18 U.S.C. 876, Mailing threatening communications: How Federal Cases Ended, FY2016–2025
Of the 192 people convicted under 18 U.S.C. 876 in federal cases that ended in fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 170 (89%) received a prison term on that charge. The median term was 42 months (3.5 years) for those with a term of 1 month or more. Most of the 214 defendants pleaded guilty (84%), and 5 of 17
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In brief: Of the 192 people convicted under 18 U.S.C. 876 in federal cases that ended in fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 170 (89%) received a prison term on that charge. The median term was 42 months (3.5 years) for those with a term of 1 month or more. Most of the 214 defendants pleaded guilty (84%), and 5 of 17 trials (29%) ended in an acquittal.
This post uses the Federal Judicial Center's records of 214 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 Long Were the Prison Terms?
Section 876 of Title 18 carries the heading "Mailing threatening communications". The counts here come from Federal Judicial Center records of 214 defendants whose most serious charge, when the case closed, fell under that section.
All 214 charges were felonies. None were recorded as Class A misdemeanors or petty offenses.
Conviction came by plea or by trial verdict for 192 defendants (90%). A prison term on this charge followed for 170 of them. The median of 42 months counts only terms of 1 month or more, and it is the middle value in that set of terms.
Trial Results
Only 17 defendants (8%) went to trial. Juries decided 13 of those trials and acquitted 2 (15%). Judges decided 4 bench trials and acquitted in 3 of 4.
Taken together, 5 of the 17 trials ended in an acquittal. With counts this small, each trial has a large effect on the percentages, so the trial figures are best read as counts.
Pleas and Dismissals
A guilty plea ended 180 cases (84%). Dismissals ended 17 (8%), the same count as trials.
In these records, a dismissal means the charges were dropped. That includes dismissals requested by the government. One example is a case dropped after the defendant pleaded guilty in another case.
Year by Year
Between 14 and 29 cases ended in each fiscal year. The share who pleaded guilty ranged from 73% in fiscal year 2019 to 95% in fiscal year 2018.
No case was dismissed in fiscal years 2022, 2023, or 2024. Trials per year ranged from 0 to 4, so the yearly acquittal counts are too small to compare across years. The records do not explain the yearly changes.
| Fiscal year | Cases ended | Pleaded guilty | Dismissed | Trials | Acquitted at trial |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 29 | 79% | 17% | 1 | 0 (0 of 1) |
| 2017 | 29 | 83% | 10% | 2 | 1 (1 of 2) |
| 2018 | 20 | 95% | 5% | 0 | 0 |
| 2019 | 15 | 73% | 7% | 3 | 1 (1 of 3) |
| 2020 | 22 | 77% | 5% | 4 | 1 (1 of 4) |
| 2021 | 20 | 75% | 20% | 1 | 0 (0 of 1) |
| 2022 | 25 | 84% | 0% | 4 | 1 (1 of 4) |
| 2023 | 14 | 93% | 0% | 1 | 0 (0 of 1) |
| 2024 | 16 | 94% | 0% | 1 | 1 (1 of 1) |
| 2025 | 24 | 92% | 8% | 0 | 0 |
Counsel at the End of the Case
Federal public or community defenders represented 118 defendants (55%). CJA panel attorneys, private lawyers appointed by the court, represented 67 (31%). Retained private counsel represented 25 (12%), and 2 people represented themselves.
All 25 defendants with retained counsel pleaded guilty, and none went to trial. Federal defenders had a guilty plea rate of 86% and 6 trials, with 3 acquittals. CJA panel attorneys had a plea rate of 78% and 10 trials, with 2 acquittals (20%). 1 of the 2 self-represented defendants went to trial and was not acquitted.
Defendants with hired lawyers and those with appointed lawyers often face different charges and circumstances. The type of counsel is the one recorded when the case closed. The differences describe groups of cases and say nothing about the quality of any lawyer.
| Type of counsel at the end of the case | Defendants | Pleaded guilty | Dismissed | Trials | Acquitted at trial |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Federal public or community defender | 118 | 86% | 8% | 6 | 3 (3 of 6) |
| CJA panel attorney | 67 | 78% | 7% | 10 | 2 (20%) |
| Private (retained) counsel | 25 | 100% | 0% | 0 | 0 |
| Self-represented | 2 | 1 of 2 | 0 of 2 | 1 | 0 (0 of 1) |
Limits of the Data
The records do not describe the conduct behind a charge, the evidence, or the reasons a case was dismissed. They count only the most serious charge at the end of each case.
No close court-martial counterpart exists for this section in the approved crosswalk, so military courts are not compared 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. 876, any subsection (214), 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. 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. 875, Interstate 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)
- 18 U.S.C. 911, Citizen of 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.