21 U.S.C. 952, Importation of controlled substances: How Federal Cases Ended, FY2016–2025
Of the 17,511 federal defendants whose cases ended in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 with 21 U.S.C. 952 as the most serious charge, 176 (1%) went to trial, and 53 of those trials (30%) ended in an acquittal. Most defendants, 15,342 (88%), pleaded guilty. Among the 15,465 convicted, 14,866 (96%) received
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In brief: Of the 17,511 federal defendants whose cases ended in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 with 21 U.S.C. 952 as the most serious charge, 176 (1%) went to trial, and 53 of those trials (30%) ended in an acquittal. Most defendants, 15,342 (88%), pleaded guilty. Among the 15,465 convicted, 14,866 (96%) received a prison term on the charge, with a median of 30 months.
This post uses the Federal Judicial Center's records of 17,511 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.
Acquittals Among the Few Trials
Only 176 defendants in this group had a trial. That is 1% of the 17,511 whose cases ended. Of those 176 trials, 53 ended in an acquittal (30%).
Juries decided most of them. There were 163 jury trials, and 49 of them ended in an acquittal (30%). Judges decided 13 bench trials, with 4 acquittals (31%).
The acquittal rate applies only to cases that reached trial. It does not describe the much larger group that pleaded guilty or had charges dismissed.
The Statute and the Count
Title 21, section 952 of the U.S. Code is headed "Importation of controlled substances". This post refers to the statute only by that heading.
The Federal Judicial Center records count each defendant whose case ended, including those whose charges were dismissed and those acquitted. A defendant is placed under this section when it was the most serious charge left at the end of the case.
Every charge in the group was a felony: 17,511 (100%). The records list no Class A misdemeanors or petty offenses under this section.
Pleas and Dismissals
Guilty pleas ended 15,342 cases (88%). Another 1,993 defendants (11%) had their cases dismissed.
A dismissal in these records means the charges were dropped. That includes dismissals on the government's motion, for example when a defendant pleaded guilty in a separate case. The records do not say which kind each dismissal was.
Counting pleas and trial verdicts together, 15,465 of the 17,511 (88%) were convicted.
Prison Terms on This Charge
Among the 15,465 convicted, 14,866 (96%) received a prison term on this charge. For terms of 1 month or more, the median was 30 months (2.5 years).
The median is the middle value of those terms, not an average. 2 defendants received life.
How Cases Ended by Type of Counsel
Appointed lawyers handled most of these cases. Federal public or community defenders represented 7,683 defendants (44%). CJA panel attorneys, who are private lawyers appointed by the court, represented 7,485 (43%). Private (retained) counsel represented 2,012 (11%), and 2 defendants represented themselves.
Plea rates were close across the 3 main groups: 89% for defenders, 89% for CJA panel attorneys, and 90% for retained counsel. Dismissals were 10%, 10%, and 8%.
At trial, the acquittal counts differed. Defenders had 66 trials with 21 acquittals (32%). CJA panel attorneys had 83 trials with 17 acquittals (20%). Retained counsel had 27 trials with 15 acquittals (56%).
These groups are not alike. Defendants who hire a lawyer and those who receive an appointed one face different charges and circumstances. The figures describe groups of cases, not the quality of any lawyer, and the trial counts behind each rate are small.
| Type of counsel at the end of the case | Defendants | Pleaded guilty | Dismissed | Trials | Acquitted at trial |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Federal public or community defender | 7,683 | 89% | 10% | 66 | 21 (32%) |
| CJA panel attorney | 7,485 | 89% | 10% | 83 | 17 (20%) |
| Private (retained) counsel | 2,012 | 90% | 8% | 27 | 15 (56%) |
| Self-represented | 2 | 1 of 2 | 1 of 2 | 0 | 0 |
Year by Year
The number of cases ending each year ranged from 1,090 in 2025 to 2,205 in both 2021 and 2022.
The dismissal share was 9% in 2016 and 16% in 2022, the highest year in the table. Trials ranged from 5 in 2021 to 29 in 2023, so yearly acquittal figures rest on small counts.
| Fiscal year | Cases ended | Pleaded guilty | Dismissed | Trials | Acquitted at trial |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 1,804 | 89% | 9% | 23 | 5 (22%) |
| 2017 | 1,777 | 89% | 10% | 23 | 4 (17%) |
| 2018 | 1,942 | 90% | 9% | 27 | 7 (26%) |
| 2019 | 1,789 | 90% | 9% | 18 | 5 (28%) |
| 2020 | 1,647 | 89% | 10% | 16 | 6 (38%) |
| 2021 | 2,205 | 86% | 13% | 5 | 2 (2 of 5) |
| 2022 | 2,205 | 83% | 16% | 21 | 9 (43%) |
| 2023 | 1,677 | 86% | 12% | 29 | 12 (41%) |
| 2024 | 1,375 | 88% | 12% | 6 | 0 (0 of 6) |
| 2025 | 1,090 | 86% | 13% | 8 | 3 (3 of 8) |
Limits of These Records
There is no close court-martial counterpart for this statute in the approved crosswalk, so the numbers stand on their own. The records do not show the facts of any case, the evidence, or the reasons a case was dismissed or a jury acquitted.
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. 952, any subsection (17,511), 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. 848, Continuing criminal enterprise: 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. 959, Possession, manufacture, or distribution of controlled substance: How Federal Cases Ended, FY2016–2025 (same title of the U.S. Code)
- 21 U.S.C. 963, 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.