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# 18 U.S.C. 1623, False declarations before grand jury or court: How Federal Cases Ended, FY2016–2025
- URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-statute-18-usc-1623-case-outcomes/
- Published: 2026-11-03T06:55:58.000Z
- Updated: 2026-11-03T06:55:58.000Z
- Description: Of 184 federal defendants whose most serious charge at the end of the case fell under 18 U.S.C. 1623, 18 (10%) went to trial in fiscal years 2016 to 2025, and 1 of those 18 trials ended in an acquittal. Most of the rest pleaded guilty: 155 (84%). In all, 172 of the 184 (93%) were convicted, and the
- 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. 1623

**In brief:** Of 184 federal defendants whose most serious charge at the end of the case fell under 18 U.S.C. 1623, 18 (10%) went to trial in fiscal years 2016 to 2025, and 1 of those 18 trials ended in an acquittal. Most of the rest pleaded guilty: 155 (84%). In all, 172 of the 184 (93%) were convicted, and the median prison term on this charge was 18 months.

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 184 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/).

## Trials Under Section 1623

The U.S. Code heads this section "False declarations before grand jury or court". This post uses that heading only and does not describe the conduct the section covers.

Trials made up 10% of the cases that ended under this section. That is 18 defendants out of 184\. The other cases ended by guilty plea or by dismissal.

Juries decided 15 of the 18 trials. None of the 15 jury trials ended in an acquittal. A judge decided the other 3 trials, which are called bench trials. 1 of the 3 bench trials ended in an acquittal.

Across all 18 trials, the acquittal rate was 6%. With so few trials, a single verdict moves that percentage a great deal, so it should be read as a count of 1 case rather than a stable rate.

## Guilty Pleas and Dismissals

155 defendants (84%) pleaded guilty. 11 (6%) had their charges dismissed.

The Federal Judicial Center counts every defendant whose case ended, so dismissals and acquittals are part of the total here. A dismissal in these records includes cases the government asked the court to dismiss. One example is a case dropped after the defendant pleaded guilty in a separate case. The records do not say which reason applied in any of the 11 dismissals.

Combining pleas and trial verdicts, 172 of the 184 defendants (93%) were convicted.

## Year-by-Year Counts

The number of cases ending each fiscal year ranged from 8 in 2024 to 30 in 2016\. A federal fiscal year runs from October through September.

Trials were more common in the earlier years. There were 5 trials in 2016 and 4 in 2017\. No trials were recorded in 2023, 2024, or 2025\. The only acquittal came in 2016.

Guilty pleas made up 55% of cases in 2022, the lowest yearly share, and 18% of that year's cases were dismissed. That year had only 11 cases, so a few defendants account for those percentages. The table below lists every year.

| Fiscal year | Cases ended | Pleaded guilty | Dismissed | Trials | Acquitted at trial |
| ----------- | ----------- | -------------- | --------- | ------ | ------------------ |
| 2016        | 30          | 80%            | 3%        | 5      | 1 (1 of 5)         |
| 2017        | 25          | 84%            | 0%        | 4      | 0 (0 of 4)         |
| 2018        | 28          | 93%            | 4%        | 1      | 0 (0 of 1)         |
| 2019        | 14          | 71%            | 7%        | 3      | 0 (0 of 3)         |
| 2020        | 21          | 86%            | 10%       | 1      | 0 (0 of 1)         |
| 2021        | 15          | 87%            | 7%        | 1      | 0 (0 of 1)         |
| 2022        | 11          | 55%            | 18%       | 3      | 0 (0 of 3)         |
| 2023        | 20          | 90%            | 10%       | 0      | 0                  |
| 2024        | 8           | 8 of 8         | 0 of 8    | 0      | 0                  |
| 2025        | 12          | 92%            | 8%        | 0      | 0                  |

## Charge Level and Prison Terms

Every one of the 184 charges was recorded as a felony. No case under this section was recorded as a Class A misdemeanor or a petty offense.

Of the 172 convicted defendants, 116 (67%) received a prison term on this charge. The median term for those sentenced to 1 month or more was 18 months. The median is the middle term when all of them are listed from shortest to longest.

These figures cover the prison term on the section 1623 charge only. A defendant could have been sentenced on other charges in the same case, and those terms are not part of this count.

## What Kind of Lawyer Was Recorded?

Type of counsel is recorded when the case ends. Defendants who hire a lawyer and those who receive an appointed lawyer face different charges and circumstances. The figures below describe groups of cases and say nothing about the quality of any lawyer.

CJA panel attorneys, who are private lawyers appointed by the court, represented 100 defendants (54%). In that group, 86% pleaded guilty and 5% had their cases dismissed. 9 went to trial, and none of the 9 was acquitted.

Private (retained) counsel represented 53 defendants (29%). 77% pleaded guilty and 8% were dismissed. 8 went to trial, and 1 of the 8 was acquitted.

Federal public or community defenders represented 31 defendants (17%). 90% pleaded guilty, 6% were dismissed, and 1 went to trial without an acquittal. Again, these differences reflect which cases each group handled, not how well any lawyer performed.

| Type of counsel at the end of the case | Defendants | Pleaded guilty | Dismissed | Trials | Acquitted at trial |
| -------------------------------------- | ---------- | -------------- | --------- | ------ | ------------------ |
| Federal public or community defender   | 31         | 90%            | 6%        | 1      | 0 (0 of 1)         |
| CJA panel attorney                     | 100        | 86%            | 5%        | 9      | 0 (0 of 9)         |
| Private (retained) counsel             | 53         | 77%            | 8%        | 8      | 1 (1 of 8)         |

## Limits of These Records

The count follows the most serious charge at the end of the case. A defendant first charged under this section and later convicted of something else would not appear here.

The records do not show the facts of any case, the strength of the evidence, or the reasons for a plea, a dismissal, or a verdict. This section is part of the approved pairing for perjury under Article 131, and the comparison posts set it against court-martial records.

### 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. 1623, any subsection (184), 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. 1591, Sex trafficking of children or by force, fraud, or coercion: How Federal Cases Ended, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-statute-18-usc-1591-case-outcomes/) (same title of the U.S. Code)
- [18 U.S.C. 1594, General provisions: How Federal Cases Ended, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-statute-18-usc-1594-case-outcomes/) (same title of the U.S. Code)
- [18 U.S.C. 1701, Obstruction of mails generally: How Federal Cases Ended, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-statute-18-usc-1701-case-outcomes/) (same title of the U.S. Code)
- [18 U.S.C. 1703, Delay or destruction of mail or newspapers: How Federal Cases Ended, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-statute-18-usc-1703-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.