21 U.S.C. 848, Continuing criminal enterprise: How Federal Cases Ended, FY2016–2025
None of the 39 federal trials on a most serious charge under 21 U.S.C. 848 ended in an acquittal in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. Of the 215 defendants counted, 118 (55%) pleaded guilty, 58 (27%) had their cases dismissed, and 39 (18%) went to trial. Among those with a prison term, the median was 240 m
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In brief: None of the 39 federal trials on a most serious charge under 21 U.S.C. 848 ended in an acquittal in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. Of the 215 defendants counted, 118 (55%) pleaded guilty, 58 (27%) had their cases dismissed, and 39 (18%) went to trial. Among those with a prison term, the median was 240 months (20 years), and 40 people received life.
This post uses the Federal Judicial Center's records of 215 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.
The Section and the Count
Title 21, section 848 of the U.S. Code is headed "Continuing criminal enterprise". This post reports how federal cases on that section ended.
The Federal Judicial Center recorded 215 federal defendants whose most serious charge at the end of the case was under section 848. Their cases ended in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. The count includes dismissals and acquittals, not only sentenced cases, and follows the method of the federal courts' Table D-4.
Every one of the 215 charges was a felony (100%). No Class A misdemeanors or petty offenses were recorded.
Trials Without an Acquittal
39 defendants (18%) went to trial. Of those 39 trials, 0 ended in an acquittal.
Jury trials accounted for 38, with 0 acquittals. There was 1 bench trial, decided by a judge, and it also did not end in an acquittal.
The yearly counts are small. Each fiscal year had between 1 and 6 trials, and no year had an acquittal. With numbers this small, the absence of acquittals describes these 39 cases only.
Pleas and Dismissals
118 defendants (55%) pleaded guilty. Another 58 (27%) had their charges dismissed.
A dismissal in this data covers charges dropped on the government's motion, including, for example, a dismissal after the defendant pleaded guilty in another case. It does not mean the person had no conviction elsewhere.
By plea or at trial, 157 of the 215 (73%) were convicted.
| Fiscal year | Cases ended | Pleaded guilty | Dismissed | Trials | Acquitted at trial |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 33 | 61% | 21% | 6 | 0 (0 of 6) |
| 2017 | 19 | 63% | 26% | 2 | 0 (0 of 2) |
| 2018 | 13 | 62% | 8% | 4 | 0 (0 of 4) |
| 2019 | 25 | 56% | 28% | 4 | 0 (0 of 4) |
| 2020 | 18 | 56% | 22% | 4 | 0 (0 of 4) |
| 2021 | 7 | 6 of 7 | 0 of 7 | 1 | 0 (0 of 1) |
| 2022 | 27 | 52% | 26% | 6 | 0 (0 of 6) |
| 2023 | 26 | 35% | 50% | 4 | 0 (0 of 4) |
| 2024 | 29 | 52% | 31% | 5 | 0 (0 of 5) |
| 2025 | 18 | 56% | 28% | 3 | 0 (0 of 3) |
Length of Prison Terms
Of the 157 convicted, 151 (96%) received a prison term on this charge.
For those with a term of 1 month or more, the median prison term was 240 months (20 years). The median is the middle value when the terms are listed in order.
40 defendants received life on this charge.
What Type of Counsel Was Recorded?
Counsel type is taken at the end of the case. CJA panel attorneys, private lawyers appointed by the court, represented 113 defendants (53%). Private (retained) counsel represented 56 (26%). Federal public or community defenders represented 7 (3%).
Among CJA panel attorney cases, 69% ended in a guilty plea, 7% were dismissed, and 27 went to trial. Among retained counsel cases, 64% pleaded guilty, 16% were dismissed, and 11 went to trial. Of the 7 defender cases, 4 pleaded guilty, 2 were dismissed, and 1 went to trial. No group had an acquittal at trial.
These are groups of cases, and the figures say nothing about the quality of lawyers. Defendants who hire counsel and those who receive appointed counsel 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 | 7 | 4 of 7 | 2 of 7 | 1 | 0 (0 of 1) |
| CJA panel attorney | 113 | 69% | 7% | 27 | 0 (0%) |
| Private (retained) counsel | 56 | 64% | 16% | 11 | 0 (0%) |
Limits of the Records
This is a small group of 215 defendants spread over 10 fiscal years, so the yearly figures are small. Each defendant is counted only under the most serious charge left at the end of the case.
The records cannot show the evidence in any case or why a defendant pleaded guilty, went to trial, or had charges dismissed.
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. 848, any subsection (215), 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. 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)
- 21 U.S.C. 856, Maintaining drug-involved premises: How Federal Cases Ended, FY2016–2025 (same title of the U.S. Code)
- 21 U.S.C. 952, Importation of controlled substances: 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.