Guilty Pleas in 2021: Federal Court vs. Courts-Martial
Courts-martial with a 2021 trial date and a plea on record numbered 1,214, and 753 (62%) were guilty pleas. In fiscal year 2021, 56,324 of 57,287 people sentenced in federal court (98%) pleaded guilty, and 196 of 1,081 federal trials (18%) ended in an acquittal.
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In brief: Courts-martial with a 2021 trial date and a plea on record numbered 1,214, and 753 (62%) were guilty pleas. In fiscal year 2021, 56,324 of 57,287 people sentenced in federal court (98%) pleaded guilty, and 196 of 1,081 federal trials (18%) ended in an acquittal.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 57,287 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2021 and the Federal Judicial Center's records of 63,725 federal defendants whose cases ended in fiscal year 2021, compared with court-martial results from this site's Military Trial Results data (updated November 2, 2026). 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.
Which Services Are in the 2021 Court-Martial Count?
The 2021 count is the first in the table with a large number of cases from the Army, Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps. Army courts-martial had 343 guilty pleas in 535 cases. Air Force courts-martial had 130 in 267, Navy courts-martial had 114 in 190, and Marine Corps courts-martial had 166 in 222.
Across the services, the guilty plea share was lowest in the Air Force row and highest in the Marine Corps row. The combined rate of 62% depends on how many cases each service contributed.
| Year | Courts-martial: guilty pleas | Federal sentenced: pleaded guilty | Federal cases ended: pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 176 of 356 (49%) | 97% | 89% |
| 2017 | 361 of 578 (62%) | 97% | 90% |
| 2018 | 336 of 575 (58%) | 97% | 90% |
| 2019 | 329 of 539 (61%) | 98% | 90% |
| 2020 | 465 of 663 (70%) | 98% | 91% |
| 2021 | 753 of 1,214 (62%) | 98% | 90% |
| 2022 | 688 of 1,099 (63%) | 97% | 89% |
| 2023 | 634 of 997 (64%) | 97% | 89% |
| 2024 | 702 of 1,046 (67%) | 97% | 91% |
| 2025 | 669 of 959 (70%) | 98% | 92% |
How Did the 2021 Rate Compare With 2020 and 2022?
The court-martial rate was 70% in 2020, 62% in 2021, and 63% in 2022. The number of cases with a plea on record went from 663 in 2020 to 1,214 in 2021 and 1,099 in 2022.
Part of the change from 2020 to 2021 comes from the larger group of cases. The Army row alone holds 535 cases in 2021. The records do not show whether the guilty plea rate itself changed.
What Did Federal Sentencing Records Show for Fiscal Year 2021?
The U.S. Sentencing Commission counted 57,287 people sentenced. Of these, 56,324 (98%) pleaded guilty, and 963 were convicted at trial. A written plea agreement was part of 78% of the guilty pleas.
This was a smaller sentenced group than in the 2016 to 2019 rows. The records do not explain the difference in size.
What Happened to All Federal Cases That Ended in 2021?
The Federal Judicial Center counted 63,725 defendants. A total of 57,631 (90%) pleaded guilty, 5,013 (8%) had their cases dismissed, and 1,081 (2%) went to trial. In all, 58,516 defendants (92%) were convicted.
Federal trials were uncommon, but they ended in acquittal in 196 cases (18%). Jury trials numbered 918, with 141 acquittals (15%). Bench trials numbered 163, with 55 acquittals (34%).
How Do the Nearby Federal Rates Compare?
Federal rates in the table moved very little around 2021. The Sentencing Commission share of guilty pleas was 98% in 2020 and 2021, then 97% in 2022. The Federal Judicial Center share was 91% in 2020, 90% in 2021, and 89% in 2022.
The court-martial rate varied more over the same period than either federal measure. It was 70% in 2020, 62% in 2021, and 63% in 2022. The records give no cause for the difference, and the change in the mix of services in the data is one fact that applies to the court-martial rate only.
How Is the Table Organized?
The table below has one row for each year from 2016 to 2025. The first number column reports court-martial guilty pleas out of cases with a plea on record. The second reports the federal share among sentenced people. The last column reports the federal share among all cases that ended.
The 2021 row reads 753 of 1,214 for courts-martial, 98% for federal sentenced people, and 90% for federal cases that ended.
What the 2021 Numbers Do Not Establish
A court-martial plea rate and a federal plea rate cannot be set side by side as if they counted the same cases. One covers trial dates in a calendar year, and the other covers fiscal years. The federal Sentencing Commission count also leaves out acquittals and dismissals.
The records do not give the offenses, the charges, or the reasons for any plea in 2021.
How We Counted
Courts-martial with a trial date in 2021 and a plea recorded (1,214). Federal: people sentenced in fiscal year 2021 (57,287, U.S. Sentencing Commission) and defendants whose cases ended that fiscal year (63,725, Federal Judicial Center).
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.
Plea agreements work differently. In federal court, most plea agreements do not bind the judge on the sentence. Since 2019, a military plea agreement can set a minimum and maximum sentence that the military judge must follow if the judge accepts the agreement. The federal numbers count anyone who pleaded guilty, with or without a written agreement.
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.
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)
- Guilty Pleas in Federal Court vs. Courts-Martial, Year by Year (overview)
- Guilty Pleas in 2020: Federal Court vs. Courts-Martial (previous or next year)
- Guilty Pleas in 2022: Federal Court vs. Courts-Martial (previous or next year)
- 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.