18 U.S.C. 1701, Obstruction of mails generally: How Federal Cases Ended, FY2016–2025
All 138 federal defendants whose most serious charge at the end of the case fell under 18 U.S.C. 1701 in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 were charged at the petty offense level. 134 (97%) pleaded guilty, and 135 (98%) were convicted. Only 15 of the 135 convicted received a prison term on this charge, with
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In brief: All 138 federal defendants whose most serious charge at the end of the case fell under 18 U.S.C. 1701 in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 were charged at the petty offense level. 134 (97%) pleaded guilty, and 135 (98%) were convicted. Only 15 of the 135 convicted received a prison term on this charge, with a median of 3 months.
This post uses the Federal Judicial Center's records of 138 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 Petty Offense in Every Case
Section 1701 of Title 18 carries the heading "Obstruction of mails generally". The post describes the section by that heading alone.
The federal records list the level of the charge for each defendant. For this section, all 138 charges were recorded as petty offenses. None was recorded as a felony or as a Class A misdemeanor.
The records sort each charge into felony, Class A misdemeanor, or petty offense, and petty offense is the lowest of these. The results and prison terms below all concern a charge at that level.
Prison Terms on This Charge
Of the 135 defendants convicted under section 1701, 15 (11%) received a prison term on that charge. The other convicted defendants received no prison term on it.
Among those with a term of 1 month or more, the median was 3 months. The median is the middle value when the terms are placed in order.
The count covers only the term imposed on the section 1701 charge. It does not include any term on other charges in the same case.
How the 138 Cases Ended
Guilty pleas ended 134 cases (97%). Dismissals ended 3 cases (2%). 1 case, less than 1% of the total, went to trial.
That single trial was a bench trial, decided by a judge rather than a jury. It did not end in an acquittal. No jury trials were recorded under this section in these years.
The Federal Judicial Center data includes every defendant whose case ended, so dismissed cases count in the total. A dismissal here can mean the government moved to drop the charge, for example after the defendant pleaded guilty in another case.
Counsel Recorded at the End of the Case
Federal public or community defenders were recorded for 89 defendants (64%). In that group, 99% pleaded guilty, 0% were dismissed, and 1 defendant went to trial.
A CJA panel attorney, a private lawyer appointed by the court, was recorded for 33 defendants (24%). 97% pleaded guilty and 3% had their cases dismissed.
Private (retained) counsel was recorded for 15 defendants (11%). 93% pleaded guilty and 7% were dismissed. With 15 cases, 1 dismissal changes the percentage noticeably.
These groups do not face the same charges or circumstances, and the type of counsel is noted only when the case ends. The numbers describe groups of cases, not the quality of the lawyers in them.
| Type of counsel at the end of the case | Defendants | Pleaded guilty | Dismissed | Trials | Acquitted at trial |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Federal public or community defender | 89 | 99% | 0% | 1 | 0 (0 of 1) |
| CJA panel attorney | 33 | 97% | 3% | 0 | 0 |
| Private (retained) counsel | 15 | 93% | 7% | 0 | 0 |
Fiscal Year Counts
Between 6 and 20 cases ended in each fiscal year. The fewest were in 2018 and the most in 2021.
Every case ended in a guilty plea in 2016, 2018, 2019, 2022, 2023, and 2024. The 1 trial was in 2020. The yearly table follows.
| Fiscal year | Cases ended | Pleaded guilty | Dismissed | Trials | Acquitted at trial |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 14 | 100% | 0% | 0 | 0 |
| 2017 | 18 | 94% | 6% | 0 | 0 |
| 2018 | 6 | 6 of 6 | 0 of 6 | 0 | 0 |
| 2019 | 12 | 100% | 0% | 0 | 0 |
| 2020 | 11 | 91% | 0% | 1 | 0 (0 of 1) |
| 2021 | 20 | 95% | 5% | 0 | 0 |
| 2022 | 11 | 100% | 0% | 0 | 0 |
| 2023 | 18 | 100% | 0% | 0 | 0 |
| 2024 | 14 | 100% | 0% | 0 | 0 |
| 2025 | 14 | 93% | 7% | 0 | 0 |
Questions These Records Leave Open
The counts follow the most serious charge at the end of the case. Someone charged under a different section at first could appear here, and someone first charged under this section but finally convicted of something else would not.
The data does not record what happened in any case, why a plea was entered, or why a charge was dropped. No court-martial offense is paired with this section in the approved crosswalk, so the post reports 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. 1701, any subsection (138), 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. 1594, General provisions: How Federal Cases Ended, FY2016–2025 (same title of the U.S. Code)
- 18 U.S.C. 1623, False declarations before grand jury or court: How Federal Cases Ended, FY2016–2025 (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 (same title of the U.S. Code)
- 18 U.S.C. 1704, Keys or locks stolen or reproduced: 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.