18 U.S.C. 912, Officer or employee of the United States: How Federal Cases Ended, FY2016–2025
Federal cases under 18 U.S.C. 912 that ended in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 involved 147 defendants, and 132 (90%) were convicted. A prison term on this charge was recorded for 81 of the 132 (61%), with a median of 12 months among terms of 1 month or more. Of 13 trials, 2 ended in an acquittal (15%).
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In brief: Federal cases under 18 U.S.C. 912 that ended in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 involved 147 defendants, and 132 (90%) were convicted. A prison term on this charge was recorded for 81 of the 132 (61%), with a median of 12 months among terms of 1 month or more. Of 13 trials, 2 ended in an acquittal (15%).
This post uses the Federal Judicial Center's records of 147 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.
Who Was Counted
The U.S. Code heading for this section is "Officer or employee of the United States". The count covers 147 defendants in Federal Judicial Center records whose top charge at the close of the case was under this section.
The FJC data includes every defendant whose case ended. Dismissals and acquittals are part of the total, not only convictions.
Every charge in the group was a felony: 147 (100%). The records list no misdemeanors or petty offenses.
Prison Terms After Conviction
Among the 132 convicted, 81 received a prison term on this charge, or 61%. The rest of the convicted group had no prison term recorded on this section. The records used here do not show what sentence those defendants received instead.
For those sentenced to 1 month or more, the median term was 12 months. The median is the middle term when terms are ordered from shortest to longest.
Pleas, Dismissals, and Trials
A guilty plea ended 121 cases (82%). Dismissal ended 13 (9%), and another 13 (9%) went to trial.
Juries heard 10 trials and acquitted in 1 (10%). Judges heard 3 bench trials and acquitted in 1 of 3. With only 13 trials, a single verdict moves the acquittal share a great deal.
Dismissed cases include charges dropped at the government's request, for example after a guilty plea in a separate case.
Changes Across Fiscal Years
Between 10 and 22 cases ended in each fiscal year. The guilty plea rate was 100% in fiscal year 2019 and 55% in fiscal year 2024.
In fiscal year 2024, 4 of the 11 cases went to trial, the most trials in any year of the table, and none ended in an acquittal.
These yearly counts are small, so a change of a few cases moves the percentages. The records show the changes but do not explain them.
| Fiscal year | Cases ended | Pleaded guilty | Dismissed | Trials | Acquitted at trial |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 22 | 91% | 5% | 1 | 0 (0 of 1) |
| 2017 | 17 | 71% | 24% | 1 | 0 (0 of 1) |
| 2018 | 18 | 83% | 11% | 1 | 0 (0 of 1) |
| 2019 | 15 | 100% | 0% | 0 | 0 |
| 2020 | 15 | 93% | 7% | 0 | 0 |
| 2021 | 15 | 87% | 7% | 1 | 0 (0 of 1) |
| 2022 | 11 | 73% | 0% | 3 | 1 (1 of 3) |
| 2023 | 10 | 70% | 20% | 1 | 1 (1 of 1) |
| 2024 | 11 | 55% | 9% | 4 | 0 (0 of 4) |
| 2025 | 13 | 85% | 8% | 1 | 0 (0 of 1) |
Counsel Type and Case Results
Federal public or community defenders represented 86 defendants (59%). They had a guilty plea rate of 81%, a dismissal rate of 8%, and 9 trials with 1 acquittal.
CJA panel attorneys are private lawyers appointed by the court. They represented 28 defendants (19%), with 75% pleading guilty, 11% dismissed, and 1 acquittal in 4 trials. Retained private counsel represented 32 (22%), with 94% pleading guilty and no trials.
Counsel type is recorded at the end of the case. Clients of retained and appointed lawyers face different charges and circumstances, so these numbers describe groups of cases. They do not measure 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 | 86 | 81% | 8% | 9 | 1 (1 of 9) |
| CJA panel attorney | 28 | 75% | 11% | 4 | 1 (1 of 4) |
| Private (retained) counsel | 32 | 94% | 6% | 0 | 0 |
What Is Not in the Records
The data does not describe the facts of any case or the evidence offered. It counts one charge per defendant: the most serious one when the case ended.
The approved crosswalk has no close court-martial counterpart for this section, so this post reports federal numbers alone.
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. 912, any subsection (147), 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. 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)
- 18 U.S.C. 922, Unlawful acts: How Federal Cases Ended, FY2016–2025 (same title of the U.S. Code)
- 18 U.S.C. 924, Penalties: 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.