7 U.S.C. 2156, Animal fighting venture prohibition: How Federal Cases Ended, FY2016–2025
Federal courts closed the cases of 162 defendants charged most seriously under 7 U.S.C. 2156 in fiscal years 2016 to 2025, and 148 of them (91%) were convicted. Felonies made up 116 of the charges (72%), and Class A misdemeanors made up 46 (28%). Of those convicted, 94 (64%) received a prison term o
Understanding Trends in Military Practice · 6 min read
Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › 7 U.S.C. 2156
In brief: Federal courts closed the cases of 162 defendants charged most seriously under 7 U.S.C. 2156 in fiscal years 2016 to 2025, and 148 of them (91%) were convicted. Felonies made up 116 of the charges (72%), and Class A misdemeanors made up 46 (28%). Of those convicted, 94 (64%) received a prison term on that charge, and the median term was 19 months.
This post uses the Federal Judicial Center's records of 162 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
The official heading of Title 7, section 2156 of the U.S. Code is "Animal fighting venture prohibition." This post does not go beyond that heading. It reports only how the federal cases ended.
The source is the Federal Judicial Center. Each defendant counted had a most serious charge under this section at the end of the case, and the case ended in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. The count takes in every ending, including dismissals and acquittals, not just sentencings.
Level of the Charge
Not every case under this section was a felony. Of the 162 defendants, 116 (72%) faced a felony charge and 46 (28%) faced a Class A misdemeanor. None faced only a petty offense.
That mix is worth keeping in mind when reading the prison figures, since felonies and misdemeanors carry different maximum terms.
Who Received a Prison Term?
Among the 148 people convicted, 94 (64%) were sentenced to a prison term on this charge. The other convicted defendants received no prison term on this count.
For those with a prison term of 1 month or more, the median was 19 months. That is the middle term in the group. It does not show how long the longest or shortest terms were.
Pleas, Dismissals, and Trials
A guilty plea ended 145 cases (90%). Charges were dismissed for 14 defendants (9%). The records count a case as dismissed even when the government dropped it because the person had pleaded guilty in another case.
Only 3 defendants (2%) went to trial: 2 before a jury and 1 before a judge alone. All 3 trials ended without an acquittal. That number is too small to say anything general about how trials under this section turn out.
Counsel Recorded at the End of the Case
CJA panel attorneys, private lawyers appointed and paid by the court, represented 79 defendants (49%). Private (retained) counsel represented 65 (40%). Federal public or community defenders represented 15 (9%).
Plea rates were close across the groups: 92% for CJA panel attorneys, 91% for private counsel, and 87% for federal defenders. Private counsel had 2 of the trials, and a federal defender had 1.
Differences by type of counsel describe groups of cases. They do not measure the quality of any lawyer. Defendants who retain counsel and those who receive appointed counsel often 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 | 15 | 87% | 7% | 1 | 0 (0 of 1) |
| CJA panel attorney | 79 | 92% | 8% | 0 | 0 |
| Private (retained) counsel | 65 | 91% | 6% | 2 | 0 (0 of 2) |
Year by Year
Annual counts were small and uneven. Fiscal year 2021 had the most cases ending, 45. Fiscal year 2020 had just 1.
In fiscal year 2024, 18 cases ended, with 50% ending in a guilty plea and 44% in a dismissal. In fiscal year 2025, all 33 ended in a guilty plea. With counts this small, these yearly figures are not trends.
| Fiscal year | Cases ended | Pleaded guilty | Dismissed | Trials | Acquitted at trial |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 7 | 6 of 7 | 0 of 7 | 1 | 0 (0 of 1) |
| 2017 | 15 | 100% | 0% | 0 | 0 |
| 2018 | 6 | 6 of 6 | 0 of 6 | 0 | 0 |
| 2019 | 5 | 4 of 5 | 0 of 5 | 1 | 0 (0 of 1) |
| 2020 | 1 | 1 of 1 | 0 of 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 2021 | 45 | 96% | 4% | 0 | 0 |
| 2022 | 17 | 76% | 24% | 0 | 0 |
| 2023 | 15 | 100% | 0% | 0 | 0 |
| 2024 | 18 | 50% | 44% | 1 | 0 (0 of 1) |
| 2025 | 33 | 100% | 0% | 0 | 0 |
What the Records Leave Out
These records show how each case ended and under which section. They do not show the evidence, the reasons for a dismissal, or the facts of any case. The approved crosswalk lists no close court-martial counterpart for this section, so only federal numbers appear 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 7 U.S.C. 2156, any subsection (162), 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)
- 7 U.S.C. 2024, Violations and enforcement: 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.