18 U.S.C. 1349, Attempt and conspiracy: How Federal Cases Ended, FY2016–2025
In fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 11,807 of the 13,204 federal defendants charged under 18 U.S.C. 1349 (89%) were convicted, most of them by guilty plea. Only 902 (7%) went to trial, and 101 of those trials (11%) ended in an acquittal. The median prison term on this charge was 33 months (2.8 years).
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In brief: In fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 11,807 of the 13,204 federal defendants charged under 18 U.S.C. 1349 (89%) were convicted, most of them by guilty plea. Only 902 (7%) went to trial, and 101 of those trials (11%) ended in an acquittal. The median prison term on this charge was 33 months (2.8 years).
This post uses the Federal Judicial Center's records of 13,204 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 Large Group of Cases
Title 18, section 1349 carries the heading "Attempt and conspiracy". The Federal Judicial Center records 13,204 defendants whose cases ended with a charge under this section as the most serious charge.
That count covers every way a case can end. It includes defendants who pleaded guilty, defendants whose charges were dismissed, and defendants who went to trial and were convicted or acquitted.
All 13,204 charges were felonies. No Class A misdemeanor or petty offense was recorded.
Pleas Ended Most Cases
A guilty plea ended 11,006 cases (83%). Dismissal ended 1,296 (10%).
Dismissed, in these records, includes charges dismissed on the government's motion. One common example is a defendant who pleaded guilty in another case and had this case dismissed.
With trials added, the share convicted by plea or at trial was 89%.
Juries, Judges, and Acquittals
Juries heard 858 of the 902 trials and acquitted in 77 (9%). Judges heard 44 bench trials and acquitted in 24 (55%).
The acquittal rate for bench trials was higher than the rate for jury trials. The bench group is far smaller, and the records give no reason why a case was tried to a judge. The cases in each kind of trial may differ in ways the data does not record.
Who Represented These Defendants?
Private (retained) counsel represented 5,767 (44%), and CJA panel attorneys represented 5,387 (41%). A CJA panel attorney is a private lawyer appointed by the court.
Federal public or community defenders represented 1,651 (13%). Another 15 defendants represented themselves.
The plea rate was 85% for retained counsel, 86% for CJA panel attorneys, and 89% for federal defenders. Each of those groups had a dismissal rate of 7%. Retained counsel went to trial 441 times with 61 acquittals (14%), CJA panel attorneys 375 times with 27 acquittals (7%), and federal defenders 79 times with 13 acquittals (16%).
These differences describe groups of cases, not the quality of lawyers. Defendants who hire counsel and defendants who are given appointed counsel face different charges and circumstances. The records note counsel type only at the end of the case.
| Type of counsel at the end of the case | Defendants | Pleaded guilty | Dismissed | Trials | Acquitted at trial |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Federal public or community defender | 1,651 | 89% | 7% | 79 | 13 (16%) |
| CJA panel attorney | 5,387 | 86% | 7% | 375 | 27 (7%) |
| Private (retained) counsel | 5,767 | 85% | 7% | 441 | 61 (14%) |
| Self-represented | 15 | 67% | 13% | 3 | 0 (0 of 3) |
Prison Terms
Of the 11,807 convicted, 10,192 (86%) received a prison term on this charge.
For terms of 1 month or more, the median was 33 months (2.8 years). The median is the middle value when the terms are listed from shortest to longest. These figures do not include the shortest or longest term.
Changes Across Fiscal Years
Cases ending per year ranged from 938 in fiscal year 2020 to 1,596 in fiscal year 2024. The plea rate stayed between 81% and 85% in every year.
The yearly acquittal rate at trial was lowest in fiscal year 2019, at 6%, and highest in fiscal year 2022, at 17%. The records do not show why any year differed from another.
| Fiscal year | Cases ended | Pleaded guilty | Dismissed | Trials | Acquitted at trial |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 1,516 | 84% | 8% | 112 | 12 (11%) |
| 2017 | 1,242 | 82% | 10% | 99 | 12 (12%) |
| 2018 | 1,272 | 83% | 8% | 117 | 9 (8%) |
| 2019 | 1,314 | 85% | 8% | 96 | 6 (6%) |
| 2020 | 938 | 84% | 9% | 58 | 4 (7%) |
| 2021 | 945 | 81% | 14% | 55 | 8 (15%) |
| 2022 | 1,333 | 84% | 11% | 69 | 12 (17%) |
| 2023 | 1,476 | 81% | 11% | 111 | 18 (16%) |
| 2024 | 1,596 | 84% | 9% | 102 | 13 (13%) |
| 2025 | 1,572 | 85% | 10% | 83 | 7 (8%) |
Limits
Only the most serious charge at the end of the case is counted. The records do not describe the conduct, the evidence, or the reasons a case went to trial. No close court-martial counterpart exists in the approved crosswalk, so no military comparison is made.
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. 1349, any subsection (13,204), 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. 1347, Health care fraud: How Federal Cases Ended, FY2016–2025 (same title of the U.S. Code)
- 18 U.S.C. 1348, Securities and commodities fraud: How Federal Cases Ended, FY2016–2025 (same title of the U.S. Code)
- 18 U.S.C. 1361, Government property or contracts: How Federal Cases Ended, FY2016–2025 (same title of the U.S. Code)
- 18 U.S.C. 1382, Entering military, naval, or Coast Guard property: 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.