18 U.S.C. 4, Misprision of felony: How Federal Cases Ended, FY2016–2025
None of the 2,194 federal defendants whose most serious charge at the end of the case was under 18 U.S.C. 4 went to trial in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. Of the 2,194, 2,171 (99%) pleaded guilty and 23 (1%) had their cases dismissed. Of those convicted, 1,186 (55%) received a prison term on this charg
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In brief: None of the 2,194 federal defendants whose most serious charge at the end of the case was under 18 U.S.C. 4 went to trial in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. Of the 2,194, 2,171 (99%) pleaded guilty and 23 (1%) had their cases dismissed. Of those convicted, 1,186 (55%) received a prison term on this charge, with a median of 18 months.
This post uses the Federal Judicial Center's records of 2,194 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.
Zero Trials in 10 Fiscal Years
The U.S. Code heading for Title 18, section 4 is "Misprision of felony". This post counts federal defendants whose cases ended with that section as the most serious charge. The Federal Judicial Center records include every such defendant, whether the case ended in a plea, a dismissal, or a trial.
Across 10 fiscal years, not one of these cases went to trial. Every case ended either with a guilty plea or with the charges dismissed. Because there were no trials, there is no acquittal rate to report for this section.
Every Charge Was a Felony
The records list the level of the charge. All 2,194 defendants (100%) faced it as a felony. None were listed as Class A misdemeanors or petty offenses.
Since the plea count and the conviction count are the same here, 2,171 of the 2,194 (99%) were convicted. All of those convictions came by guilty plea.
How Many Received Prison Time?
Of the 2,171 convicted, 1,186 (55%) received a prison term on this charge. The other convicted defendants did not receive a prison term on that count.
Among defendants with a term of 1 month or more, the median prison term was 18 months. A median is the middle term in that group when the terms are sorted from shortest to longest. The median leaves out defendants with no prison term on this charge.
Dismissals and What They Include
Only 23 defendants had their cases dismissed. In these records a dismissal can mean the government asked the court to drop the charges. One example is a case dismissed after a defendant pleaded guilty in a different case.
The yearly table shows dismissal rates of 2% or lower in every fiscal year from 2016 to 2025. In 2020, 2023, and 2025, 100% of cases that ended under this section ended in a guilty plea.
| Fiscal year | Cases ended | Pleaded guilty | Dismissed | Trials | Acquitted at trial |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 299 | 98% | 2% | 0 | 0 |
| 2017 | 305 | more than 99% | less than 1% | 0 | 0 |
| 2018 | 251 | 99% | 1% | 0 | 0 |
| 2019 | 268 | 99% | 1% | 0 | 0 |
| 2020 | 161 | 100% | 0% | 0 | 0 |
| 2021 | 180 | 98% | 2% | 0 | 0 |
| 2022 | 221 | more than 99% | less than 1% | 0 | 0 |
| 2023 | 165 | 100% | 0% | 0 | 0 |
| 2024 | 178 | 99% | 1% | 0 | 0 |
| 2025 | 166 | 100% | 0% | 0 | 0 |
Type of Counsel at the End of the Case
CJA panel attorneys represented 1,213 defendants (55%). Retained private counsel represented 631 (29%), and federal public or community defenders represented 347 (16%).
The guilty plea rate was 99% or higher in each group, and no counsel group had a trial. With results this close, the counsel figures mostly show how representation was divided among these defendants.
The counsel type is the one recorded when the case ended. Defendants who hire a lawyer and defendants who are appointed one face different charges and circumstances. Any comparison across these groups describes the cases in each group. It is not a measure of 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 | 347 | more than 99% | less than 1% | 0 | 0 |
| CJA panel attorney | 1,213 | 99% | 1% | 0 | 0 |
| Private (retained) counsel | 631 | more than 99% | less than 1% | 0 | 0 |
Limits of the Count
The number of cases ending each year ranged from 305 in fiscal year 2017 to 161 in fiscal year 2020. The records show the counts but not the reasons the numbers changed from year to year.
These records also cannot show what conduct was involved in any case, what other charges were filed and later dropped, or what agreements were reached before a plea. 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. 4, any subsection (2,194), 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. 2, Principals: How Federal Cases Ended, FY2016–2025 (same title of the U.S. Code)
- 18 U.S.C. 3, Accessory after the fact: How Federal Cases Ended, FY2016–2025 (same title of the U.S. Code)
- 18 U.S.C. 13, Laws of States adopted for areas within Federal jurisdiction: How Federal Cases Ended, FY2016–2025 (same title of the U.S. Code)
- 18 U.S.C. 81, Arson within special maritime and territorial jurisdiction: 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.