18 U.S.C. 875, Interstate communications: How Federal Cases Ended, FY2016–2025
Of the 908 federal defendants whose cases under 18 U.S.C. 875 ended in fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 60 (7%) went to trial, and 13 of those trials (22%) ended in an acquittal. Judges deciding bench trials acquitted in 8 of 11 cases (73%), while juries acquitted in 5 of 49 (10%). Overall, 793 (87%) were
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In brief: Of the 908 federal defendants whose cases under 18 U.S.C. 875 ended in fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 60 (7%) went to trial, and 13 of those trials (22%) ended in an acquittal. Judges deciding bench trials acquitted in 8 of 11 cases (73%), while juries acquitted in 5 of 49 (10%). Overall, 793 (87%) were convicted, and the median prison term on this charge was 21 months.
This post uses the Federal Judicial Center's records of 908 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.
Jury Trials and Bench Trials
Title 18, section 875 of the U.S. Code is headed "Interstate communications". This post counts defendants in Federal Judicial Center records whose most serious charge, when the case ended, fell under that section.
Trials were uncommon. Of the 908 defendants, 60 had a trial: 49 before a jury and 11 before a judge alone, which is called a bench trial.
Juries returned an acquittal in 5 of their 49 trials, or 10%. Judges in bench trials acquitted in 8 of 11, or 73%. The bench trial count is small. The records do not show why a defendant chose a judge instead of a jury, or what evidence either side presented.
Guilty Pleas and Dismissals
Most cases ended without any trial. A guilty plea ended 746 cases (82%). Another 102 defendants (11%) had their cases dismissed.
A dismissal in these records means the charges were dropped. That includes dismissals on the government's motion, such as when a defendant pleaded guilty in a different case. So a dismissal here does not by itself show that a defendant left federal court without any conviction.
Counting pleas and trial verdicts together, 793 of the 908 (87%) were convicted.
Prison Terms on This Charge
Every one of the 908 charges was recorded as a felony. The records list no Class A misdemeanors and no petty offenses under this section.
Of the 793 people convicted, 663 (84%) received a prison term on this charge. Among those whose term was 1 month or more, the median was 21 months. The median is the middle term when all terms are lined up from shortest to longest.
The other convicted defendants received no prison term on this charge. The records used for this post do not say what sentence they received instead.
Cases by Fiscal Year
The number of cases ending each year rose over the period, from 51 in fiscal year 2016 to 129 in fiscal year 2025.
The guilty plea rate stayed between 71% and 88% in every year. The 88% figure was in fiscal year 2024, when the dismissal rate was 5%, the lowest in the table.
Yearly trial counts ranged from 3 to 11. With so few trials per year, yearly acquittal numbers such as 3 of 7 in fiscal year 2020 can change a great deal from one year to the next.
| Fiscal year | Cases ended | Pleaded guilty | Dismissed | Trials | Acquitted at trial |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 51 | 76% | 18% | 3 | 0 (0 of 3) |
| 2017 | 49 | 71% | 22% | 3 | 2 (2 of 3) |
| 2018 | 64 | 83% | 11% | 4 | 1 (1 of 4) |
| 2019 | 84 | 81% | 11% | 7 | 0 (0 of 7) |
| 2020 | 93 | 84% | 9% | 7 | 3 (3 of 7) |
| 2021 | 102 | 82% | 12% | 6 | 3 (3 of 6) |
| 2022 | 110 | 85% | 12% | 4 | 0 (0 of 4) |
| 2023 | 115 | 83% | 10% | 8 | 1 (1 of 8) |
| 2024 | 111 | 88% | 5% | 7 | 1 (1 of 7) |
| 2025 | 129 | 80% | 12% | 11 | 2 (18%) |
What Type of Counsel Was Recorded?
Federal public or community defenders handled 511 defendants (56%). CJA panel attorneys, who are private lawyers appointed by the court, handled 206 (23%). Retained private counsel handled 175 (19%), and 2 defendants represented themselves.
Guilty pleas made up 84% of cases with a federal defender, 77% with a CJA panel attorney, and 88% with retained counsel. Dismissal rates were 10%, 14%, and 6%. Federal defenders had 31 trials with 10 acquittals (32%). CJA panel attorneys had 19 trials with 2 acquittals, and retained counsel had 10 trials with 1 acquittal.
These groups are not alike. People who hire a lawyer and people who receive an appointed lawyer often face different charges and circumstances, and counsel type is recorded only at the end of the case. The figures describe groups of cases, not how well any lawyer performed.
| Type of counsel at the end of the case | Defendants | Pleaded guilty | Dismissed | Trials | Acquitted at trial |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Federal public or community defender | 511 | 84% | 10% | 31 | 10 (32%) |
| CJA panel attorney | 206 | 77% | 14% | 19 | 2 (11%) |
| Private (retained) counsel | 175 | 88% | 6% | 10 | 1 (10%) |
| Self-represented | 2 | 2 of 2 | 0 of 2 | 0 | 0 |
What the Records Leave Out
The Federal Judicial Center data shows how each case ended and the level of the charge. It does not show the facts behind the charge, the evidence, or the terms of any plea agreement.
The approved crosswalk lists no close court-martial counterpart for this section. For that reason the post reports federal numbers only and makes no comparison with military courts.
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. 875, any subsection (908), 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. 844, Penalties: How Federal Cases Ended, FY2016–2025 (same title of the U.S. Code)
- 18 U.S.C. 871, Threats against President and successors to the Presidency: How Federal Cases Ended, FY2016–2025 (same title of the U.S. Code)
- 18 U.S.C. 876, Mailing threatening communications: How Federal Cases Ended, FY2016–2025 (same title of the U.S. Code)
- 18 U.S.C. 894, Collection of extensions of credit by extortionate means: 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.