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
Federal courts closed 62 cases in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 in which 18 U.S.C. 553 was the most serious charge. Most of them ended in the last 2 years: 14 in fiscal year 2024 and 24 in fiscal year 2025. No case went to trial, 53 (85%) ended in a guilty plea, and 48 of the 53 convicted (91%) received
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › 18 U.S.C. 553
In brief: Federal courts closed 62 cases in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 in which 18 U.S.C. 553 was the most serious charge. Most of them ended in the last 2 years: 14 in fiscal year 2024 and 24 in fiscal year 2025. No case went to trial, 53 (85%) ended in a guilty plea, and 48 of the 53 convicted (91%) received a prison term.
This post uses the Federal Judicial Center's records of 62 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.
Cases Grouped by Fiscal Year
From fiscal year 2016 through fiscal year 2023, no year had more than 7 cases end under this section. In fiscal year 2024 the count was 14, and in fiscal year 2025 it was 24.
The records show when cases ended. They do not show why more cases ended in those years, and 2 years of higher counts are not enough to call a trend.
In fiscal year 2025, 96% of cases ended in a guilty plea and 4% were dismissed. In fiscal years 2018 and 2023, the 2 cases that ended in each year were both dismissed (2 of 2).
| Fiscal year | Cases ended | Pleaded guilty | Dismissed | Trials | Acquitted at trial |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 1 | 1 of 1 | 0 of 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 2017 | 7 | 7 of 7 | 0 of 7 | 0 | 0 |
| 2018 | 2 | 0 of 2 | 2 of 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 2019 | 1 | 1 of 1 | 0 of 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 2020 | 4 | 3 of 4 | 1 of 4 | 0 | 0 |
| 2021 | 4 | 4 of 4 | 0 of 4 | 0 | 0 |
| 2022 | 3 | 2 of 3 | 1 of 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 2023 | 2 | 0 of 2 | 2 of 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 2024 | 14 | 86% | 14% | 0 | 0 |
| 2025 | 24 | 96% | 4% | 0 | 0 |
The Section Heading and the Count
Title 18, section 553 of the U.S. Code is headed "Importation or exportation of stolen motor vehicles, off-highway mobile equipment, vessels, or aircraft".
The Federal Judicial Center counted each defendant whose case ended in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 with a most serious charge under this section at the end of the case. The count covers dismissed cases as well as convictions.
Pleas, Dismissals, and No Trials
Of the 62 defendants, 53 (85%) pleaded guilty and 9 (15%) had their charges dismissed. None went to trial, so the records hold no acquittals for this section.
A dismissal can include charges dropped on the government's motion, such as after a guilty plea in another case. All 53 convictions came from guilty pleas.
How Often Did a Conviction Bring Prison Time?
Every charge was a felony: 62 (100%).
Of the 53 people convicted, 48 (91%) received a prison term on this charge. Counting terms of 1 month or more, the median was 13 months. The median marks the middle of the ordered terms and does not show their range.
Counsel Groups
CJA panel attorneys represented 26 defendants (42%). These are private lawyers appointed by the court. Federal public or community defenders represented 17 (27%), and private (retained) counsel represented 14 (23%).
Guilty plea rates were about the same in each group: 94% with federal defenders, 92% with CJA panel attorneys, and 93% with private counsel. No group had a trial.
The numbers describe groups of cases, not the quality of lawyers. Defendants who retain counsel and those who are 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 | 17 | 94% | 6% | 0 | 0 |
| CJA panel attorney | 26 | 92% | 8% | 0 | 0 |
| Private (retained) counsel | 14 | 93% | 7% | 0 | 0 |
Limits of the Data
With 62 defendants over 10 fiscal years, small changes in a few cases can move the percentages. The records give no reasons for pleas, dismissals, or prison terms. The approved crosswalk names no close court-martial counterpart for this section, so the post reports federal cases on their own.
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. 553, any subsection (62), 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. 514, Fictitious obligations: How Federal Cases Ended, FY2016–2025 (same title of the U.S. Code)
- 18 U.S.C. 545, Smuggling goods into the United States: 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)
- 18 U.S.C. 641, Public money, property or records: 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.