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# 18 U.S.C. 1341, Frauds and swindles: How Federal Cases Ended, FY2016–2025
- URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-statute-18-usc-1341-case-outcomes/
- Published: 2026-11-03T06:55:20.000Z
- Updated: 2026-11-03T06:55:20.000Z
- Description: Of 1,790 federal defendants whose cases ended under 18 U.S.C. 1341 in fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 1,638 (92%) were convicted, and 1,326 of those (81%) received a prison term on this charge. The median term was 30 months (2.5 years). Only 90 defendants (5%) went to trial, and 7 of those trials ended i
- 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. 1341

**In brief:** Of 1,790 federal defendants whose cases ended under 18 U.S.C. 1341 in fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 1,638 (92%) were convicted, and 1,326 of those (81%) received a prison term on this charge. The median term was 30 months (2.5 years). Only 90 defendants (5%) went to trial, and 7 of those trials ended in an acquittal.

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 1,790 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/).

## The Statute and the Count

Section 1341 of Title 18 is headed "Frauds and swindles". Apart from quoting that heading, this post does not describe the statute.

The Federal Judicial Center data used here counts each defendant whose case ended in the period, with the defendant placed under the most serious charge at the end of the case. Defendants whose cases were dismissed and defendants who were acquitted are included. All 1,790 were charged at the felony level.

## Prison After a Conviction

Conviction, by plea or at trial, was recorded for 1,638 defendants (92%). Among them, 1,326 (81%) were sentenced to prison on this charge.

The median prison term was 30 months, or 2.5 years, for defendants with a term of 1 month or more. The median sits in the middle of the sorted terms. It reflects the term on this charge, not the total sentence in a case with several counts.

The records do not say why the remaining convicted defendants had no prison term on this charge.

## How Did the Cases End?

A guilty plea ended 1,555 cases (87%). Dismissal ended 145 (8%). Trial ended 90 (5%).

A dismissal in these records does not always mean a defendant left without a conviction. It includes charges dismissed on the government's motion, for example after the defendant pleaded guilty in another case.

Of the 90 trials, 84 were jury trials, and 5 of those (6%) ended in an acquittal. Judges decided 6 bench trials and acquitted in 2\. Across all trials, 7 of 90 (8%) ended in an acquittal.

## Fiscal Year Totals

Cases ending under this section were most numerous in fiscal year 2016, at 338\. The yearly count was lower in later years, with 113 in fiscal year 2025\. The guilty plea share stayed between 85% and 90% in every year.

Trials per year ranged from 19 in fiscal year 2016 to 2 in fiscal year 2024\. With so few trials in most years, yearly acquittal figures rest on 1 or 2 cases.

| Fiscal year | Cases ended | Pleaded guilty | Dismissed | Trials | Acquitted at trial |
| ----------- | ----------- | -------------- | --------- | ------ | ------------------ |
| 2016        | 338         | 86%            | 8%        | 19     | 2 (11%)            |
| 2017        | 254         | 90%            | 5%        | 13     | 1 (8%)             |
| 2018        | 222         | 88%            | 7%        | 11     | 0 (0%)             |
| 2019        | 180         | 86%            | 5%        | 16     | 1 (6%)             |
| 2020        | 127         | 86%            | 8%        | 8      | 1 (1 of 8)         |
| 2021        | 133         | 86%            | 11%       | 3      | 0 (0 of 3)         |
| 2022        | 188         | 86%            | 10%       | 8      | 1 (1 of 8)         |
| 2023        | 114         | 85%            | 10%       | 6      | 1 (1 of 6)         |
| 2024        | 121         | 86%            | 12%       | 2      | 0 (0 of 2)         |
| 2025        | 113         | 88%            | 9%        | 4      | 0 (0 of 4)         |

## Retained, Appointed, and Public Defense

Private (retained) counsel represented 852 defendants (48%). CJA panel attorneys, who are private lawyers appointed by the court, represented 443 (25%). Federal public or community defenders represented 428 (24%). Another 5 defendants represented themselves.

Guilty plea rates were close: 90% for retained counsel, 89% for CJA panel attorneys, and 91% for federal defenders. Retained counsel had 55 trials with 3 acquittals (5%). CJA panel attorneys had 20 trials with 2 acquittals (10%). Federal defenders had 14 trials with 2 acquittals (14%).

These are descriptions of groups of cases, not ratings of lawyers. Counsel type is recorded at the end of the case. Defendants who pay for a lawyer and those who are appointed one 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   | 428        | 91%            | 5%        | 14     | 2 (14%)            |
| CJA panel attorney                     | 443        | 89%            | 6%        | 20     | 2 (10%)            |
| Private (retained) counsel             | 852        | 90%            | 4%        | 55     | 3 (5%)             |
| Self-represented                       | 5          | 3 of 5         | 1 of 5    | 1      | 0 (0 of 1)         |

## What the Records Do Not Cover

No close court-martial counterpart for this statute appears in the approved crosswalk, so the post has no military comparison.

The records give no case facts, loss amounts, or evidence. They cannot show why a case was dismissed, why a jury acquitted, or why the yearly totals changed.

### 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. 1341, any subsection (1,790), 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)
- [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)
- [18 U.S.C. 1343, Fraud by wire, radio, or television: How Federal Cases Ended, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-statute-18-usc-1343-case-outcomes/) (same title of the U.S. Code)
- [18 U.S.C. 1344, Bank fraud: How Federal Cases Ended, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-statute-18-usc-1344-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/)
- [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.