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Military Trial Results · Analysis

Understanding Trends in Military Practice

Analysis of real court-martial records: what gets charged, how cases end, what sentences look like, how experienced the lawyers of record were, and what changed when the law did.

Every number is computed from the Military Trial Results data, built from the services' public court-martial records. Each post says how many cases it rests on, the years covered, and how we counted. Read how this data was built before citing it.

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Federal Prosecution Analysis

How do federal prosecutions compare with courts-martial? These posts use the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of everyone sentenced in federal court and the Federal Judicial Center's records of every federal defendant whose case ended, including dismissals and acquittals, for fiscal years 2016 to 2025. They cover sentences, guilty pleas, trials and acquittals, mandatory minimums, and supervised release, offense by offense. Where a federal crime has a close counterpart in the UCMJ, the post sets the two side by side. Where it doesn't, the post reports the federal numbers on their own. For how military law has moved toward the federal system, start with Military Moves Toward Sentencing Guidelines to Mirror the Federal System.

See all federal prosecution analysis

Latest Analysis

  • Federal Theft and Fraud Sentences With No Dollar Loss, Fiscal Year 2023

    In fiscal year 2023, the Sentencing Commission counted 162 people sentenced for federal theft or fraud whose loss band was no loss. Prison was ordered for 115 (71%), and the median prison term was 6 months. Supervised release after prison was ordered for 94 (58%), and no one in the group was ordered

  • Federal Theft and Fraud Sentences With No Dollar Loss, Fiscal Year 2022

    Of the 292 people sentenced in fiscal year 2022 for federal theft or fraud in the no-loss band, 288 (99%) pleaded guilty. Prison was ordered for 204 (70%), and the median prison term was 5.8 months. Sentences above the guideline range went to 54 people (18%).

  • Federal Theft and Fraud Sentences With No Dollar Loss, Fiscal Year 2021

    A sentence above the guideline range went to 40 of the 240 people (17%) sentenced in fiscal year 2021 for federal theft or fraud with no recorded dollar loss. A prison term was ordered for 165 (69%), and the median prison term was 4.5 months. Nearly all, 236 (98%), pleaded guilty.

  • Federal Theft and Fraud Sentences With No Dollar Loss, Fiscal Year 2020

    Fiscal year 2020 had 404 people sentenced for federal theft or fraud with a loss band of no loss, the most of any year from 2016 to 2025. A prison term went to 300 of them (74%), with a median of 5.2 months. Sentences were within the guideline range for 85% (345).

  • Federal Theft and Fraud Sentences With No Dollar Loss, Fiscal Year 2019

    In fiscal year 2019, 184 of the 234 people (79%) sentenced for federal theft or fraud with no recorded dollar loss received a prison term. The median term was 4.4 months, and a quarter of those sent to prison received 1.4 months or less. Probation only went to 46 people (20%).

  • Federal Theft and Fraud Sentences With No Dollar Loss, Fiscal Year 2018

    Federal courts sentenced 209 people for theft or fraud with no recorded dollar loss in fiscal year 2018. Of those, 142 (68%) received a prison term, and the median term was 6 months. Judges went below the guideline range without a government request in 26 cases (12%).

  • Federal Theft and Fraud Sentences With No Dollar Loss, Fiscal Year 2017

    The Sentencing Commission lists 201 people sentenced for federal theft or fraud in fiscal year 2017 whose recorded loss was zero. Of those, 119 (59%) went to prison with a median term of 6 months, and 77 (38%) received probation only. Both the guilty plea group and the trial group had a median priso

  • Federal Theft and Fraud Sentences With No Dollar Loss, Fiscal Year 2016

    In fiscal year 2016, 178 people were sentenced in federal court for theft or fraud with a recorded dollar loss of none. A prison term was ordered for 102 of them (57%), and the median prison term was 6 months. The 3 people convicted at trial had a median prison term of 27 months, compared with 6 mon

  • Federal Other Drug Trafficking Sentences, Fiscal Year 2025

    The median prison term for federal trafficking in the other drug category was 43 months (3.6 years) in fiscal year 2025. That was higher than the 40-month median for this category across fiscal years 2016 to 2025. The year had 425 people sentenced, the fewest of any year in the table, and 371 of the

  • Federal Other Drug Trafficking Sentences, Fiscal Year 2024

    514 people were sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2024 for trafficking where the Commission recorded the primary drug as other drug. Those sent to prison had a median term of 36 months (3 years), lower than the 70-month median for all §2D1.1 drug trafficking cases that year. A mandatory mini

  • Federal Other Drug Trafficking Sentences, Fiscal Year 2023

    In fiscal year 2023, 577 people were sentenced in federal court for trafficking where the primary drug was coded as other drug, and the median prison term was 36.5 months (3 years). The most common sentence position was below the guideline range at the government's request: 42% (243). 547 people (95

  • Federal Other Drug Trafficking Sentences, Fiscal Year 2022

    For fiscal year 2022, the U.S. Sentencing Commission counted 675 people sentenced for trafficking in the other drug category. 544 of them (81%) received a prison term, and 107 (16%) received probation only. The median prison term was 32.3 months (2.7 years), the lowest yearly median in the table for

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