8 U.S.C. 1253, Penalties related to removal: How Federal Cases Ended, FY2016–2025
Every one of the 57 defendants convicted under 8 U.S.C. 1253 in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 received a prison term on that charge, and the median term was 17 months. Of the 81 defendants whose cases ended, 47 (58%) pleaded guilty, 24 (30%) had their cases dismissed, and 10 (12%) went to trial. None of
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In brief: Every one of the 57 defendants convicted under 8 U.S.C. 1253 in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 received a prison term on that charge, and the median term was 17 months. Of the 81 defendants whose cases ended, 47 (58%) pleaded guilty, 24 (30%) had their cases dismissed, and 10 (12%) went to trial. None of the 10 trials ended in an acquittal.
This post uses the Federal Judicial Center's records of 81 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.
Prison Terms Followed Every Conviction
All 57 convicted defendants (100%) were sentenced to a prison term on this charge. Among terms of 1 month or more, the median was 17 months, meaning the middle term in the ordered list.
The records do not show why each term was set where it was, or what other charges or history were involved.
About the Section and the Count
Title 8, section 1253 of the U.S. Code is headed "Penalties related to removal." This post covers only how federal cases under that section ended.
The Federal Judicial Center data used here counts each defendant whose case ended in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 and whose most serious charge at the end was under this section. It includes dismissed and acquitted defendants as well as those convicted. In total, 81 defendants were counted.
Most charges were felonies: 70 (86%). The remaining 11 (14%) were Class A misdemeanors.
How Many Cases Ended Without a Guilty Plea?
Guilty pleas ended 47 cases (58%). That left a sizable group that did not end in a plea. Dismissals accounted for 24 defendants (30%). A dismissal in these records can include a case dropped by the government after the defendant pleaded guilty in another case.
Trials accounted for 10 defendants (12%). Juries decided 8 and judges decided 2. No trial ended in an acquittal. In all, 57 of the 81 (70%) were convicted, by plea or at trial.
Type of Counsel
Federal public or community defenders represented 54 defendants (67%). CJA panel attorneys, private lawyers appointed by the court, represented 20 (25%). Private (retained) counsel represented 3 (4%).
In the federal defender group, 63% pleaded guilty, 30% had their cases dismissed, and 4 went to trial. In the CJA panel group, 55% pleaded guilty, 15% were dismissed, and 6 went to trial. Of the 3 with private counsel, 2 of 3 pleaded guilty and 1 of 3 was dismissed.
These are counts of groups of cases, not measures of lawyer quality. Appointed and retained counsel tend to handle different charges and circumstances, and counsel is recorded at the end of the case.
| Type of counsel at the end of the case | Defendants | Pleaded guilty | Dismissed | Trials | Acquitted at trial |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Federal public or community defender | 54 | 63% | 30% | 4 | 0 (0 of 4) |
| CJA panel attorney | 20 | 55% | 15% | 6 | 0 (0 of 6) |
| Private (retained) counsel | 3 | 2 of 3 | 1 of 3 | 0 | 0 |
Small Yearly Numbers
No single year had many cases. The highest was 15 in fiscal year 2018, and fiscal years 2021 and 2024 had 2 each. At this size the yearly percentages can change with one case, so the yearly table is best read as a list of counts.
| Fiscal year | Cases ended | Pleaded guilty | Dismissed | Trials | Acquitted at trial |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 11 | 45% | 45% | 1 | 0 (0 of 1) |
| 2017 | 7 | 4 of 7 | 1 of 7 | 2 | 0 (0 of 2) |
| 2018 | 15 | 40% | 40% | 3 | 0 (0 of 3) |
| 2019 | 14 | 79% | 7% | 2 | 0 (0 of 2) |
| 2020 | 8 | 5 of 8 | 3 of 8 | 0 | 0 |
| 2021 | 2 | 1 of 2 | 1 of 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 2022 | 3 | 0 of 3 | 3 of 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 2023 | 7 | 4 of 7 | 2 of 7 | 1 | 0 (0 of 1) |
| 2024 | 2 | 1 of 2 | 0 of 2 | 1 | 0 (0 of 1) |
| 2025 | 12 | 83% | 17% | 0 | 0 |
What Cannot Be Known From These Records
The records do not show the facts of any case, why a case was dismissed, or what happened on any other charge. There is no close court-martial counterpart for this section in the approved crosswalk, 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 8 U.S.C. 1253, any subsection (81), 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)
- 8 U.S.C. 1324, Bringing in and harboring certain aliens: How Federal Cases Ended, FY2016–2025 (same title of the U.S. Code)
- 8 U.S.C. 1325, Improper entry by alien: 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.