18 U.S.C. 1709, Theft of mail matter by officer or employee: How Federal Cases Ended, FY2016–2025
Most people convicted under 18 U.S.C. 1709 did not receive a prison term on that charge: 164 of the 840 convicted (20%) did, and the median term for them was 6 months. Of 955 federal defendants whose cases ended in fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 836 (88%) pleaded guilty and 115 (12%) had their cases dis
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In brief: Most people convicted under 18 U.S.C. 1709 did not receive a prison term on that charge: 164 of the 840 convicted (20%) did, and the median term for them was 6 months. Of 955 federal defendants whose cases ended in fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 836 (88%) pleaded guilty and 115 (12%) had their cases dismissed. Only 4 went to trial, and none of those 4 ended in an acquittal.
This post uses the Federal Judicial Center's records of 955 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.
Prison Terms After Conviction
The U.S. Code gives this section the heading "Theft of mail matter by officer or employee". This post uses that heading and adds no other description of the law.
A conviction, by plea or at trial, ended 840 of the 955 cases (88%). Among those 840 defendants, 164 (20%) received a prison term on the 1709 charge. The other convicted defendants received no prison term on that charge.
For the 164 with a term of 1 month or more, the median prison term was 6 months. The median is the middle value when the terms are put in order. These figures count only the term on this charge, not time on other counts or in other cases.
Every Charge Was a Felony
The records give the level of the most serious charge when the case ended. All 955 cases (100%) were felonies under this section.
No case was recorded as a Class A misdemeanor or a petty offense. So the prison numbers above describe felony cases only, which is not true of every federal statute.
Pleas, Dismissals, and 4 Trials
Guilty pleas ended 836 cases (88%). Dismissals ended 115 cases (12%). Trials ended 4 cases, which was less than 1% of the total.
A dismissal in this data means the charges were dismissed. That group includes cases dismissed on the government's motion, for example after the defendant pleaded guilty in a different case. A dismissal here is not the same as a finding of innocence.
The 4 trials were split evenly by type: 2 before a jury and 2 bench trials decided by a judge. All 4 ended in a conviction. With so few trials, the records cannot support any statement about how often trials under this section end in acquittal.
What Did the Yearly Counts Show?
Between 79 and 110 cases under this section ended in each fiscal year. Federal fiscal years start on October 1 and end the following September.
The dismissal share moved from year to year. It was lowest in fiscal year 2018, at 5%, and highest in fiscal year 2022, at 19%. The table lists each year so readers can see the full record. The data does not explain why the share changed.
| Fiscal year | Cases ended | Pleaded guilty | Dismissed | Trials | Acquitted at trial |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 95 | 92% | 6% | 2 | 0 (0 of 2) |
| 2017 | 96 | 83% | 16% | 1 | 0 (0 of 1) |
| 2018 | 110 | 95% | 5% | 0 | 0 |
| 2019 | 108 | 87% | 13% | 0 | 0 |
| 2020 | 81 | 93% | 7% | 0 | 0 |
| 2021 | 98 | 89% | 11% | 0 | 0 |
| 2022 | 104 | 81% | 19% | 0 | 0 |
| 2023 | 89 | 84% | 16% | 0 | 0 |
| 2024 | 95 | 86% | 13% | 1 | 0 (0 of 1) |
| 2025 | 79 | 85% | 15% | 0 | 0 |
Type of Counsel at the End of the Case
A federal public or community defender represented 621 defendants (65%). A CJA panel attorney, who is a private lawyer appointed by the court, represented 122 (13%). Retained private counsel represented 205 (21%).
Guilty plea rates were 86% for defender cases, 92% for CJA panel cases, and 93% for retained counsel. Dismissal rates were 14%, 8%, and 7%. Defender cases accounted for 3 of the 4 trials, and retained counsel for 1.
These groups are not alike. People who hire a lawyer and people who receive an appointed lawyer often face different charges and circumstances. The figures describe groups of cases and say nothing about the quality of any lawyer.
| Type of counsel at the end of the case | Defendants | Pleaded guilty | Dismissed | Trials | Acquitted at trial |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Federal public or community defender | 621 | 86% | 14% | 3 | 0 (0 of 3) |
| CJA panel attorney | 122 | 92% | 8% | 0 | 0 |
| Private (retained) counsel | 205 | 93% | 7% | 1 | 0 (0 of 1) |
Limits of These Records
Each case is counted once, under its most serious charge at the end of the case, following the method of the federal courts' Table D-4. Cases where this section was a lesser charge are not included.
The records do not show the facts of any case, the evidence, or why a prosecutor chose to dismiss. No close court-martial counterpart exists in the approved crosswalk, so the numbers stand on their own.
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. 1709, any subsection (955), 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. 1704, Keys or locks stolen or reproduced: How Federal Cases Ended, FY2016–2025 (same title of the U.S. Code)
- 18 U.S.C. 1708, Theft or receipt of stolen mail matter generally: How Federal Cases Ended, FY2016–2025 (same title of the U.S. Code)
- 18 U.S.C. 1711, Misappropriation of postal funds: How Federal Cases Ended, FY2016–2025 (same title of the U.S. Code)
- 18 U.S.C. 1752, Restricted building or grounds: How Federal Cases Ended, FY2017–2025 (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.