compendium of federal justice statistics, 2004: chapter 5 · for chapter 5 conviction of-fenses are...

Compendium of FederalJustice Statistics, 2004

Federal criminal case processing,October 1, 2003, through September 30, 2004

A Federal Justice Statistics Program Report

11,067

116,363

58,106

148,229

140,755

74,782

Bureau of Justice Statistics

Suspects investigatedin matters concluded

Suspects arrested

Defendants prosecuted

Offenders convicted

Offenders sentenced toprison

Offenders sentenced toprobation

U.S. Department of JusticeOffice of Justice Programs

middletp

Note

This file contains Chapter 5: Sentencing for Federal offenses of the Compendium of Federal Justice Statistics, 2004. This report is one in a series. More recent editions may be available. To view a list of all in the series go to http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/pubalp2.htm#cfjs

U.S. Department of JusticeOffice of Justice Programs810 Seventh Street, N.W.Washington, D.C. 20531

Alberto R. GonzalesAttorney General

Office of Justice ProgramsPartnerships for Safer Communities

Regina B. SchofieldAssistant Attorney General

World Wide Web site:http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov

Bureau of Justice Statistics

Jeffrey L. Sedgwick Director

World Wide Web site:http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs

For information contactNational Criminal Justice Reference Service

1-800-851-3420

U.S. Department of JusticeOffice of Justice ProgramsBureau of Justice Statistics

Compendium of FederalJustice Statistics, 2004

December 2006, NCJ 213476

U.S. Department of JusticeOffice of Justice ProgramsBureau of Justice Statistics

Jeffrey L. SedgwickDirector, BJS

This Bureau of Justice Statistics Report was prepared bythe Urban Institute under the supervision of Steven K.Smith and Mark Motivans of the Bureau of Justice Statis-tics (BJS). This report was prepared under BJS grant num-ber 05-BJ-CX-K004. Principal staff at the Urban Institutewere Laura Winterfield, William Adams, Avi Bhati, KamalaMallik Kane, Christine Arriola, and Yan Yuan. Layout anddesign were by David Williams. Tracey Kyckelhahn of BJSprovided statistical review. Carolyn C. Williams and Jo-anna Bradford of BJS provided editorial review.

This report is made possible through the cooperation of thefollowing Federal agencies and their staffs: The UnitedStates Marshals Service (USMS), the Drug EnforcementAdministration (DEA), the Administrative Office of theUnited States Courts (AOUSC), and the Executive Officefor U.S. Attorneys (EOUSA). The staff who provided expertadvice about the source records include: Joe Briggs(USMS); Steven Schlesinger and Catherine Whitaker(AOUSC); and Barbara Tone, Siobhan Sperin, and SharonNewman (EOUSA).

The contents of this document do not necessarily reflectthe views or policies of the Bureau of Justice Statistics orthe U.S. Department of Justice.

BJS authorizes any person to reproduce, publish, translate,or otherwise use all or any part of the material in this publi-cation; citation to source, however, is appreciated.

An electronic version of this report and the data underlyinggraphics are available on the BJS World Wide Web Inter-net site: <http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/cfjs04.htm>. TheBJS-sponsored Federal Justice Statistics Resource Cen-ter (FJSRC) Internet Home Page (available at <http://fjsrc.urban.org>) provides online access to the Federal Justicedatabase. Users may download data from the Federal Jus-tice database for independent analysis or use the onlinequery system to quickly obtain customized statistics.

ii Compendium of Federal Justice Statistics, 2004

Highlights, 1ArrestProsecutionPretrial release

AdjudicationSentencingAppeals

Corrections

Introduction, 5Organization of the CompendiumModifications in the 2004 CompendiumNotes to reader

System overview, 7

Chapter 1. Arrests for Federaloffenses, 11Number arrested and bookedby offense categoriesNumber arrested and bookedby law enforcement agencies

Suspects arrested and bookedacross demographic groupsArrests reported by DEA agents

Fugitive investigations

Tables, 17

Chapter notes, 24

Chapter 2. Prosecution, 25U.S. attorneys’ decisionsSuspects in matters received

Disposition of suspects in mattersconcluded

Tables, 31

Chapter notes, 37

Chapter 3. Pretrial release, 39Types of pretrial releaseFactors relating to release or detention

Outcomes for pretrial cases commencedOutcomes for pretrial cases terminatedPretrial outcomes across demographicgroupsLength of pretrial detention

Tables, 46

Chapter notes, 56

Chapter 4. Adjudication, 57Defendants in criminal cases commencedDefendants in criminal casesterminated

