18 U.S.C. 1955, Prohibition of illegal gambling businesses: How Federal Cases Ended, FY2016–2025
Of the 251 federal defendants convicted under 18 U.S.C. 1955, 109 (43%) received a prison term on that charge. The median term for those 109 was 12 months. Over fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 286 defendants had a case end under this section, and 248 (87%) pleaded guilty.
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In brief: Of the 251 federal defendants convicted under 18 U.S.C. 1955, 109 (43%) received a prison term on that charge. The median term for those 109 was 12 months. Over fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 286 defendants had a case end under this section, and 248 (87%) pleaded guilty.
This post uses the Federal Judicial Center's records of 286 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 Was Not the Usual Sentence
Convictions totaled 251, or 88% of the 286 defendants, counting both guilty pleas and guilty verdicts at trial.
Of those 251, 109 (43%) were sentenced to prison on this charge. The others received no prison term on this section. The records summarized here do not say what sentence they received instead.
Among terms of 1 month or more, the median prison term was 12 months. The median is the middle value of the ranked terms, and it covers only the sentence on this section.
The Section and Its Charge Level
Title 18, section 1955 of the U.S. Code is headed "Prohibition of illegal gambling businesses". The post describes the statute only by that heading.
All 286 cases were charged as felonies. The records list 0 Class A misdemeanors and 0 petty offenses under this section.
Pleas, Dismissals, and 3 Trials
Guilty pleas ended 248 cases (87%). Dismissals ended 35 (12%). Only 3 defendants (1%) went to trial.
All 3 trials were jury trials, and none ended in an acquittal. There were 0 bench trials. A group of 3 trials is too small to support any acquittal rate.
The Federal Judicial Center counts every defendant whose case ended, including dismissals and acquittals. Charges can be dismissed on the government's motion, for example when the defendant pleaded guilty in another case.
Year by Year
Case counts varied widely by fiscal year, from 11 in 2024 to 55 in 2018. Small yearly counts make the yearly rates unsteady.
The dismissal share was 39% in fiscal year 2023, the highest of any year, and 0% in fiscal year 2022. All 3 trials took place in fiscal year 2016. The records do not show what drove these differences.
| Fiscal year | Cases ended | Pleaded guilty | Dismissed | Trials | Acquitted at trial |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 51 | 90% | 4% | 3 | 0 (0 of 3) |
| 2017 | 41 | 80% | 20% | 0 | 0 |
| 2018 | 55 | 93% | 7% | 0 | 0 |
| 2019 | 13 | 92% | 8% | 0 | 0 |
| 2020 | 17 | 76% | 24% | 0 | 0 |
| 2021 | 36 | 97% | 3% | 0 | 0 |
| 2022 | 14 | 100% | 0% | 0 | 0 |
| 2023 | 28 | 61% | 39% | 0 | 0 |
| 2024 | 11 | 100% | 0% | 0 | 0 |
| 2025 | 20 | 80% | 20% | 0 | 0 |
Type of Counsel
Retained private counsel represented 159 defendants (56%), the largest group. CJA panel attorneys, private lawyers appointed by the court, represented 102 (36%). Federal public or community defenders represented 17 (6%).
Guilty pleas ended 94% of cases with retained counsel, 83% with a CJA panel attorney, and 82% with a federal defender. Dismissals made up 6%, 15%, and 18% of those groups. CJA panel attorneys had 2 of the trials and retained counsel had 1, with no acquittals in either group.
These differences describe groups of cases, not the quality of lawyers. Type of counsel is recorded at the end of the case, and defendants who hire a lawyer face different charges and circumstances than those who receive an appointed one.
| Type of counsel at the end of the case | Defendants | Pleaded guilty | Dismissed | Trials | Acquitted at trial |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Federal public or community defender | 17 | 82% | 18% | 0 | 0 |
| CJA panel attorney | 102 | 83% | 15% | 2 | 0 (0 of 2) |
| Private (retained) counsel | 159 | 94% | 6% | 1 | 0 (0 of 1) |
What the Records Cannot Tell
No close court-martial counterpart for this statute appears in the approved crosswalk, so this post gives federal figures alone. The data does not describe the conduct in any case, the sentences other than prison, or the reasons for any 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. 1955, any subsection (286), 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. 1951, Interference with commerce by threats or violence: How Federal Cases Ended, FY2016–2025 (same title of the U.S. Code)
- 18 U.S.C. 1952, Interstate and foreign travel or transportation in aid of racketeering enterprises: How Federal Cases Ended, FY2016–2025 (same title of the U.S. Code)
- 18 U.S.C. 1956, Laundering of monetary instruments: How Federal Cases Ended, FY2016–2025 (same title of the U.S. Code)
- 18 U.S.C. 1957, Engaging in monetary transactions in property derived from specified unlawful activity: 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.