18 U.S.C. 13, Laws of States adopted for areas within Federal jurisdiction: How Federal Cases Ended, FY2016–2025
Of the federal defendants whose most serious charge was under 18 U.S.C. 13, 10,584 of 25,535 (41%) had their cases dismissed in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. Another 14,596 (57%) pleaded guilty and 355 (1%) went to trial, where 90 of the 355 trials (25%) ended in an acquittal. The largest counsel group
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In brief: Of the federal defendants whose most serious charge was under 18 U.S.C. 13, 10,584 of 25,535 (41%) had their cases dismissed in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. Another 14,596 (57%) pleaded guilty and 355 (1%) went to trial, where 90 of the 355 trials (25%) ended in an acquittal. The largest counsel group was self-represented defendants, at 10,953 (43%).
This post uses the Federal Judicial Center's records of 25,535 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.
A High Share of Dismissals
Title 18, section 13 of the U.S. Code is headed "Laws of States adopted for areas within Federal jurisdiction". The Federal Judicial Center counted 25,535 defendants whose most serious charge at the end of the case was under this section. The count includes dismissals and acquittals, not only convictions.
Of those 25,535, 10,584 (41%) had the charges dismissed. A dismissal in these records includes charges dropped on the government's motion, such as after a defendant pleaded guilty in another case. The records do not say which kind of dismissal each one was.
In total, 14,861 of the 25,535 (58%) were convicted, by plea or at trial.
Charge Levels Were Mostly Misdemeanors
The federal records give a level for each charge. Under this section, 19,197 defendants (75%) faced a Class A misdemeanor. Another 5,464 (21%) faced a petty offense, and 874 (3%) faced a felony.
The low felony share is useful context for the other numbers in this post. Dismissal rates, prison rates, and counsel patterns all come from a group of cases that is mostly below felony level.
Prison Terms on This Charge
Of the 14,861 convicted, 2,116 (14%) received a prison term on this charge. The median term among those with a term of 1 month or more was 4 months. The records also list 7 defendants who received life.
The median does not include the many convicted defendants with no prison term on this charge.
Trials, Juries, and Judges
Of the 355 trials, most were bench trials, which a judge decides without a jury. There were 274 bench trials, and 71 of them (26%) ended in an acquittal. The 81 jury trials had 19 acquittals (23%).
The yearly table shows trial counts from 63 in fiscal year 2016 to 19 in fiscal year 2020. In fiscal year 2025, 1 of 24 trials ended in an acquittal (4%). Yearly trial counts are small, so the acquittal rate for a single year can differ widely from the next.
| Fiscal year | Cases ended | Pleaded guilty | Dismissed | Trials | Acquitted at trial |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 3,667 | 50% | 48% | 63 | 19 (30%) |
| 2017 | 3,050 | 58% | 40% | 61 | 17 (28%) |
| 2018 | 3,082 | 56% | 43% | 36 | 11 (31%) |
| 2019 | 2,535 | 58% | 41% | 41 | 7 (17%) |
| 2020 | 1,772 | 55% | 44% | 19 | 3 (16%) |
| 2021 | 1,757 | 66% | 32% | 26 | 9 (35%) |
| 2022 | 2,345 | 67% | 32% | 24 | 6 (25%) |
| 2023 | 2,626 | 51% | 48% | 35 | 8 (23%) |
| 2024 | 2,291 | 58% | 41% | 26 | 9 (35%) |
| 2025 | 2,410 | 60% | 39% | 24 | 1 (4%) |
Self-Represented Defendants and Other Counsel Groups
The records list 10,953 defendants (43%) as self-represented at the end of the case. That group had a dismissal rate of 56% and a guilty plea rate of 43%. It had 90 trials, with 22 acquittals (24%).
Federal public or community defenders represented 5,001 defendants (20%), with guilty pleas in 81% of cases. Retained private counsel represented 4,409 (17%), with guilty pleas in 84%. CJA panel attorneys represented 2,939 (12%), with guilty pleas in 73% and dismissals in 24%.
Acquittal rates at trial were 29% for defenders, 30% for CJA panel attorneys, and 20% for retained counsel. Those numbers describe groups of cases, not the quality of lawyers. Defendants who hire a lawyer, those appointed a lawyer, and those with no lawyer face different charges and circumstances.
| Type of counsel at the end of the case | Defendants | Pleaded guilty | Dismissed | Trials | Acquitted at trial |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Federal public or community defender | 5,001 | 81% | 18% | 83 | 24 (29%) |
| CJA panel attorney | 2,939 | 73% | 24% | 69 | 21 (30%) |
| Private (retained) counsel | 4,409 | 84% | 13% | 113 | 23 (20%) |
| Self-represented | 10,953 | 43% | 56% | 90 | 22 (24%) |
What the Counts Do Not Cover
The counts rest on the most serious charge when the case ended. They do not describe the conduct in any case or the place where it happened. They also do not record why a prosecutor dropped a charge or why a defendant had no lawyer at the end.
No court-martial offense in the approved crosswalk is a close counterpart to this section. The figures here stand as federal numbers only.
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. 13, any subsection (25,535), 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. 3, Accessory after the fact: How Federal Cases Ended, FY2016–2025 (same title of the U.S. Code)
- 18 U.S.C. 4, Misprision of felony: How Federal Cases Ended, FY2016–2025 (same title of the U.S. Code)
- 18 U.S.C. 81, Arson within special maritime and territorial jurisdiction: How Federal Cases Ended, FY2016–2025 (same title of the U.S. Code)
- 18 U.S.C. 111, Assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers or employees: 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.