46 U.S.C. 70506, Penalties: How Federal Cases Ended, FY2016–2025
Among 1,152 federal defendants whose most serious charge fell under 46 U.S.C. 70506, only 33 went to trial, and 9 of those trials ended in an acquittal (27%). Guilty pleas resolved 1,090 cases (95%). Of the 1,114 convicted, 1,113 received a prison term on the charge, with a median of 90 months (7.5
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In brief: Among 1,152 federal defendants whose most serious charge fell under 46 U.S.C. 70506, only 33 went to trial, and 9 of those trials ended in an acquittal (27%). Guilty pleas resolved 1,090 cases (95%). Of the 1,114 convicted, 1,113 received a prison term on the charge, with a median of 90 months (7.5 years).
This post uses the Federal Judicial Center's records of 1,152 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 Trials
The 33 trials are a small group, so the 27% acquittal rate rests on 9 cases. Juries heard 20 of the trials and acquitted in 5 (25%). Judges sitting without a jury heard 13 and acquitted in 4 (31%).
An acquittal rate here is measured only against trials. The defendants who pleaded guilty or whose charges were dismissed are outside that count.
Which Section Is This?
In Title 46 of the U.S. Code, section 70506 has the official heading "Penalties." The post identifies the section by that heading alone.
Every one of the 1,152 charges was recorded as a felony. None was a Class A misdemeanor or a petty offense.
The Federal Judicial Center supplied the records. They include each defendant whose case closed in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 with a most serious charge under this section, counted the way the federal courts count cases in Table D-4. Dismissed and acquitted defendants are included along with those convicted.
From Charge to Conviction
Guilty pleas accounted for 1,090 defendants (95%). Charges were dismissed for 29 (3%). Trials accounted for the remaining 33 (3%).
A dismissal in this data can be a case the government dropped, sometimes after the person pleaded guilty in a separate case. No reasons are recorded.
Overall, 1,114 of the 1,152 defendants (97%) were convicted, either by plea or by verdict.
Length of Prison Terms
Only 1 of the 1,114 people convicted did not receive a prison term on this charge. The sheet reports the share with a term as more than 99%.
For terms of 1 month or more, the median was 90 months, or 7.5 years. The median is the middle term in ranked order. It says nothing about how widely terms varied. It is the term imposed, which can differ from time served.
Counsel Recorded When the Case Closed
Of the 1,152 defendants, 780 (68%) had a CJA panel attorney, a private lawyer appointed by the court. Federal public or community defenders handled 311 (27%). Retained private lawyers handled 56 (5%).
With CJA panel attorneys, 94% pleaded guilty and 3% had charges dismissed. That group had 26 trials, and 8 ended in an acquittal (31%). With federal defenders, 96% pleaded guilty, and 1 of 7 trials ended in an acquittal. Every defendant with retained counsel pleaded guilty, and none went to trial.
The counsel figures describe groups of cases, not how good the lawyers were. Defendants with hired counsel and those with appointed counsel can 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 | 311 | 96% | 1% | 7 | 1 (1 of 7) |
| CJA panel attorney | 780 | 94% | 3% | 26 | 8 (31%) |
| Private (retained) counsel | 56 | 100% | 0% | 0 | 0 |
Cases by Fiscal Year
Fiscal year 2017 had the most cases, 264, and the most trials, 13, with 4 acquittals (31%). Fiscal year 2023 had 6 trials and 4 acquittals. Several years, including 2019, 2021, and 2025, had no trials.
With yearly counts this low, a few trials can change a year's acquittal figure by a wide margin. The table is a record of each year, not evidence of a trend.
| Fiscal year | Cases ended | Pleaded guilty | Dismissed | Trials | Acquitted at trial |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 119 | more than 99% | 0% | 1 | 1 (1 of 1) |
| 2017 | 264 | 89% | 6% | 13 | 4 (31%) |
| 2018 | 163 | 96% | less than 1% | 5 | 0 (0 of 5) |
| 2019 | 89 | 99% | 1% | 0 | 0 |
| 2020 | 62 | 92% | 2% | 4 | 0 (0 of 4) |
| 2021 | 79 | 96% | 4% | 0 | 0 |
| 2022 | 123 | 96% | 3% | 1 | 0 (0 of 1) |
| 2023 | 114 | 91% | 4% | 6 | 4 (4 of 6) |
| 2024 | 79 | 96% | 0% | 3 | 0 (0 of 3) |
| 2025 | 60 | 100% | 0% | 0 | 0 |
What Is Not in the Data
These records do not describe what happened in any case, what evidence was offered, or why a judge or jury acquitted. The approved crosswalk has no close court-martial counterpart for this section, so no military comparison is made.
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 46 U.S.C. 70506, any subsection (1,152), 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)
- 46 U.S.C. 70503, Prohibited acts: 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.