18 U.S.C. 666, Theft or bribery concerning programs receiving Federal funds: How Federal Cases Ended, FY2016–2025
Federal records list 890 defendants whose cases ended in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 with 18 U.S.C. 666 as the most serious charge. 85% pleaded guilty, 8% had their charges dismissed, and 8% went to trial, where 13 of 67 trials (19%) ended in an acquittal. Of the 808 convicted, 72% received a prison t
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In brief: Federal records list 890 defendants whose cases ended in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 with 18 U.S.C. 666 as the most serious charge. 85% pleaded guilty, 8% had their charges dismissed, and 8% went to trial, where 13 of 67 trials (19%) ended in an acquittal. Of the 808 convicted, 72% received a prison term on that charge, with a median of 18 months.
This post uses the Federal Judicial Center's records of 890 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.
What This Count Covers
The U.S. Code heading for section 666 of Title 18 reads "Theft or bribery concerning programs receiving Federal funds". This post counts every defendant whose case ended in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 and whose most serious charge at the end of the case was under that section.
The source is the Federal Judicial Center. Its data includes dismissals and acquittals, not only sentenced cases. Each federal fiscal year starts on October 1 and ends the following September.
Every Charge Was a Felony
All 890 defendants (100%) faced a felony under this section at the end of the case. The records list no Class A misdemeanors and no petty offenses.
Of the 808 people convicted, 584 (72%) received a prison term on the section 666 charge. For those whose term was 1 month or more, the median was 18 months. That is the middle term in the group. The figure does not include time imposed on any other count in the same case.
Trials and Acquittals
67 defendants went to trial, or 8% of the group. That share was the same as the share of dismissals, which also stood at 8% (69 defendants).
Of the 67 trials, 13 ended in an acquittal (19%). Juries heard 65 of them and acquitted in 11 (17%). Only 2 were bench trials decided by a judge, and both ended in an acquittal. With so few bench trials, that result says little about bench trials under this statute in general.
Counting pleas and trial verdicts together, 808 of the 890 (91%) were convicted.
Who Represented the Defendants?
Private retained counsel appeared in 551 cases (62%), more than any other type. CJA panel attorneys, private lawyers appointed by the court, appeared in 174 cases (20%). Federal public or community defenders appeared in 153 (17%). The records list 1 defendant as self-represented.
The figures by counsel type describe groups of cases, not how good any lawyer was. Defendants with retained lawyers and those with appointed lawyers may face different charges and different circumstances, and the records note counsel only at the end of the case.
With that caution, 84% of defendants with retained counsel pleaded guilty, and 47 went to trial, with 9 acquittals (19%). The CJA panel group also showed an 84% plea share; 16 went to trial and 3 were acquitted (19%). In the federal defender group, 93% pleaded guilty, 4 went to trial, and 1 was acquitted.
| Type of counsel at the end of the case | Defendants | Pleaded guilty | Dismissed | Trials | Acquitted at trial |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Federal public or community defender | 153 | 93% | 5% | 4 | 1 (1 of 4) |
| CJA panel attorney | 174 | 84% | 6% | 16 | 3 (19%) |
| Private (retained) counsel | 551 | 84% | 7% | 47 | 9 (19%) |
| Self-represented | 1 | 1 of 1 | 0 of 1 | 0 | 0 |
Cases Ended by Fiscal Year
The yearly count ranged from 59 cases in fiscal year 2020 to 134 in fiscal year 2016. Guilty pleas stayed between 76% and 91% in every year.
Single-year trial counts were between 4 and 13, so the yearly acquittal numbers rest on very few verdicts. The table shows each year; it is not a basis for a trend.
| Fiscal year | Cases ended | Pleaded guilty | Dismissed | Trials | Acquitted at trial |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 134 | 81% | 10% | 13 | 1 (8%) |
| 2017 | 92 | 88% | 3% | 8 | 1 (1 of 8) |
| 2018 | 90 | 81% | 12% | 6 | 0 (0 of 6) |
| 2019 | 95 | 91% | 2% | 7 | 0 (0 of 7) |
| 2020 | 59 | 85% | 7% | 5 | 2 (2 of 5) |
| 2021 | 63 | 76% | 17% | 4 | 2 (2 of 4) |
| 2022 | 98 | 86% | 5% | 9 | 3 (3 of 9) |
| 2023 | 80 | 81% | 10% | 7 | 2 (2 of 7) |
| 2024 | 79 | 91% | 4% | 4 | 1 (1 of 4) |
| 2025 | 100 | 87% | 9% | 4 | 1 (1 of 4) |
Limits of the Data
These numbers come from case records, not from the facts of the cases. They do not show what each defendant was accused of doing, what plea agreements contained, or why the government dismissed a charge. A dismissal can follow a guilty plea in another case. Because the statute is identified by the most serious charge at the end of the case, defendants whose charges changed along the way may be counted under a different statute.
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. 666, any subsection (890), 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. 659, Interstate or foreign shipments by carrier; State prosecutions: How Federal Cases Ended, FY2016–2025 (same title of the U.S. Code)
- 18 U.S.C. 661, Within special maritime and territorial jurisdiction: How Federal Cases Ended, FY2016–2025 (same title of the U.S. Code)
- 18 U.S.C. 669, Theft or embezzlement in connection with health care: How Federal Cases Ended, FY2016–2025 (same title of the U.S. Code)
- 18 U.S.C. 751, Prisoners in custody of institution or officer: 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.