18 U.S.C. 2312, Transportation of stolen vehicles: How Federal Cases Ended, FY2016–2025
Of 137 federal defendants whose cases ended under 18 U.S.C. 2312 in fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 117 (85%) pleaded guilty and 16 (12%) had their cases dismissed. Only 4 went to trial, and none of the 4 ended in an acquittal. Among the 121 convicted, 103 (85%) received a prison term on this charge, wit
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In brief: Of 137 federal defendants whose cases ended under 18 U.S.C. 2312 in fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 117 (85%) pleaded guilty and 16 (12%) had their cases dismissed. Only 4 went to trial, and none of the 4 ended in an acquittal. Among the 121 convicted, 103 (85%) received a prison term on this charge, with a median of 33 months.
This post uses the Federal Judicial Center's records of 137 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.
Few Trials and No Acquittals
Trials were uncommon under this section. Just 4 of the 137 cases (3%) went to trial, and juries decided all 4. No bench trial is recorded.
None of the 4 trials ended in an acquittal (0 of 4). With so few trials, that result cannot be read as a rate. It records what happened in 4 cases over 10 fiscal years.
Counting guilty pleas and guilty verdicts together, 121 of the 137 defendants (88%) were convicted.
What the Section Covers by Its Heading
Section 2312 of Title 18 is headed "Transportation of stolen vehicles". This post refers to the section only by that official heading.
Each of the 137 defendants faced the charge as a felony. The records show no Class A misdemeanor and no petty offense under this section.
The count follows the method of the federal courts' Table D-4. A defendant is placed here when this section was the most serious charge at the end of the case.
Prison Terms After Conviction
Of the 121 convicted defendants, 103 (85%) received a prison term on this charge. The other convicted defendants received no prison term on it.
Among defendants with a term of 1 month or more, the median was 33 months, which is about 2.8 years. The median is the middle term when all terms are ranked by length.
This figure covers the term on this charge only. A sentence on another count in the same case is not part of it.
Dismissals Across the Years
Dismissals ended 16 cases over the period, or 12% of the total. A dismissal in these records means the charges were dismissed. Some came on the government's motion, for example after the defendant pleaded guilty in another case.
The yearly counts are small, from 7 to 24 cases. Fiscal year 2016 had the lowest guilty plea rate, 50%, and the highest dismissal rate, 36%. In fiscal year 2025, 94% pleaded guilty and 6% had the case dismissed.
Counts this small move a great deal from one year to the next. The yearly figures are not a trend.
| Fiscal year | Cases ended | Pleaded guilty | Dismissed | Trials | Acquitted at trial |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 14 | 50% | 36% | 2 | 0 (0 of 2) |
| 2017 | 14 | 86% | 14% | 0 | 0 |
| 2018 | 7 | 6 of 7 | 1 of 7 | 0 | 0 |
| 2019 | 7 | 7 of 7 | 0 of 7 | 0 | 0 |
| 2020 | 17 | 82% | 18% | 0 | 0 |
| 2021 | 7 | 7 of 7 | 0 of 7 | 0 | 0 |
| 2022 | 16 | 88% | 6% | 1 | 0 (0 of 1) |
| 2023 | 15 | 87% | 7% | 1 | 0 (0 of 1) |
| 2024 | 24 | 92% | 8% | 0 | 0 |
| 2025 | 16 | 94% | 6% | 0 | 0 |
Type of Counsel at the End of the Case
CJA panel attorneys, who are private lawyers appointed by the court, represented 63 defendants (46%). Federal public or community defenders represented 42 (31%). Retained private counsel represented 23 (17%).
Guilty plea rates were about the same in the 3 groups: 93% with a federal defender, 90% with a CJA panel attorney, and 91% with retained counsel. The dismissal rate was 9% with retained counsel, 7% with a federal defender, and 3% with a CJA panel attorney. All 4 trials were in the CJA panel group.
These figures describe groups of cases, not the quality of lawyers. Counsel type is recorded when the case ends, and defendants who hire a lawyer and those who receive an appointed lawyer 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 | 42 | 93% | 7% | 0 | 0 |
| CJA panel attorney | 63 | 90% | 3% | 4 | 0 (0 of 4) |
| Private (retained) counsel | 23 | 91% | 9% | 0 | 0 |
Limits of These Records
The records count how cases ended and what sentence followed on this charge. They do not show the facts of any case, the strength of the evidence, or the reasons for a dismissal.
There is no close court-martial counterpart for this section in the approved crosswalk. The numbers here are federal numbers only, and no military comparison is made.
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. 2312, any subsection (137), 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. 2252, Certain activities relating to material involving the sexual exploitation of minors: How Federal Cases Ended, FY2016–2025 (same title of the U.S. Code)
- 18 U.S.C. 2261, Interstate domestic violence: How Federal Cases Ended, FY2016–2025 (same title of the U.S. Code)
- 18 U.S.C. 2314, Transportation of stolen goods, securities, moneys, fraudulent State tax stamps, or articles used in counterfeiting: How Federal Cases Ended, FY2016–2025 (same title of the U.S. Code)
- 18 U.S.C. 2320, Trafficking in counterfeit goods or services: 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.