Case processing timesConvictions by U.S. magistrates

Tables, 61

Chapter notes, 66

Chapter 5. Sentencing, 67

Offenders convicted and sentencesimposedAverage prison sentences imposed

Relationship between sentence imposedand mode of conviction

Tables, 73

Chapter notes, 77

Chapter 6. Appeals, 79Appeals filedAppeals terminated

Tables, 83

Chapter notes, 88

Chapter 7. Corrections, 89

Federal offenders under supervision

Outcomes of offendersterminating supervisionCharacteristics of offendersterminating supervision

Tables, 95

Chapter notes, 104

Methodology, 107The Federal justice databaseTable construction and interpretationOffense classifications

Source agencies for Compendiumdata tables

Glossary, 111

Contents iii

Contents

Chapter 1. Arrests for Federaloffenses, 17October 1, 2003 - September 30, 20041.1. Suspects arrested for Federal

offenses and booked by USMS,by offense

1.2. Suspects arrested for Federaloffenses and booked by USMS,by Federal law enforcement agency

1.3. Characteristics of Federal arresteesbooked by USMS

1.4. Characteristics of suspects arrestedby Drug Enforcement Administra-tion agents, by type of drug

1.5. Characteristics of suspects arrestedby Drug Enforcement Administra-tion agents, by weapons involvedat time of arrest

1.6. Warrants initiated, by warrant type

1.7. Warrants cleared, by warrant type

1.8. Time from warrant inititationto clearance, by warrant characteristics

1.9. Time from warrant initiation to clear-ance, by warrant type

Chapter 2. Prosecution, 31October 1, 2003 - September 30, 20042.1. Suspects in matters received by

U.S. attorneys, by offense

2.2. Disposition of suspects in mattersconcluded, by offense

2.3. Suspects in matters concluded anddeclined, by investigating agency

2.4. Basis for declination of prosecutionby U.S. attorneys

2.5. Disposition of matters declinedfor prosecution by U.S. attorneys,by offense

2.6. Mean and median processing timesfrom receipt to filing or declination,by offense

Chapter 3. Pretrial release, 46October 1, 2003 - September 30, 20043.1. Outcomes of initial hearing and

detention hearing for cases com-menced, by offense

3.2. Type of pretrial release for casesterminated, by offense

3.3. Type of pretrial release for casesterminated, by defendantcharacteristics

3.4. Form of pretrial detention for casesterminated, by offense

3.5. Form of pretrial detention forcases terminated, by defendantcharacteristics

3.6. Pretrial detention hearing outcomesfor cases terminated, by offense

3.7. Pretrial detention hearing outcomesfor cases terminated, by defendantcharacteristics

3.8. Behavior of defendants releasedprior to trial for cases terminated, byoffense

3.9. Behavior of defendants releasedprior to trial for cases terminated, bytype of release

3.10. Behavior of defendants releasedprior to trial for cases terminated, bydefendant characteristics

3.11. Length of pretrial detention forcases terminated, by form ofrelease or detention, and mostserious offense charged

Chapter 4. Adjudication, 61October 1, 2003 - September 30, 20044.1. Defendants in criminal cases

commenced, by offense

4.2. Disposition of criminal casesterminated, by offense

4.3. Time from filing to disposition ofcriminal cases terminated

4.4. Dispositions by U.S. magistrates

Chapter 5. Sentencing, 73October 1, 2003 - September 30, 20045.1. Sentence types for offenders

sentenced in criminal casesterminated, by offense

5.2. Type and length of sentencesimposed for sentenced offenders,by offense

5.3. Sentences imposed on convictedoffenders, by offense of convictionand method of disposition

Chapter 6. Appeals, 83October 1, 2003 - September 30, 20046.1. Criminal appeals filed, by type of

criminal case and offense

6.2. Criminal appeals filed and criminalappeals terminated, by offense

6.3. Criminal appeals terminated, bytype of criminal case and offense

6.4. Disposition of criminal appealsterminated, by offense

6.5. Criminal appeals cases terminatedon the merits, by offense

Chapter 7. Corrections, 95October 1, 2003 - September 30, 20047.1. Federal offenders under

supervision, by offense

7.2. Characteristics of Federal offendersunder supervision, by offense

7.3. Outcomes of probation supervision,by offense

7.4. Characteristics of offenders termi-nating probation supervision

7.5. Outcomes of supervised release, byoffense

7.6. Characteristics of offenders termi-nating supervised release

7.7. Outcomes of parole, by offense

7.8. Characteristics of offenders termi-nating parole

iv Compendium of Federal Justice Statistics, 2004

Tables

Highlights, 1October 1, 2003 - September 30, 2004Figure H.1. Average length of sentences

imposed, by offense

System overview, 7October 1, 2003 - September 30, 2004Figure S.1. System overview, Federal

criminal case processing

Figure S.2. Federal criminal caseprocessing outcomes

Chapter 1. Arrests for Federaloffenses, 13October 1, 2003 - September 30, 2004Figure 1.1. Type of drug involved in drug

arrests, by race of arrestee

Figure 1.2. Type of immigration arrests

Figure 1.3. Type of drug violation

Figure 1.4. Suspects arrested by theDEA, by State wherearrested

Figure 1.5. Time from warrant initiationto closing, by warrant type

Chapter 2. Prosecution, 27October 1, 2003 - September 30, 2004Figure 2.1. Suspects in matters con-

cluded: Percentage of sus-pects prosecuted in U.S. dis-trict court, by most seriousoffense investigated

