18 U.S.C. 1956, Laundering of monetary instruments: How Federal Cases Ended, FY2016–2025
Of 6,078 federal defendants whose most serious charge was under 18 U.S.C. 1956, 1,001 (16%) had their cases dismissed in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. Most of the rest pleaded guilty: 4,810 (79%). Another 267 (4%) went to trial, and 33 of them (12%) were acquitted.
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In brief: Of 6,078 federal defendants whose most serious charge was under 18 U.S.C. 1956, 1,001 (16%) had their cases dismissed in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. Most of the rest pleaded guilty: 4,810 (79%). Another 267 (4%) went to trial, and 33 of them (12%) were acquitted.
This post uses the Federal Judicial Center's records of 6,078 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.
How the 6,078 Cases Ended
Guilty pleas ended 4,810 cases, or 79%. Dismissals ended 1,001, or 16%. Trials ended 267, or 4%.
In these records, a dismissed case is one in which the charges were dismissed. That includes dismissals the government asked for, such as after the defendant pleaded guilty in another case. The data does not say which reason applied to each dismissal.
The count includes every defendant whose case ended in the period, as in the federal courts' Table D-4. It is therefore broader than a count of sentenced defendants.
The Section Heading and Charge Level
Title 18, section 1956 of the U.S. Code carries the heading "Laundering of monetary instruments". This post refers to the statute only by that heading.
All 6,078 defendants were charged at the felony level. The records show 0 Class A misdemeanors and 0 petty offenses under this section.
Trials and Acquittals
Juries decided 250 of the 267 trials and acquitted 26 defendants (10%). Judges decided the other 17 in bench trials and acquitted 7 (41%).
The bench trial rate is higher than the jury rate, but it rests on only 17 trials. A small group like that can show a high or low rate by chance, and the records do not show how the cases sent to a judge differed from the jury cases.
Prison Terms on This Charge
Convictions by plea or at trial reached 5,044, which is 83% of the 6,078. Of those convicted, 4,196 (83%) received a prison term on this charge.
For terms of 1 month or more, the median prison term was 38 months (3.2 years). The median is the term in the middle of the ranked list. It counts only the sentence on this section, not on other counts.
Type of Counsel at the End of the Case
Retained private counsel represented the largest group, 2,609 defendants (43%). CJA panel attorneys, who are private lawyers appointed by the court, represented 2,323 (38%). Federal public or community defenders represented 601 (10%), and 7 defendants represented themselves.
Plea rates were close across the 3 lawyer groups: 86% with retained counsel, 87% with a CJA panel attorney, and 86% with a federal defender. Retained counsel had 130 trials and 20 acquittals (15%). CJA panel attorneys had 106 trials and 12 acquittals (11%). Federal defenders had 27 trials and 1 acquittal (4%).
Of the 7 self-represented defendants, 4 went to trial, and 0 were acquitted.
The counsel figures describe groups of cases, not the quality of lawyers. Defendants who hire counsel and those given an appointed lawyer face different charges and circumstances, and the type is recorded only at the end of the case.
| Type of counsel at the end of the case | Defendants | Pleaded guilty | Dismissed | Trials | Acquitted at trial |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Federal public or community defender | 601 | 86% | 10% | 27 | 1 (4%) |
| CJA panel attorney | 2,323 | 87% | 8% | 106 | 12 (11%) |
| Private (retained) counsel | 2,609 | 86% | 9% | 130 | 20 (15%) |
| Self-represented | 7 | 1 of 7 | 2 of 7 | 4 | 0 (0 of 4) |
Fiscal Year Counts
Yearly totals ranged from 467 cases in fiscal year 2020 to 717 in fiscal year 2023. The dismissal share was between 13% and 20% in every year.
Fiscal year 2022 had 23 trials and 0 acquittals. Fiscal years 2024 and 2025 each had 6 acquittals. The records cannot explain these year-to-year differences.
| Fiscal year | Cases ended | Pleaded guilty | Dismissed | Trials | Acquitted at trial |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 669 | 77% | 20% | 21 | 3 (14%) |
| 2017 | 584 | 81% | 14% | 32 | 2 (6%) |
| 2018 | 621 | 80% | 16% | 28 | 4 (14%) |
| 2019 | 541 | 82% | 13% | 25 | 4 (16%) |
| 2020 | 467 | 79% | 18% | 14 | 3 (21%) |
| 2021 | 494 | 85% | 13% | 10 | 1 (10%) |
| 2022 | 596 | 77% | 19% | 23 | 0 (0%) |
| 2023 | 717 | 78% | 17% | 35 | 4 (11%) |
| 2024 | 673 | 77% | 17% | 42 | 6 (14%) |
| 2025 | 716 | 77% | 18% | 37 | 6 (16%) |
What the Data Leaves Out
There is no close court-martial counterpart for this statute in the approved crosswalk, so only federal numbers appear here. The records do not include amounts of money, the facts behind a charge, or the reasoning of a jury or judge.
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. 1956, any subsection (6,078), 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. 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. 1955, Prohibition of illegal gambling businesses: 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)
- 18 U.S.C. 1958, Use of interstate commerce facilities in the commission of murder-for-hire: 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.