18 U.S.C. 545, Smuggling goods into the United States: How Federal Cases Ended, FY2016–2025
In fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 496 federal defendants had a case end with a most serious charge under 18 U.S.C. 545. Most pleaded guilty: 430 (87%). Only 10 went to trial, and 5 of those trials ended in an acquittal (50%).
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In brief: In fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 496 federal defendants had a case end with a most serious charge under 18 U.S.C. 545. Most pleaded guilty: 430 (87%). Only 10 went to trial, and 5 of those trials ended in an acquittal (50%).
This post uses the Federal Judicial Center's records of 496 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.
How Often Did Trials End in Acquittal?
Trials were uncommon under this section. Of the 496 defendants, 10 (2%) went to trial.
Juries decided 8 of those trials and acquitted in 4 of 8. Judges sitting without a jury decided the other 2 and acquitted in 1 of 2.
An acquittal rate based on 10 trials is fragile. A single verdict going the other way would change it a great deal. The rate also leaves out every defendant who pleaded guilty or whose charges were dismissed.
What Section 545 Is and How It Was Counted
Title 18, section 545 of the U.S. Code carries the heading "Smuggling goods into the United States". This post does not describe the conduct behind any case.
The numbers come from the Federal Judicial Center. Each defendant is counted once, by the most serious charge at the end of the case, and only if the case ended in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. The count includes dismissals and acquittals, not only people who were sentenced.
Pleas and Dismissals
Guilty pleas resolved 430 cases (87%). Dismissals ended 56 cases (11%).
In these records, a dismissal can include a case the government dropped on its own motion, for example after the defendant pleaded guilty in a different case. A dismissal therefore does not always mean the person faced no federal conviction at all.
Counting pleas and trial verdicts together, 435 of the 496 defendants (88%) were convicted.
Felony Charges and Prison Terms
All 496 charges were felonies (100%). None were Class A misdemeanors or petty offenses.
Among the 435 people convicted, 340 (78%) received a prison term on this charge. For terms of 1 month or more, the median was 24 months (2 years). The records also show that 1 person received life.
A median is the middle value when the terms are put in order. It says nothing about how widely the other terms were spread.
Type of Counsel at the End of the Case
Federal public or community defenders were recorded for 203 defendants (41%). Private (retained) counsel were recorded for 141 (28%), and CJA panel attorneys, who are private lawyers appointed by the court, for 135 (27%). The records list 1 defendant as self-represented.
Guilty pleas were 93% in both the federal defender group and the CJA panel group. In the private counsel group, 82% pleaded guilty and 13% had their cases dismissed. Private counsel also had the most trials: 6, with 3 acquittals (3 of 6). The federal defender group had 2 trials and 2 acquittals.
These figures describe groups of cases, not the quality of lawyers. People who hire a lawyer and people who receive an appointed one face different charges and circumstances, and the trial counts in each group are very small.
| Type of counsel at the end of the case | Defendants | Pleaded guilty | Dismissed | Trials | Acquitted at trial |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Federal public or community defender | 203 | 93% | 6% | 2 | 2 (2 of 2) |
| CJA panel attorney | 135 | 93% | 7% | 1 | 0 (0 of 1) |
| Private (retained) counsel | 141 | 82% | 13% | 6 | 3 (3 of 6) |
| Self-represented | 1 | 0 of 1 | 0 of 1 | 1 | 0 (0 of 1) |
Cases by Fiscal Year
Fiscal year 2023 had the most cases end, with 94. Fiscal year 2017 had the fewest, with 22.
Dismissals were more common in the early years. In fiscal year 2016, 31% of cases were dismissed, compared with 3% in fiscal year 2024. No year had more than 2 trials, so the yearly acquittal counts are too small to read as a trend.
| Fiscal year | Cases ended | Pleaded guilty | Dismissed | Trials | Acquitted at trial |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 45 | 67% | 31% | 1 | 0 (0 of 1) |
| 2017 | 22 | 86% | 9% | 1 | 0 (0 of 1) |
| 2018 | 34 | 76% | 18% | 2 | 1 (1 of 2) |
| 2019 | 34 | 94% | 6% | 0 | 0 |
| 2020 | 28 | 71% | 25% | 1 | 1 (1 of 1) |
| 2021 | 48 | 79% | 19% | 1 | 0 (0 of 1) |
| 2022 | 76 | 92% | 7% | 1 | 1 (1 of 1) |
| 2023 | 94 | 94% | 5% | 1 | 0 (0 of 1) |
| 2024 | 59 | 93% | 3% | 2 | 2 (2 of 2) |
| 2025 | 56 | 93% | 7% | 0 | 0 |
Limits of These Records
The data list how each case ended. They do not explain why charges were dismissed, why a jury acquitted, or what evidence was presented. The approved crosswalk has no close court-martial counterpart for this section, so only federal cases are reported 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. 545, any subsection (496), 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. 513, Securities of the States and private entities: How Federal Cases Ended, FY2016–2025 (same title of the U.S. Code)
- 18 U.S.C. 514, Fictitious obligations: How Federal Cases Ended, FY2016–2025 (same title of the U.S. Code)
- 18 U.S.C. 553, Importation or exportation of stolen motor vehicles, off-highway mobile equipment, vessels, or aircraft: How Federal Cases Ended, FY2016–2025 (same title of the U.S. Code)
- 18 U.S.C. 554, Smuggling goods from the United States: 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.