18 U.S.C. 5032, Delinquency proceedings in district courts; transfer for criminal prosecution: How Federal Cases Ended, FY2016–2025
Between fiscal years 2016 and 2025, 96 federal defendants had cases end with 18 U.S.C. 5032 as the most serious charge. Of the 68 convicted, 38 (56%) received a prison term on that charge, and the median term was 22 months. Before that point, 27 cases (28%) were dismissed, 67 (70%) ended in a guilty
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › 18 U.S.C. 5032
In brief: Between fiscal years 2016 and 2025, 96 federal defendants had cases end with 18 U.S.C. 5032 as the most serious charge. Of the 68 convicted, 38 (56%) received a prison term on that charge, and the median term was 22 months. Before that point, 27 cases (28%) were dismissed, 67 (70%) ended in a guilty plea, and 2 (2%) went to trial.
This post uses the Federal Judicial Center's records of 96 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 Were Less Common Here
This section of Title 18 has the official heading "Delinquency proceedings in district courts; transfer for criminal prosecution". The data comes from the Federal Judicial Center, counted as in the federal courts' Table D-4.
Conviction did not lead to a prison term on this charge in every case. Of the 68 defendants convicted, 38 received a prison term on that charge, or 56%. Among terms of 1 month or more, the median was 22 months.
The other convicted defendants did not receive a prison term on this charge. The records in this count do not say what sentence they received instead.
How the 96 Cases Ended
Guilty pleas ended 67 cases (70%). Dismissals ended 27 (28%). Only 2 defendants (2%) went to trial. Counting pleas and trial verdicts together, 68 of the 96 (71%) were convicted.
The Federal Judicial Center counts every case that ended, so dismissals and acquittals are part of the total. A dismissal here includes charges the government dropped, for example after the defendant pleaded guilty in another case.
Of the 2 trials, 1 was before a jury and 1 was a bench trial decided by a judge. The jury trial ended in an acquittal. The bench trial did not. With 2 trials, no acquittal rate for this section can be stated with any confidence.
Level of the Charge
Felonies made up 89 of the 96 charges, or 93%. Another 6 (6%) were Class A misdemeanors, and 1 (1%) was a petty offense.
The level reflects the most serious charge at the end of the case. It may differ from the charge filed at the start.
Small Counts From Year to Year
No fiscal year had more than 15 cases under this section. Fiscal year 2017 had 15, and fiscal year 2016 had 5. Every other year had from 7 to 13.
Because the counts are small, the yearly shares move a lot. In fiscal year 2024, 9 of 9 cases ended in a guilty plea. In fiscal year 2022, 5 of 7 were dismissed. These are small groups of cases, and the table does not show a trend.
| Fiscal year | Cases ended | Pleaded guilty | Dismissed | Trials | Acquitted at trial |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 5 | 5 of 5 | 0 of 5 | 0 | 0 |
| 2017 | 15 | 87% | 7% | 1 | 0 (0 of 1) |
| 2018 | 8 | 4 of 8 | 4 of 8 | 0 | 0 |
| 2019 | 12 | 67% | 33% | 0 | 0 |
| 2020 | 9 | 7 of 9 | 1 of 9 | 1 | 1 (1 of 1) |
| 2021 | 13 | 69% | 31% | 0 | 0 |
| 2022 | 7 | 2 of 7 | 5 of 7 | 0 | 0 |
| 2023 | 9 | 6 of 9 | 3 of 9 | 0 | 0 |
| 2024 | 9 | 9 of 9 | 0 of 9 | 0 | 0 |
| 2025 | 9 | 4 of 9 | 5 of 9 | 0 | 0 |
Which Lawyers Handled These Cases?
Type of counsel is the one recorded when the case ended. Federal public or community defenders handled 54 cases (56%). CJA panel attorneys, who are private lawyers appointed by the court, handled 35 (36%). Retained private counsel handled 5 (5%).
In the federal defender group, 74% pleaded guilty and 22% had their cases dismissed. Both trials were in this group. In the CJA panel group, 69% pleaded guilty and 31% had their cases dismissed. In the retained counsel group, 3 of 5 pleaded guilty and 2 of 5 were dismissed.
The numbers by counsel describe groups of cases, not the quality of lawyers. Defendants with retained counsel and those with appointed counsel 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 | 54 | 74% | 22% | 2 | 1 (1 of 2) |
| CJA panel attorney | 35 | 69% | 31% | 0 | 0 |
| Private (retained) counsel | 5 | 3 of 5 | 2 of 5 | 0 | 0 |
What These Numbers Cannot Show
These records list the charge, how the case ended, and any prison term on the charge. They cannot show the facts of a case or why a prosecutor or judge made a decision. There is no close court-martial counterpart for this section in the approved crosswalk, so only federal numbers are reported.
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. 5032, any subsection (96), 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. 3146, Penalty for failure to appear: How Federal Cases Ended, FY2016–2025 (same title of the U.S. Code)
- 18 U.S.C. 4082, Commitment to Attorney General; residential treatment centers; extension of limits of confinement; work furlough: 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.