Figure 2.2. Suspects in matters referredby Federal judicial district

Chapter 3. Pretrial release, 42October 1, 2003 - September 30, 2004Figure 3.1. Percent of defendants re-

leased prior to case disposi-tion, by offense category

Figure 3.2. Detention hearings held,by offense category

Figure 3.3. Pretrial release rates, bydefendant characteristics

Figure 3.4. Pretrial release violation andrevocation rates, for casesterminated

Chapter 4. Adjudication, 59October 1, 2003 - September 30, 2004Figure 4.1. Disposition of cases

terminated

Figure 4.2. Average time from filingto disposition of casesterminated, by offense

Chapter 5. Sentencing, 69October 1, 2003 - September 30, 2004Figure 5.1. Rates of incarceration and

probation for offendersconvicted and sentencedin cases that terminated

Figure 5.2. Incarceration and probationsentence lengths (in months)of offenders convicted andsentenced in cases thatterminated

Figure 5.3. Average prison sentencesimposed on defendantsconvicted at trial or byguilty plea

Chapter 6. Appeals, 81October 1, 2003 - September 30, 2004Figure 6.1. Types of criminal appeal

cases filed

Figure 6.2. Appeal cases filed, by typeof offense

Figure 6.3. Disposition of criminalappeals terminated

Chapter 7. Corrections, 91October 1, 2003 - September 30, 2004Figure 7.1. Violation rates of offenders

terminating probation,supervised release, orparole, by type of violation

Figure 7.2. Violation rates of offenderscompleting probation, super-vised release, or parole,by category of offense

Figure 7.3. Rates of violation of condi-tions of supervision, by levelof education

Contents v

Figures

vi Compendium of Federal Justice Statistics, 2004

This page left intentionally blank

The number of suspects investigatedby U.S. attorneys increased between2003 and 2004, from 130,078 to141,242. About three-quarters ofthose for which the investigation wasconcluded were prosecuted — eitherbefore a U.S. district court judge(58%) or before a U.S. magistrate(20%) — and 22% of those investi-gated were not prosecuted by U.S.attorneys.

The number of defendants prose-cuted in Federal courts increased by23% between 2003 and 2004, from94,916 to 116,363.

The number of offenders under post-conviction supervision increased 29%between 1990 and 2004. At the end offiscal year 2004, the number of of-fenders on post-conviction communitysupervision was 109,712 compared to84,801 during 1990. Over 73% ofthose under post-conviction commu-nity supervision were on post-incarceration supervised release(77,332) or parole (3,098).

Arrest

During 2004, Federal law enforce-ment agencies arrested 140,755 sus-pects for violations of Federal law.The U.S. Marshals Service arrestedand booked 29% of those for immi-gration offenses, 25% for drug of-fenses, 17% for supervisionviolations, 12% for property offenses,6-7% each for public-order andweapon offenses, and 3-4% each forviolent offenses and to secure andsafeguard a material witness.

Several Federal agencies weremoved to the new Department ofHomeland Security in 2003, includingthe Immigration and NaturalizationService, the Coast Guard, the Cus-toms Service, and the Secret Service.During 2004 the agencies that com-prise Homeland Security were respon-sible for about 37% of arrests andbookings. Within the Department ofJustice, the U.S. Marshals Servicemade 28% of the arrests, the DrugEnforcement Administration 9%, andthe Federal Bureau of Investigation7%.

Prosecution

During 2004 U.S. attorneys initiatedcriminal investigations involving141,212 suspects, and they con-cluded their investigations of 148,229suspects. Twenty-seven percent ofthe suspects were investigated fordrug, 26% for immigration, 18% forproperty, 15% for public-order, 10%for weapon, and 4% for violentoffenses.

Of the suspects in criminal mattersconcluded, U.S. attorneys prosecuted86,482 in U.S. district courts and29,881 were disposed of before U.S.magistrates. During 2004 U.S. attor-neys declined 22% of mattersconcluded.

Suspects in criminal matters involvingdrug and weapon offenses were morelikely to be prosecuted in a U.S. dis-trict court (75% and 70%, respect-ively) than were suspects involved inviolent (59%), property (53%), immi-gration (51%), or public-order of-fenses (38%). Suspects involved inproperty offenses (such as fraud) orpublic-order offenses were more likelyto be declined for prosecution (about40%) than were suspects investigatedfor violent offenses (32%), weapon(26%), drug (15%), or immigration(1%) offenses.

