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# 18 U.S.C. 659, Interstate or foreign shipments by carrier; State prosecutions: How Federal Cases Ended, FY2016–2025
- URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-statute-18-usc-659-case-outcomes/
- Published: 2026-11-03T06:55:59.000Z
- Updated: 2026-11-03T06:55:59.000Z
- Description: Of 166 federal defendants whose most serious charge at the end of the case was 18 U.S.C. 659, 9 went to trial, and 6 of those 9 trials ended in an acquittal. The other cases mostly ended in guilty pleas (87%), and 7% were dismissed. Among the 148 convicted, 119 (80%) received a prison term on that c
- Author: Jocelyn C. Stewart
- Tags: Understanding Trends, Federal

[Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/) › [Federal Prosecution Analysis](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal/) › 18 U.S.C. 659

**In brief:** Of 166 federal defendants whose most serious charge at the end of the case was 18 U.S.C. 659, 9 went to trial, and 6 of those 9 trials ended in an acquittal. The other cases mostly ended in guilty pleas (87%), and 7% were dismissed. Among the 148 convicted, 119 (80%) received a prison term on that charge, with a median of 22 months.

Updated November 3, 2026 · Sources: U.S. Sentencing Commission and Federal Judicial Center, fiscal years 2016–2025

This post uses the Federal Judicial Center's records of 166 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](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal/) series, which builds on [Military Moves Toward Sentencing Guidelines to Mirror the Federal System](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/military-sentencing-guidelines-federal-system/). How the numbers were built: [How the Federal Comparison Data Was Built](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-data-methodology/).

## Few Trials, Several Acquittals

The U.S. Code heading for Title 18, section 659 is "Interstate or foreign shipments by carrier; State prosecutions". Federal Judicial Center records show 166 defendants under this section whose cases ended in fiscal years 2016 to 2025.

Only 9 of them (5%) went to trial. Every trial was a jury trial, and juries acquitted in 6 of the 9\. That count is too small to say how trials under this section usually end. A single verdict either way would change the share a great deal.

## Guilty Pleas and Dismissals

145 defendants (87%) pleaded guilty. 12 (7%) had their charges dismissed. The dismissal figure includes cases dropped on the government's motion, for example after a guilty plea in another case.

In all, 148 of the 166 (89%) were convicted by plea or at trial.

## Charge Level and Prison

Every defendant in the count (100%) faced a felony under section 659 at the end of the case.

119 of the 148 convicted (80%) received a prison term on that charge. Among terms of 1 month or more, the median was 22 months. Time imposed on other counts is not part of this figure.

## Counsel Groups

CJA panel attorneys, private lawyers appointed by the court, represented 61 defendants (37%). Private retained counsel represented 60 (36%), and federal public or community defenders represented 39 (23%).

Guilty pleas were at or above 90% in each group: 90% for CJA panel attorneys, 90% for retained counsel, and 92% for federal defenders. Dismissals were 3%, 5%, and 3% of those groups. Trials were 4 in the CJA panel group, with 3 acquittals; 3 in the retained group, with 2 acquittals; and 2 in the federal defender group, with 1 acquittal.

These numbers describe groups of cases, not the quality of the lawyers. People with retained and appointed counsel face different charges and circumstances, and counsel is recorded only at the end of the case. Trial counts this small cannot support any comparison.

| Type of counsel at the end of the case | Defendants | Pleaded guilty | Dismissed | Trials | Acquitted at trial |
| -------------------------------------- | ---------- | -------------- | --------- | ------ | ------------------ |
| Federal public or community defender   | 39         | 92%            | 3%        | 2      | 1 (1 of 2)         |
| CJA panel attorney                     | 61         | 90%            | 3%        | 4      | 3 (3 of 4)         |
| Private (retained) counsel             | 60         | 90%            | 5%        | 3      | 2 (2 of 3)         |

## Year-by-Year Counts

Cases ending per fiscal year ranged from 8 in 2021 to 29 in both 2017 and 2025\. No year had more than 2 trials. A federal fiscal year runs from October 1 through the following September.

| Fiscal year | Cases ended | Pleaded guilty | Dismissed | Trials | Acquitted at trial |
| ----------- | ----------- | -------------- | --------- | ------ | ------------------ |
| 2016        | 21          | 86%            | 14%       | 0      | 0                  |
| 2017        | 29          | 90%            | 3%        | 2      | 1 (1 of 2)         |
| 2018        | 19          | 84%            | 5%        | 2      | 1 (1 of 2)         |
| 2019        | 11          | 82%            | 9%        | 1      | 1 (1 of 1)         |
| 2020        | 11          | 82%            | 9%        | 1      | 1 (1 of 1)         |
| 2021        | 8           | 7 of 8         | 1 of 8    | 0      | 0                  |
| 2022        | 14          | 86%            | 7%        | 1      | 0 (0 of 1)         |
| 2023        | 9           | 6 of 9         | 1 of 9    | 2      | 2 (2 of 2)         |
| 2024        | 15          | 87%            | 13%       | 0      | 0                  |
| 2025        | 29          | 100%           | 0%        | 0      | 0                  |

## What Cannot Be Read From This Data

These are counts from court records. They do not show what was alleged, what evidence was offered, or why a jury acquitted. They count the most serious charge at the end of the case, so a defendant whose charges changed may appear under another statute instead.

### 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. 659, any subsection (166), 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](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/military-sentencing-guidelines-federal-system/) (the background article)
- [Federal Prosecution Analysis](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal/) (all federal posts)
- [How the Federal Comparison Data Was Built](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-data-methodology/) (sources and method)
- [18 U.S.C. 641, Public money, property or records: How Federal Cases Ended, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-statute-18-usc-641-case-outcomes/) (same title of the U.S. Code)
- [18 U.S.C. 656, Theft, embezzlement, or misapplication by bank officer or employee: How Federal Cases Ended, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-statute-18-usc-656-case-outcomes/) (same title of the U.S. Code)
- [18 U.S.C. 661, Within special maritime and territorial jurisdiction: How Federal Cases Ended, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-statute-18-usc-661-case-outcomes/) (same title of the U.S. Code)
- [18 U.S.C. 666, Theft or bribery concerning programs receiving Federal funds: How Federal Cases Ended, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-statute-18-usc-666-case-outcomes/) (same title of the U.S. Code)
- [Appointed vs. Retained Lawyers in Federal Criminal Cases: How Cases Ended, 2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-appointed-vs-retained-counsel-outcomes/)
- [Are Courts-Martial More Likely to End in Acquittal Than Federal Trials?](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-trial-acquittal-rates-vs-courts-martial/)
- [U.S. Sentencing Commission, Individual Offender Datafiles](https://www.ussc.gov/research/datafiles/commission-datafiles?ref=bodiesburied.com) (source)
- [Federal Judicial Center, Integrated Database (criminal defendants)](https://www.fjc.gov/research/idb?ref=bodiesburied.com) (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](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/?ref=bodiesburied.com). This analysis is for education and information only. It is not legal advice, and every case is different.