18 U.S.C. 249, Hate crime acts: How Federal Cases Ended, FY2016–2025
Federal defendants convicted under 18 U.S.C. 249 in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 received a median prison term of 79 months (6.6 years) on that charge. Of the 61 convicted, 57 (93%) received a prison term, and 5 received life. In all, 68 defendants had cases end under this section, and 53 (78%) pleaded
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In brief: Federal defendants convicted under 18 U.S.C. 249 in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 received a median prison term of 79 months (6.6 years) on that charge. Of the 61 convicted, 57 (93%) received a prison term, and 5 received life. In all, 68 defendants had cases end under this section, and 53 (78%) pleaded guilty.
This post uses the Federal Judicial Center's records of 68 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 on the Charge
Section 249 of Title 18 is headed "Hate crime acts" in the U.S. Code. This post describes the section only by that heading.
Prison terms were common among those convicted. 57 of the 61 (93%) received a prison term on this charge. For terms of 1 month or more, the median was 79 months, or 6.6 years. The median is the middle value, with equal numbers of terms above and below it.
5 defendants received life. Every case counted here had a felony as its most serious charge: 68 (100%).
Who Is Counted
The Federal Judicial Center records every defendant whose case ended, whether by plea, dismissal, or trial. A defendant is included when section 249 was the most serious charge at the end of the case. The total for the 10 fiscal years is 68.
How the 68 Cases Ended
53 defendants (78%) pleaded guilty. 5 (7%) had their charges dismissed, which can include dismissal on the government's motion. 10 (15%) went to trial.
Of the 10 trials, 2 ended in an acquittal (20%). Juries decided 9 trials and acquitted in 1. A judge decided the remaining trial, and it ended in an acquittal.
Overall, 61 of the 68 (90%) were convicted, either by plea or at trial.
Small Yearly Counts
No fiscal year had more than 13 cases under this section. That high was in 2023. The lowest was 2 cases in 2019.
The 2 acquittals came in different years. Fiscal year 2018 had 1 trial, and 2025 had 1 trial, and each ended in an acquittal. In 2020, 2 of the 3 cases were dismissed.
In 2024, all 11 defendants pleaded guilty. Counts this small change a great deal from one year to the next, so they are not a trend.
| Fiscal year | Cases ended | Pleaded guilty | Dismissed | Trials | Acquitted at trial |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 5 | 4 of 5 | 1 of 5 | 0 | 0 |
| 2017 | 8 | 7 of 8 | 0 of 8 | 1 | 0 (0 of 1) |
| 2018 | 7 | 6 of 7 | 0 of 7 | 1 | 1 (1 of 1) |
| 2019 | 2 | 1 of 2 | 0 of 2 | 1 | 0 (0 of 1) |
| 2020 | 3 | 1 of 3 | 2 of 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 2021 | 8 | 6 of 8 | 0 of 8 | 2 | 0 (0 of 2) |
| 2022 | 6 | 5 of 6 | 0 of 6 | 1 | 0 (0 of 1) |
| 2023 | 13 | 69% | 8% | 3 | 0 (0 of 3) |
| 2024 | 11 | 100% | 0% | 0 | 0 |
| 2025 | 5 | 3 of 5 | 1 of 5 | 1 | 1 (1 of 1) |
Counsel Type
A federal public or community defender represented 32 defendants (47%). A CJA panel attorney represented 22 (32%), and private (retained) counsel represented 13 (19%).
The defender group had 7 of the 10 trials and both acquittals. Its guilty plea rate was 72%, lower than the CJA panel group (86%) and the private counsel group (85%). Each group is small.
These are differences between groups of cases, not a measure of lawyer quality. Counsel type is recorded at the end of the case, and defendants who hire a lawyer face different charges and circumstances than those with an appointed lawyer.
| Type of counsel at the end of the case | Defendants | Pleaded guilty | Dismissed | Trials | Acquitted at trial |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Federal public or community defender | 32 | 72% | 6% | 7 | 2 (2 of 7) |
| CJA panel attorney | 22 | 86% | 5% | 2 | 0 (0 of 2) |
| Private (retained) counsel | 13 | 85% | 8% | 1 | 0 (0 of 1) |
Limits
The records do not show the facts behind any case or the reasons for a plea, a dismissal, or a verdict. The approved crosswalk has no close court-martial counterpart for this section, so only federal numbers appear here.
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. 249, any subsection (68), 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. 241, Conspiracy against rights: How Federal Cases Ended, FY2016–2025 (same title of the U.S. Code)
- 18 U.S.C. 242, Deprivation of rights under color of law: How Federal Cases Ended, FY2016–2025 (same title of the U.S. Code)
- 18 U.S.C. 286, Conspiracy to defraud the Government with respect to claims: How Federal Cases Ended, FY2016–2025 (same title of the U.S. Code)
- 18 U.S.C. 287, False, fictitious or fraudulent claims: 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.