18 U.S.C. 287, False, fictitious or fraudulent claims: How Federal Cases Ended, FY2016–2025
Of 486 federal defendants whose most serious charge at the end of the case was under 18 U.S.C. 287 in fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 441 (91%) were convicted. Most pleaded guilty: 418 (86%). Of the convicted, 288 (65%) received a prison term on that charge, with a median of 24 months.
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In brief: Of 486 federal defendants whose most serious charge at the end of the case was under 18 U.S.C. 287 in fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 441 (91%) were convicted. Most pleaded guilty: 418 (86%). Of the convicted, 288 (65%) received a prison term on that charge, with a median of 24 months.
This post uses the Federal Judicial Center's records of 486 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 Among Those Convicted
Title 18, section 287 is headed "False, fictitious or fraudulent claims" in the U.S. Code. No other description of the section is used here.
Conviction did not always mean prison on this charge. 288 of the 441 convicted (65%) received a prison term on it. Among terms of 1 month or more, the median was 24 months (2 years).
Every one of the 486 defendants faced this section as a felony. None of the cases had a Class A misdemeanor or petty offense as the top charge.
Pleas, Dismissals, and Trials
The Federal Judicial Center counts each defendant whose case ended, including those whose charges were dismissed and those acquitted. By that count, 418 (86%) pleaded guilty, 42 (9%) had their cases dismissed, and 26 (5%) went to trial.
A dismissal in these records can include a case dismissed on the government's motion, such as after the defendant pleaded guilty in another case.
How Often Did Trials End in Acquittal?
Of the 26 trials, 3 ended in an acquittal (12%). Juries decided 25 trials and acquitted in 2 (8%). A judge decided the remaining 1 trial without a jury, and it ended in an acquittal.
Trial numbers were small in every year, never more than 6. Acquittals occurred in 2016, 2021, and 2025, 1 in each.
Year-by-Year Totals
Cases ending under this section were most numerous in fiscal year 2016, at 143. Later years had fewer, ranging from 15 in 2022 to 87 in 2017. In 2025, 29 cases ended.
Dismissal rates by year ranged from 0% in 2022 to 17% in 2025. The records show these changes but not their causes. Fiscal years begin in October.
| Fiscal year | Cases ended | Pleaded guilty | Dismissed | Trials | Acquitted at trial |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 143 | 91% | 5% | 6 | 1 (1 of 6) |
| 2017 | 87 | 90% | 6% | 4 | 0 (0 of 4) |
| 2018 | 65 | 83% | 12% | 3 | 0 (0 of 3) |
| 2019 | 34 | 88% | 9% | 1 | 0 (0 of 1) |
| 2020 | 35 | 80% | 9% | 4 | 0 (0 of 4) |
| 2021 | 32 | 75% | 16% | 3 | 1 (1 of 3) |
| 2022 | 15 | 87% | 0% | 2 | 0 (0 of 2) |
| 2023 | 29 | 83% | 14% | 1 | 0 (0 of 1) |
| 2024 | 17 | 82% | 12% | 1 | 0 (0 of 1) |
| 2025 | 29 | 79% | 17% | 1 | 1 (1 of 1) |
Counsel at the End of the Case
The 3 main types of counsel each represented a similar number of defendants. Federal public or community defenders had 159 (33%), CJA panel attorneys had 156 (32%), and private (retained) counsel had 154 (32%). 3 defendants represented themselves.
Guilty plea rates were about the same across the 3 main groups: 88%, 90%, and 88%. CJA panel attorneys had the most trials, 13, with no acquittals. Retained counsel had 7 trials with 2 acquittals, and federal defenders had 5 trials with 1 acquittal.
A caution applies to every comparison by counsel. Defendants with hired lawyers and defendants with appointed lawyers face different charges and circumstances, so the numbers describe groups of cases, not the quality of lawyers.
| Type of counsel at the end of the case | Defendants | Pleaded guilty | Dismissed | Trials | Acquitted at trial |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Federal public or community defender | 159 | 88% | 9% | 5 | 1 (1 of 5) |
| CJA panel attorney | 156 | 90% | 1% | 13 | 0 (0%) |
| Private (retained) counsel | 154 | 88% | 7% | 7 | 2 (2 of 7) |
| Self-represented | 3 | 1 of 3 | 1 of 3 | 1 | 0 (0 of 1) |
Military Comparison and Limits
This section is part of an approved pairing for frauds against the United States: Article 124 since 2019 and 18 U.S.C. 287 in federal court. Separate comparison posts cover that pairing.
The federal records here do not show the facts of any claim or the reasons a case ended as it did. They count only the most serious charge at the end of each case.
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. 287, any subsection (486), 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)
- Stealing From the Government: 18 U.S.C. 641 and False Claims vs. Articles 121 and 124 (comparison with courts-martial)
- 18 U.S.C. 249, Hate crime acts: 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. 371, Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud United States: How Federal Cases Ended, FY2016–2025 (same title of the U.S. Code)
- 18 U.S.C. 401, Power of court: 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?
- Article 124 UCMJ: Frauds Against the United States (law firm reference page)
- 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.