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# 8 U.S.C. 1324, Bringing in and harboring certain aliens: How Federal Cases Ended, FY2016–2025
- URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-statute-8-usc-1324-case-outcomes/
- Published: 2026-11-03T06:55:07.000Z
- Updated: 2026-11-03T06:55:07.000Z
- Description: In fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 38,775 federal defendants had cases end with a most serious charge under 8 U.S.C. 1324, and 36,785 of them (95%) pleaded guilty. Only 367 went to trial, and 63 of those trials (17%) ended in an acquittal. Of the 37,089 convicted, 32,449 (87%) received a prison term on t
- Author: Jocelyn C. Stewart
- Tags: Understanding Trends, Federal

[Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/) › [Federal Prosecution Analysis](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal/) › 8 U.S.C. 1324

**In brief:** In fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 38,775 federal defendants had cases end with a most serious charge under 8 U.S.C. 1324, and 36,785 of them (95%) pleaded guilty. Only 367 went to trial, and 63 of those trials (17%) ended in an acquittal. Of the 37,089 convicted, 32,449 (87%) received a prison term on that charge, with a median term of 15 months.

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 38,775 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/).

## How Often Did Trials End in Acquittal?

Of the 367 trials, 63 ended in an acquittal, or 17%. Juries heard 289 of the trials and acquitted in 57 (20%). Judges sitting without a jury heard 78 and acquitted in 6 (8%).

Trials were a small part of the whole. They made up less than 1% of the 38,775 cases. An acquittal rate describes only the cases that reached a verdict at trial, not the far larger group that ended by plea or dismissal.

## The Section Heading and the Source

Title 8, section 1324 of the U.S. Code is headed "Bringing in and harboring certain aliens." The figures in this post come from the Federal Judicial Center.

Each defendant counted had a case end in fiscal years 2016 to 2025, with the most serious charge at the end falling under this section. The data counts dismissals and acquittals, not only people who were sentenced. Federal fiscal years start in October.

## Pleas, Dismissals, and Convictions

Guilty pleas accounted for 36,785 defendants (95%). Dismissals accounted for 1,623 (4%). The dismissal figure includes cases the government dismissed after a defendant pleaded guilty in another case.

Altogether, 37,089 of the 38,775 defendants (96%) were convicted, either by plea or by a verdict at trial.

## Charge Level and Prison Terms

Almost every charge under this section was a felony: 38,507 defendants, or more than 99%. Class A misdemeanors accounted for 268 (less than 1%).

A prison term on this charge was imposed on 32,449 of the 37,089 people convicted (87%). For terms of 1 month or more, the median was 15 months. That is the middle term once all such terms are ranked. The records also show 2 defendants sentenced to life.

## Counsel at the End of the Case

CJA panel attorneys, who are private lawyers appointed and paid by the court, handled the largest group: 22,820 defendants (59%). Federal public or community defenders handled 11,525 (30%). Private (retained) counsel handled 4,201 (11%), and 5 defendants represented themselves.

Guilty plea rates were 96% for federal defenders and 95% for both CJA panel attorneys and private counsel. At trial, acquittals were 15 of 86 for federal defenders (17%), 30 of 192 for CJA panel attorneys (16%), and 18 of 89 for private counsel (20%).

Those differences describe groups of cases and say nothing about the quality of lawyers. Defendants with retained counsel and those with appointed counsel 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   | 11,525     | 96%            | 4%        | 86     | 15 (17%)           |
| CJA panel attorney                     | 22,820     | 95%            | 4%        | 192    | 30 (16%)           |
| Private (retained) counsel             | 4,201      | 95%            | 3%        | 89     | 18 (20%)           |
| Self-represented                       | 5          | 2 of 5         | 3 of 5    | 0      | 0                  |

## Cases by Fiscal Year

The yearly count was lowest in fiscal year 2016, at 2,672, and highest in fiscal year 2023, at 5,047\. Guilty plea rates stayed between 92% and 97% in every year.

Trial acquittal rates moved more from year to year, from 6% in fiscal year 2024 to 27% in fiscal year 2019\. The yearly trial counts were small, from 19 to 48, so a handful of verdicts can change the yearly rate.

| Fiscal year | Cases ended | Pleaded guilty | Dismissed | Trials | Acquitted at trial |
| ----------- | ----------- | -------------- | --------- | ------ | ------------------ |
| 2016        | 2,672       | 92%            | 7%        | 32     | 5 (16%)            |
| 2017        | 3,084       | 93%            | 6%        | 38     | 3 (8%)             |
| 2018        | 3,314       | 92%            | 7%        | 37     | 9 (24%)            |
| 2019        | 3,906       | 93%            | 6%        | 48     | 13 (27%)           |
| 2020        | 3,733       | 95%            | 4%        | 39     | 6 (15%)            |
| 2021        | 3,767       | 97%            | 3%        | 19     | 3 (16%)            |
| 2022        | 4,283       | 96%            | 3%        | 40     | 7 (18%)            |
| 2023        | 5,047       | 97%            | 3%        | 39     | 9 (23%)            |
| 2024        | 4,663       | 97%            | 3%        | 36     | 2 (6%)             |
| 2025        | 4,306       | 96%            | 4%        | 39     | 6 (15%)            |

## What These Numbers Do Not Show

The records sort cases by the most serious charge at the end of the case. They do not show the evidence, the reason for any dismissal, or how the charges changed along the way. The approved crosswalk has no close court-martial counterpart for this section, so the post makes no military comparison.

### 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. 1324, any subsection (38,775), 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). Charge codes with a letter right after the section number (for example 8:1324A) were left out, because the U.S. Code also has a separately numbered section with that letter and the codes cannot tell the two apart.

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)
- [8 U.S.C. 1253, Penalties related to removal: How Federal Cases Ended, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-statute-8-usc-1253-case-outcomes/) (same title of the U.S. Code)
- [8 U.S.C. 1325, Improper entry by alien: How Federal Cases Ended, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-statute-8-usc-1325-case-outcomes/) (same title of the U.S. Code)
- [8 U.S.C. 1326, Reentry of removed aliens: How Federal Cases Ended, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-statute-8-usc-1326-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.