21 U.S.C. 843, Prohibited acts C: How Federal Cases Ended, FY2016–2025
Of 2,601 federal defendants whose most serious charge at the end of the case was under 21 U.S.C. 843, 2,485 (96%) were convicted in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. Of those convicted, 1,649 (66%) received a prison term on that charge, with a median of 36 months (3 years). Only 19 defendants went to trial
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In brief: Of 2,601 federal defendants whose most serious charge at the end of the case was under 21 U.S.C. 843, 2,485 (96%) were convicted in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. Of those convicted, 1,649 (66%) received a prison term on that charge, with a median of 36 months (3 years). Only 19 defendants went to trial, and 3 of those trials ended in an acquittal.
This post uses the Federal Judicial Center's records of 2,601 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.
Convictions and Prison Terms
Section 843 of Title 21 carries the heading "Prohibited acts C". Each of the 2,601 charges counted here was a felony (100%).
Of the 2,485 people convicted, 1,649 (66%) were sentenced to a prison term on this charge. The other convicted defendants received no prison term on this charge. The records in this post do not say what sentence they received instead.
Among those with a term of 1 month or more, the median prison term was 36 months (3 years). A median is the middle term when every term is placed in order from shortest to longest.
How Most Cases Ended
The Federal Judicial Center counts every defendant whose case ended, including people whose charges were dismissed or who were acquitted. The count here uses the method of the federal courts' Table D-4.
A guilty plea ended 2,469 cases (95%). Charges were dismissed in 113 (4%). Fewer than 1% of cases, 19 in all, went to trial.
Dismissed, in this data, includes charges the government moved to drop. For example, a charge may be dismissed after the defendant pleaded guilty in another case.
The 19 Trials
Of the 19 trials, 3 ended in an acquittal (16%). There were 17 jury trials, with 1 acquittal (6%), and 2 bench trials decided by a judge, both of which ended in an acquittal (2 of 2).
These trial numbers are very small. A single case changes the rates by several points, so the percentages should be read with care.
The yearly table shows that trials never exceeded 5 in a fiscal year, and several years had 0. Cases ending each year ranged from 171 in fiscal year 2025 to 363 in fiscal year 2016.
| Fiscal year | Cases ended | Pleaded guilty | Dismissed | Trials | Acquitted at trial |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 363 | 93% | 7% | 2 | 0 (0 of 2) |
| 2017 | 338 | 95% | 4% | 3 | 0 (0 of 3) |
| 2018 | 283 | 95% | 4% | 3 | 1 (1 of 3) |
| 2019 | 287 | 93% | 6% | 4 | 1 (1 of 4) |
| 2020 | 238 | 95% | 5% | 0 | 0 |
| 2021 | 225 | 97% | 3% | 1 | 0 (0 of 1) |
| 2022 | 238 | 96% | 2% | 5 | 1 (1 of 5) |
| 2023 | 249 | 95% | 5% | 0 | 0 |
| 2024 | 209 | 97% | 3% | 0 | 0 |
| 2025 | 171 | 95% | 4% | 1 | 0 (0 of 1) |
Counsel at the End of the Case
CJA panel attorneys represented 1,510 defendants (58%). A CJA panel attorney is a private lawyer appointed by the court. Private (retained) counsel represented 658 (25%), federal public or community defenders 409 (16%), and 1 defendant (less than 1%) had no lawyer.
Guilty pleas made up 97% of CJA panel attorney cases, 95% of retained counsel cases, and 92% of defender cases. Dismissals were 2%, 4%, and 7%.
The trials were spread thinly across the groups. CJA panel attorneys had 7 trials with 3 acquittals. Retained counsel had 9 trials and defenders had 3, with 0 acquittals in each group.
Differences by type of counsel describe groups of cases, not the quality of lawyers. Defendants who hire a lawyer and those who receive an appointed one face different charges and circumstances.
| Type of counsel at the end of the case | Defendants | Pleaded guilty | Dismissed | Trials | Acquitted at trial |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Federal public or community defender | 409 | 92% | 7% | 3 | 0 (0 of 3) |
| CJA panel attorney | 1,510 | 97% | 2% | 7 | 3 (3 of 7) |
| Private (retained) counsel | 658 | 95% | 4% | 9 | 0 (0 of 9) |
| Self-represented | 1 | 0 of 1 | 1 of 1 | 0 | 0 |
Where the Records Stop
Each defendant appears under one charge, the most serious one remaining when the case ended. A case that began under section 843 but ended on another charge is counted elsewhere.
The data does not show the evidence, the terms of any plea, or the reasons a case ended the way it did.
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 21 U.S.C. 843, any subsection (2,601), 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)
- 21 U.S.C. 331, Prohibited acts: How Federal Cases Ended, FY2016–2025 (same title of the U.S. Code)
- 21 U.S.C. 841, Prohibited acts A: How Federal Cases Ended, FY2016–2025 (same title of the U.S. Code)
- 21 U.S.C. 844, Penalties for simple possession: How Federal Cases Ended, FY2016–2025 (same title of the U.S. Code)
- 21 U.S.C. 846, Attempt and conspiracy: 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.