18 U.S.C. 1543, Forgery or false use of passport: How Federal Cases Ended, FY2016–2025
Nearly every federal case under 18 U.S.C. 1543 ended in a guilty plea: 386 of 394 defendants (98%) in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. Only 2 went to trial, and neither ended in an acquittal. Of the 388 convicted, 334 (86%) were sentenced to a prison term on this charge, with a median of 10.5 months.
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In brief: Nearly every federal case under 18 U.S.C. 1543 ended in a guilty plea: 386 of 394 defendants (98%) in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. Only 2 went to trial, and neither ended in an acquittal. Of the 388 convicted, 334 (86%) were sentenced to a prison term on this charge, with a median of 10.5 months.
This post uses the Federal Judicial Center's records of 394 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.
Guilty Pleas Ended Almost Every Case
Of the 394 defendants, 386 pleaded guilty (98%). Charges were dismissed for 6 (2%). Trials were held for 2, which is less than 1%.
In total, 388 of the 394 were convicted (98%). Both trials were before a jury, and both ended in a conviction. No bench trials were recorded.
Section Heading and Data Source
The U.S. Code heading for Title 18, section 1543 is "Forgery or false use of passport." Each defendant counted here had that section as the most serious charge when the case ended.
Counts are from the Federal Judicial Center and follow the federal courts' Table D-4. These records cover every case that ended, so they include dismissals as well as convictions. A dismissal may be on the government's motion, for example after a guilty plea in a different case.
Charge Level and Prison
The charge was a felony in all 394 cases (100%).
Among the 388 people convicted, 334 (86%) received a prison term on this charge. For terms of 1 month or more, the median prison term was 10.5 months. The median is the middle term in a ranked list and shows nothing about the range around it.
Counsel Recorded When Cases Closed
Federal public or community defenders represented 249 defendants (63%). CJA panel attorneys, who are private lawyers appointed by the court, represented 79 (20%). Retained private counsel represented 62 (16%).
Plea shares were high in every group: more than 99% for federal defenders, 99% for CJA panel attorneys, and 97% for retained counsel. The CJA panel group and the retained group each had 1 trial, and neither trial ended in an acquittal. The federal defender group had no trials.
These shares describe groups of cases, not how well any lawyer performed. Defendants with appointed counsel and defendants who hired a lawyer can 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 | 249 | more than 99% | less than 1% | 0 | 0 |
| CJA panel attorney | 79 | 99% | 0% | 1 | 0 (0 of 1) |
| Private (retained) counsel | 62 | 97% | 2% | 1 | 0 (0 of 1) |
Cases Ended per Fiscal Year
The yearly count varied. Fiscal year 2019 had the most cases, 114, and fiscal years 2024 and 2025 had the fewest, 11 each. Fiscal year 2018 had 46, and fiscal year 2020 had 66.
Every case ended in a guilty plea (100%) in fiscal years 2016, 2017, 2018, 2021, and 2025. The dismissal share was 8% in fiscal year 2023 and 9% in fiscal year 2024, but those years had only 24 and 11 cases. The records do not say why the yearly counts changed.
| Fiscal year | Cases ended | Pleaded guilty | Dismissed | Trials | Acquitted at trial |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 24 | 100% | 0% | 0 | 0 |
| 2017 | 17 | 100% | 0% | 0 | 0 |
| 2018 | 46 | 100% | 0% | 0 | 0 |
| 2019 | 114 | more than 99% | 0% | 1 | 0 (0 of 1) |
| 2020 | 66 | 95% | 3% | 1 | 0 (0 of 1) |
| 2021 | 33 | 100% | 0% | 0 | 0 |
| 2022 | 48 | 98% | 2% | 0 | 0 |
| 2023 | 24 | 92% | 8% | 0 | 0 |
| 2024 | 11 | 91% | 9% | 0 | 0 |
| 2025 | 11 | 100% | 0% | 0 | 0 |
What Cannot Be Read From This
With 2 trials across fiscal years 2016 to 2025, these records cannot support any statement about how trials under this section tend to end.
The approved crosswalk lists no close court-martial counterpart, so only federal numbers appear. The data also holds no case facts and no reasons for any plea or dismissal.
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. 1543, any subsection (394), 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. 1519, Destruction, alteration, or falsification of records in Federal investigations and bankruptcy: How Federal Cases Ended, FY2016–2025 (same title of the U.S. Code)
- 18 U.S.C. 1542, False statement in application and use of passport: How Federal Cases Ended, FY2016–2025 (same title of the U.S. Code)
- 18 U.S.C. 1544, Misuse of passport: How Federal Cases Ended, FY2016–2025 (same title of the U.S. Code)
- 18 U.S.C. 1546, Fraud and misuse of visas, permits, and other documents: 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.