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# 50 U.S.C. 1705, Penalties: How Federal Cases Ended, FY2016–2025
- URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-statute-50-usc-1705-case-outcomes/
- Published: 2026-11-03T06:56:08.000Z
- Updated: 2026-11-03T06:56:08.000Z
- Description: In fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 81 of the 109 federal defendants charged most seriously under 50 U.S.C. 1705 were convicted (74%). Of those 81, 60 received a prison term on that charge, and the median term was 24 months (2 years). None of the 6 cases that went to trial ended in an acquittal.
- Author: Jocelyn C. Stewart
- Tags: Understanding Trends, Federal

[Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/) › [Federal Prosecution Analysis](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal/) › 50 U.S.C. 1705

**In brief:** In fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 81 of the 109 federal defendants charged most seriously under 50 U.S.C. 1705 were convicted (74%). Of those 81, 60 received a prison term on that charge, and the median term was 24 months (2 years). None of the 6 cases that went to trial ended in an acquittal.

Updated November 3, 2026 · Sources: U.S. Sentencing Commission and Federal Judicial Center, fiscal years 2016–2025

This post uses the Federal Judicial Center's records of 109 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](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal/) series, which builds on [Military Moves Toward Sentencing Guidelines to Mirror the Federal System](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/military-sentencing-guidelines-federal-system/). How the numbers were built: [How the Federal Comparison Data Was Built](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-data-methodology/).

## Prison Terms for Those Convicted

Among the 81 convicted defendants, 60 (74%) were sentenced to a prison term on this charge. The median prison term, counting only terms of 1 month or more, was 24 months, or 2 years.

A median is the middle term when all terms are put in order. It does not show the shortest or longest term, and it covers the term on this charge alone. Any time imposed on other charges in the same case is not part of this figure.

## What the Records Count

Title 50, section 1705 of the U.S. Code is headed "Penalties". The defendants in this post are those whose most serious charge, when the case ended, was under this section, in any subsection.

The Federal Judicial Center records include every defendant whose case ended, not only those who were sentenced. Dismissals and acquittals are in the count. Every one of the 109 charges was recorded as a felony, with 0 Class A misdemeanors and 0 petty offenses.

## Guilty Pleas Were the Most Common Ending

Of the 109 defendants, 75 (69%) pleaded guilty. Another 28 (26%) had their charges dismissed. The remaining 6 (6%) went to trial.

In these records, a dismissal means the charges under this section were dismissed. Some of those were dismissed on the government's motion, for example after the defendant pleaded guilty in another case. So a dismissal does not always mean a case ended with no conviction of any kind.

## Trials and Acquittals

All 6 trials were jury trials, and 0 of them ended in an acquittal. There were no bench trials decided by a judge alone.

A total of 6 trials across fiscal years 2016 to 2025 is a small number. The result of 0 acquittals in 6 trials describes those cases only. It is not enough to estimate how often a trial on this charge would end in an acquittal.

## Who Represented the Defendants?

Private (retained) counsel represented the largest group: 58 defendants, or 53%. Of them, 91% pleaded guilty, 7% had their charges dismissed, and 1 went to trial, with no acquittal.

Federal public or community defenders represented 17 defendants (16%). That group pleaded guilty 71% of the time, had 12% dismissed, and took 3 cases to trial with 0 acquittals. CJA panel attorneys, who are private lawyers appointed by the court, represented 13 defendants (12%). They pleaded guilty at 77% and had 8% dismissed, with 2 trials and 0 acquittals.

Type of counsel is recorded at the end of the case. People who hire a lawyer and people who receive an appointed lawyer face different charges and circumstances. The figures by counsel type describe groups of cases and say nothing about the quality of any lawyer.

| Type of counsel at the end of the case | Defendants | Pleaded guilty | Dismissed | Trials | Acquitted at trial |
| -------------------------------------- | ---------- | -------------- | --------- | ------ | ------------------ |
| Federal public or community defender   | 17         | 71%            | 12%       | 3      | 0 (0 of 3)         |
| CJA panel attorney                     | 13         | 77%            | 8%        | 2      | 0 (0 of 2)         |
| Private (retained) counsel             | 58         | 91%            | 7%        | 1      | 0 (0 of 1)         |

## Year by Year

The number of cases ended under this section each year was small, from 6 in fiscal year 2018 to 17 in fiscal year 2020\. With counts this small, the yearly percentages can move a lot from one year to the next. For example, 50% of cases ended in a guilty plea in both 2017 and 2019, while 82% did in 2023\. These are small yearly counts, not trends.

| Fiscal year | Cases ended | Pleaded guilty | Dismissed | Trials | Acquitted at trial |
| ----------- | ----------- | -------------- | --------- | ------ | ------------------ |
| 2016        | 13          | 77%            | 23%       | 0      | 0                  |
| 2017        | 14          | 50%            | 50%       | 0      | 0                  |
| 2018        | 6           | 5 of 6         | 1 of 6    | 0      | 0                  |
| 2019        | 10          | 50%            | 50%       | 0      | 0                  |
| 2020        | 17          | 76%            | 18%       | 1      | 0 (0 of 1)         |
| 2021        | 9           | 7 of 9         | 1 of 9    | 1      | 0 (0 of 1)         |
| 2022        | 11          | 55%            | 18%       | 3      | 0 (0 of 3)         |
| 2023        | 11          | 82%            | 18%       | 0      | 0                  |
| 2024        | 11          | 64%            | 27%       | 1      | 0 (0 of 1)         |
| 2025        | 7           | 6 of 7         | 1 of 7    | 0      | 0                  |

## Limits of These Numbers

The records show how each case ended and the level of the charge at that point. They do not describe the conduct charged, the evidence, or the reasons for a plea or a dismissal. The approved crosswalk has no close court-martial counterpart for this section, so no military comparison is made here.

### 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 50 U.S.C. 1705, any subsection (109), 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](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/military-sentencing-guidelines-federal-system/) (the background article)
- [Federal Prosecution Analysis](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal/) (all federal posts)
- [How the Federal Comparison Data Was Built](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-data-methodology/) (sources and method)
- [50 U.S.C. 797, Penalty for violation of security regulations and orders: How Federal Cases Ended, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-statute-50-usc-797-case-outcomes/) (same title of the U.S. Code)
- [Appointed vs. Retained Lawyers in Federal Criminal Cases: How Cases Ended, 2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-appointed-vs-retained-counsel-outcomes/)
- [Are Courts-Martial More Likely to End in Acquittal Than Federal Trials?](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-trial-acquittal-rates-vs-courts-martial/)
- [U.S. Sentencing Commission, Individual Offender Datafiles](https://www.ussc.gov/research/datafiles/commission-datafiles?ref=bodiesburied.com) (source)
- [Federal Judicial Center, Integrated Database (criminal defendants)](https://www.fjc.gov/research/idb?ref=bodiesburied.com) (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](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/?ref=bodiesburied.com). This analysis is for education and information only. It is not legal advice, and every case is different.