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# 18 U.S.C. 911, Citizen of the United States: How Federal Cases Ended, FY2016–2025
- URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-statute-18-usc-911-case-outcomes/
- Published: 2026-11-03T06:55:51.000Z
- Updated: 2026-11-03T06:55:51.000Z
- Description: None of the 234 federal defendants whose cases under 18 U.S.C. 911 ended in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 went to trial. Guilty pleas ended 220 cases (94%), and 14 (6%) were dismissed. Of the 220 convicted, 213 (97%) received a prison term on that charge, and the median term was 6 months.
- 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. 911

**In brief:** None of the 234 federal defendants whose cases under 18 U.S.C. 911 ended in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 went to trial. Guilty pleas ended 220 cases (94%), and 14 (6%) were dismissed. Of the 220 convicted, 213 (97%) received a prison term on that charge, and the median term was 6 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 234 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/).

## A Section With No Trials

Title 18, section 911 of the U.S. Code is headed "Citizen of the United States". In Federal Judicial Center records, 234 defendants had this section as the most serious charge when their case ended.

The records show 0 trials for this section. There are no jury verdicts, bench verdicts, or acquittals to report, and every conviction came from a guilty plea.

## Guilty Pleas and Dismissals

A guilty plea ended 220 cases. The other 14 were dismissed.

A dismissal means the charges were dropped. It includes dismissals on the government's motion, such as after the defendant pleaded guilty in a separate case. The records used here do not show which reason applied in each dismissal.

Since no case went to trial, the conviction count and the guilty plea count are the same: 220 of the 234 (94%).

## Prison Terms and Charge Level

All 234 charges were felonies. No Class A misdemeanors or petty offenses were recorded under this section.

A prison term on this charge was recorded for 213 of the 220 convicted (97%). For terms of 1 month or more, the median was 6 months. The median is the middle term when the terms are listed in order of length.

The records give the length of each term but not the reasons a court chose it.

## Results by Fiscal Year

Between 11 and 44 cases ended in each fiscal year. The highest count, 44, was in fiscal year 2022.

The guilty plea rate was 100% in fiscal years 2019 and 2024\. The lowest rate was 85%, in fiscal year 2021, when 15% of cases were dismissed.

Yearly counts are small enough that a few dismissals change the percentages. The records do not explain the differences between years.

| Fiscal year | Cases ended | Pleaded guilty | Dismissed | Trials | Acquitted at trial |
| ----------- | ----------- | -------------- | --------- | ------ | ------------------ |
| 2016        | 25          | 92%            | 8%        | 0      | 0                  |
| 2017        | 11          | 91%            | 9%        | 0      | 0                  |
| 2018        | 14          | 86%            | 14%       | 0      | 0                  |
| 2019        | 17          | 100%           | 0%        | 0      | 0                  |
| 2020        | 27          | 96%            | 4%        | 0      | 0                  |
| 2021        | 27          | 85%            | 15%       | 0      | 0                  |
| 2022        | 44          | 98%            | 2%        | 0      | 0                  |
| 2023        | 24          | 96%            | 4%        | 0      | 0                  |
| 2024        | 26          | 100%           | 0%        | 0      | 0                  |
| 2025        | 19          | 89%            | 11%       | 0      | 0                  |

## Counsel Recorded When the Case Ended

Federal public or community defenders represented 171 defendants (73%), and 98% of their clients pleaded guilty, with 2% dismissed. CJA panel attorneys, private lawyers appointed by the court, represented 33 (14%), with 94% pleading guilty and 6% dismissed. Retained private counsel represented 23 (10%), with 96% pleading guilty and 4% dismissed.

No counsel group had a trial. The guilty plea rates for all groups were between 94% and 98%.

Defendants who hire a lawyer and those who receive an appointed lawyer face different charges and circumstances. The counsel type is the one listed at the end of the case. These numbers describe groups of cases, not the quality of lawyers.

| Type of counsel at the end of the case | Defendants | Pleaded guilty | Dismissed | Trials | Acquitted at trial |
| -------------------------------------- | ---------- | -------------- | --------- | ------ | ------------------ |
| Federal public or community defender   | 171        | 98%            | 2%        | 0      | 0                  |
| CJA panel attorney                     | 33         | 94%            | 6%        | 0      | 0                  |
| Private (retained) counsel             | 23         | 96%            | 4%        | 0      | 0                  |

## What the Data Does Not Cover

The records do not describe the conduct charged, the evidence, or any plea agreement. They count only the most serious charge for each defendant.

The approved crosswalk lists no close court-martial counterpart for this section, so this post gives federal figures only.

### 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. 911, any subsection (234), 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. 876, Mailing threatening communications: How Federal Cases Ended, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-statute-18-usc-876-case-outcomes/) (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](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-statute-18-usc-894-case-outcomes/) (same title of the U.S. Code)
- [18 U.S.C. 912, Officer or employee of the United States: How Federal Cases Ended, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-statute-18-usc-912-case-outcomes/) (same title of the U.S. Code)
- [18 U.S.C. 922, Unlawful acts: How Federal Cases Ended, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-statute-18-usc-922-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.