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. Of those 191 trials, 25 (13%) ended in an acquittal. Nearly every conviction brought prison, with a median term of 180 months (15 years), and 80 defendants received life.
- Author: Jocelyn C. Stewart
- Tags: Understanding Trends, Federal

[Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/) › [Federal Prosecution Analysis](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal/) › 18 U.S.C. 1201

**In brief:** Federal cases under 18 U.S.C. 1201 went to trial in 191 of 944 defendants' cases (20%) in fiscal years 2016 to 2025\. Of those 191 trials, 25 (13%) ended in an acquittal. Nearly every conviction brought prison, with a median term of 180 months (15 years), and 80 defendants received life.

Updated November 3, 2026 · Sources: U.S. Sentencing Commission and Federal Judicial Center, fiscal years 2016–2025

This post uses the Federal Judicial Center's records of 944 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](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal/) series, which builds on [Military Moves Toward Sentencing Guidelines to Mirror the Federal System](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/military-sentencing-guidelines-federal-system/). How the numbers were built: [How the Federal Comparison Data Was Built](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-data-methodology/).

## A Section Where Trials Were Common

The U.S. Code heading for this section is the single word "Kidnapping". This post refers to the statute only by that heading.

Guilty pleas ended 652 cases (69%). Trials ended 191 (20%), and dismissals ended 101 (11%).

Jury trials accounted for 185 of the 191\. Juries acquitted in 21 of them (11%). Judges decided the other 6 as bench trials and acquitted in 4\. A total of 6 bench trials is too few to give a meaningful rate.

## Prison Terms and Life Sentences

Of the 944 defendants, 818 (87%) were convicted by plea or at trial. Of those 818, 801 (98%) received a prison term on this charge.

Among terms of 1 month or more, the median was 180 months, or 15 years. The median marks the middle term after all terms are sorted by length. Separately, 80 defendants were sentenced to life.

Every charge counted here was a felony. The records list no Class A misdemeanor and no petty offense under this section.

## Which Lawyers Handled These Cases?

CJA panel attorneys represented 591 defendants (63%). A CJA panel attorney is a private lawyer appointed by the court. Federal public or community defenders represented 205 (22%), and private (retained) counsel represented 123 (13%).

The CJA panel group went to trial 141 times and had 14 acquittals (10%). Federal defenders had 30 trials with 7 acquittals (23%). Retained counsel had 20 trials with 4 acquittals (20%). Guilty pleas ended 68%, 74%, and 78% of the cases in those groups.

None of this measures how good any lawyer was. The numbers describe groups of cases. Counsel type is recorded at the end of the case, and people who hire counsel often face different charges and circumstances from people who are assigned counsel.

| Type of counsel at the end of the case | Defendants | Pleaded guilty | Dismissed | Trials | Acquitted at trial |
| -------------------------------------- | ---------- | -------------- | --------- | ------ | ------------------ |
| Federal public or community defender   | 205        | 74%            | 11%       | 30     | 7 (23%)            |
| CJA panel attorney                     | 591        | 68%            | 8%        | 141    | 14 (10%)           |
| Private (retained) counsel             | 123        | 78%            | 6%        | 20     | 4 (20%)            |

## Cases by Fiscal Year

The number of cases ending each year was lowest in fiscal year 2016, with 55\. It was highest in fiscal year 2023, with 151, a year that also had the most trials, 39.

Acquittal rates at trial moved around from year to year. Fiscal year 2022 had 8 acquittals in 25 trials (32%), while fiscal year 2025 had 1 in 22 (5%). Yearly trial counts are small enough that these rates can shift with only a few verdicts.

| Fiscal year | Cases ended | Pleaded guilty | Dismissed | Trials | Acquitted at trial |
| ----------- | ----------- | -------------- | --------- | ------ | ------------------ |
| 2016        | 55          | 60%            | 20%       | 11     | 1 (9%)             |
| 2017        | 76          | 74%            | 11%       | 12     | 1 (8%)             |
| 2018        | 84          | 67%            | 11%       | 19     | 4 (21%)            |
| 2019        | 64          | 73%            | 5%        | 14     | 1 (7%)             |
| 2020        | 71          | 62%            | 8%        | 21     | 1 (5%)             |
| 2021        | 85          | 76%            | 11%       | 11     | 2 (18%)            |
| 2022        | 122         | 63%            | 16%       | 25     | 8 (32%)            |
| 2023        | 151         | 67%            | 7%        | 39     | 4 (10%)            |
| 2024        | 110         | 77%            | 7%        | 17     | 2 (12%)            |
| 2025        | 126         | 70%            | 13%       | 22     | 1 (5%)             |

## Who Is Counted, and How

The Federal Judicial Center counts a defendant once, when the case ends, under the most serious charge at that point. The total includes people whose cases were dismissed or who were acquitted, not only those who were sentenced.

A dismissal can be broader than it sounds. It includes charges dismissed on the government's motion, for example after the defendant pleaded guilty in another case.

## Comparison With Courts-Martial and Limits

This statute is part of the approved pairing for kidnapping. On the military side, that offense has been Article 125 since 2019\. The comparison posts set the federal and court-martial numbers side by side.

These records do not show the facts of any case or the evidence at trial. They also do not show why a prosecutor dismissed a case or why a jury acquitted, and they cannot explain any difference between years or between counsel groups.

### 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. 1201, any subsection (944), 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](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/military-sentencing-guidelines-federal-system/) (the background article)
- [Federal Prosecution Analysis](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal/) (all federal posts)
- [How the Federal Comparison Data Was Built](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-data-methodology/) (sources and method)
- [Robbery and Kidnapping: Federal vs. Court-Martial Sentences, 2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-robbery-kidnapping-vs-courts-martial/) (comparison with courts-martial)
- [18 U.S.C. 1153, Offenses committed within Indian country: How Federal Cases Ended, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-statute-18-usc-1153-case-outcomes/) (same title of the U.S. Code)
- [18 U.S.C. 1163, Embezzlement and theft from Indian tribal organizations: How Federal Cases Ended, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-statute-18-usc-1163-case-outcomes/) (same title of the U.S. Code)
- [18 U.S.C. 1203, Hostage taking: How Federal Cases Ended, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-statute-18-usc-1203-case-outcomes/) (same title of the U.S. Code)
- [18 U.S.C. 1204, International parental kidnapping: How Federal Cases Ended, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-statute-18-usc-1204-case-outcomes/) (same title of the U.S. Code)
- [Appointed vs. Retained Lawyers in Federal Criminal Cases: How Cases Ended, 2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-appointed-vs-retained-counsel-outcomes/)
- [Are Courts-Martial More Likely to End in Acquittal Than Federal Trials?](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-trial-acquittal-rates-vs-courts-martial/)
- [Is Army Kidnapping Prosecution Rising or Falling? Article 125, 2021–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/army-article-125-trend-2021-2025/) (court-martial data)
- [Article 125 UCMJ: Kidnapping](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/practice-areas/court-martial/article-125/?ref=bodiesburied.com) (law firm reference page)
- [U.S. Sentencing Commission, Individual Offender Datafiles](https://www.ussc.gov/research/datafiles/commission-datafiles?ref=bodiesburied.com) (source)
- [Federal Judicial Center, Integrated Database (criminal defendants)](https://www.fjc.gov/research/idb?ref=bodiesburied.com) (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](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/?ref=bodiesburied.com). This analysis is for education and information only. It is not legal advice, and every case is different.