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# 18 U.S.C. 1952, Interstate and foreign travel or transportation in aid of racketeering enterprises: How Federal Cases Ended, FY2016–2025
- URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-statute-18-usc-1952-case-outcomes/
- Published: 2026-11-03T06:55:28.000Z
- Updated: 2026-11-03T06:55:28.000Z
- Description: Guilty pleas ended 849 of the 900 federal cases (94%) in which 18 U.S.C. 1952 was the most serious charge at the end, over fiscal years 2016 to 2025. Only 15 defendants (2%) went to trial. Of the 859 convicted, 709 (83%) were sentenced to prison on that charge, with a median term of 48 months (4 yea
- 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. 1952

**In brief:** Guilty pleas ended 849 of the 900 federal cases (94%) in which 18 U.S.C. 1952 was the most serious charge at the end, over fiscal years 2016 to 2025\. Only 15 defendants (2%) went to trial. Of the 859 convicted, 709 (83%) were sentenced to prison on that charge, with a median term of 48 months (4 years).

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 900 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/).

## Most Cases Ended in a Guilty Plea

Besides the 849 guilty pleas, 36 defendants (4%) had their cases dismissed and 15 (2%) went to trial.

The Federal Judicial Center count includes every defendant whose case ended in these years. Dismissed cases and acquitted defendants are part of the 900.

A dismissal in these records means the charges were dismissed. Some come on the government's motion, for example after a guilty plea in another case.

## Heading and Level of the Charge

The U.S. Code gives section 1952 of Title 18 the heading "Interstate and foreign travel or transportation in aid of racketeering enterprises". This post uses only that heading to identify it.

The records list all 900 charges as felonies. There were 0 Class A misdemeanors and 0 petty offenses.

## The 15 Trials

Of the 15 trials, 5 ended in an acquittal (33%). Juries heard 14 and acquitted 4 (29%). A judge heard 1 bench trial, and it ended in an acquittal.

With only 15 trials in the whole period, the acquittal rate is based on a small number of cases. Each single verdict moves a rate like this by several points.

## Convictions and Prison Terms

Conviction by plea or at trial came in 859 of the 900 cases, or 95%.

A prison term on this charge followed for 709 of the 859 (83%). Among terms of 1 month or more, the median was 48 months, which is 4 years. 1 defendant received life.

The median is the middle term once all terms are put in order. It reflects only the sentence on this section, not on other counts.

## How Did Outcomes Differ by Type of Counsel?

CJA panel attorneys, private lawyers appointed by the court, represented 420 defendants (47%). Retained private counsel represented 270 (30%), and federal public or community defenders represented 195 (22%).

Guilty plea rates were 98% with a federal defender and 95% in both the CJA and retained groups. Trials were few in every group: 8 with a CJA panel attorney (1 acquittal), 5 with retained counsel (3 acquittals), and 2 with a federal defender (1 acquittal).

The counsel numbers describe groups of cases, not the quality of lawyers. Counsel type is recorded at the end of the case, and defendants who hire a lawyer and those who are appointed one 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   | 195        | 98%            | 1%        | 2      | 1 (1 of 2)         |
| CJA panel attorney                     | 420        | 95%            | 3%        | 8      | 1 (1 of 8)         |
| Private (retained) counsel             | 270        | 95%            | 3%        | 5      | 3 (3 of 5)         |

## Counts by Fiscal Year

The number of cases ending each year was higher at the start of the period than at the end. Fiscal year 2017 had 150, and fiscal year 2025 had 48\. The records do not show why.

No year had more than 5 trials. Fiscal years 2020, 2022, 2023, and 2025 had none.

| Fiscal year | Cases ended | Pleaded guilty | Dismissed | Trials | Acquitted at trial |
| ----------- | ----------- | -------------- | --------- | ------ | ------------------ |
| 2016        | 139         | 94%            | 4%        | 3      | 1 (1 of 3)         |
| 2017        | 150         | 93%            | 4%        | 5      | 2 (2 of 5)         |
| 2018        | 144         | 99%            | 0%        | 2      | 0 (0 of 2)         |
| 2019        | 98          | 94%            | 5%        | 1      | 1 (1 of 1)         |
| 2020        | 60          | 92%            | 8%        | 0      | 0                  |
| 2021        | 71          | 94%            | 3%        | 2      | 1 (1 of 2)         |
| 2022        | 72          | 94%            | 6%        | 0      | 0                  |
| 2023        | 55          | 96%            | 4%        | 0      | 0                  |
| 2024        | 63          | 89%            | 8%        | 2      | 0 (0 of 2)         |
| 2025        | 48          | 98%            | 2%        | 0      | 0                  |

## What the Counts Do Not Cover

The approved crosswalk has no close court-martial counterpart for this statute, so the post reports federal numbers only. The records do not describe the conduct in any case or explain any dismissal or verdict.

### 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. 1952, any subsection (900), 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. 1920, False statement or fraud to obtain Federal employees’ compensation: How Federal Cases Ended, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-statute-18-usc-1920-case-outcomes/) (same title of the U.S. Code)
- [18 U.S.C. 1951, Interference with commerce by threats or violence: How Federal Cases Ended, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-statute-18-usc-1951-case-outcomes/) (same title of the U.S. Code)
- [18 U.S.C. 1955, Prohibition of illegal gambling businesses: How Federal Cases Ended, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-statute-18-usc-1955-case-outcomes/) (same title of the U.S. Code)
- [18 U.S.C. 1956, Laundering of monetary instruments: How Federal Cases Ended, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-statute-18-usc-1956-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.