Pretrial release

Of 83,364 pretrial cases commencedin 2004, 33% of defendants were released after either an initial or detention hearing, while 67% were detained, and less than 1% weredismissed.

During 2004, 40% of the 78,219 de-fendants who terminated pretrial serv-ices were released at some time priorto their criminal trial. Defendantscharged with property offenses orpublic-order offenses were more likelyto be released prior to trial (70% and63%, respectively) than were defen-dants charged with weapon (32%),drug (29%), violent (27%), or immigra-tion (5%) offenses.

The proportion of defendants releasedprior to trial decreased from 62% dur-ing 1990 to 40% during 2004.

Defendants having a prior criminalhistory of serious or violent crimeswere less likely to be released thanthose without a prior criminal history;defendants with a greater number ofprior convictions were less likely to bereleased than those with fewer priorconvictions. About 21% of the defen-dants with a prior violent felony con-viction were released before trial,while 60% of defendants with no priorconvictions were released. Forty per-cent of defendants with one prior

Highlights 1

Highlights

Federal criminal case processing, October 1, 2003, through September 30, 2004

0 40,000 80,000 120,000 160,000

Suspects investi-gated in matters

concluded

Suspects arrested

Defendantsprosecuted

Offenders convicted

Offenders sentencedto prison

Offenders sentencedto probation

conviction were released, as com-pared to 31% of defendants havingtwo to four prior convictions and about24% of defendants having five ormore prior convictions.

Eighty percent of defendants releasedprior to trial completed their periods ofrelease without violating the condi-tions of their release. Twenty percentof defendants released violated theconditions of their release, and 8% ofdefendants had their release revoked.Defendants charged with weapon ordrug offenses were more likely tocommit at least one violation of theirconditions of release (34% and 29%,respectively), while defendantscharged with weapon, violent, or drugoffenses were more likely to havetheir release revoked (16% forweapon offenses and 11% each forviolent or drug offenses) than wereother defendants.

Defendants released during 2004were more likely to violate the condi-tions of their pretrial release thanthose released during 1990 (20%compared to 12%).

Adjudication

During 2004, 92,645 defendants werecharged in Federal courts with a crimi-nal offense, 88% of whom werecharged with felonies. Of the defen-dants charged with felonies, 37%were prosecuted for drug, 22% for im-migration, 18% for property, 13% forweapon, 6% for public-order, and 4%for violent offenses. The number ofdefendants charged with a felony im-migration offense increased by 11%between 2003 and 2004, from 15,997to 17,687.

Criminal cases were concludedagainst 83,391 defendants during2004, 87% of whom had beencharged with felonies. The proportionof defendants convicted in the Federalcourts increased from 81% during1990 to 90% during 2004. The propor-tion of convicted defendants whopleaded guilty increased from 87%during 1990 to 96% during 2004.

About 92% of defendants chargedwith felonies were convicted. The conviction rate was similar for the ma-jor offense categories: 96% of defen-dants charged with immigration of-fenses, 92% of drug defendants, 91%of property and violent defendants,90% of weapon defendants, and 87%of public-order defendants.

Sentencing

Defendants convicted during 2004were more likely to be sentenced toprison than those convicted during1990. During 2004 about 78% of de-fendants were sentenced to prisoncompared to 60% of those sentencedduring 1990.

Ninety-three percent of felony violentoffenders received prison terms, asdid 94% of felony weapon and drugoffenders, 90% of felony immigrationoffenders, 70% of felony public-orderoffenders, and 60% of felony propertyoffenders.

The 58,106 offenders sentenced toprison received, on average, 59.7months of imprisonment. Offenderssentenced for felony violent offenses,felony weapon offenses, and felonydrug offenses received longer aver-age prison terms (96.2, 84.3, and 83.6months, respectively) than those con-victed of felony property, immigration,or public-order offenses (27.4, 26.9,and 43.6 months, respectively).

While the proportion of defendantssentenced to prison is at an all-timehigh, average prison sentences havedeclined from the peak attained dur-ing 1992. During 1992 the averageprison term imposed was 62.6months; for drug felony offenders, theaverage term was 84.1 months. Vio-lent felony offenders, however, re-ceived a longer sentence in 2004(96.2 months compared to 94.8months in 1992).

2 Compendium of Federal Justice Statistics, 2004

5.6Misdemeanors

26.9Immigration offenses84.3Weapon offenses43.6Public-order offenses83.6Drug offenses27.4Property offenses97.2Violent offenses61.2Felonies

59.7 moAll offenses

Average sen-tence length

Most seriousoffense of conviction

Average length of prison sentences imposed, by offense, October 1, 2003 -September 30, 2004

Appeals

Between 1994 and 2004, the numberof appeals received by the U.S.Courts of Appeals remained relativelystable — between about 9,000 and12,000 annually. However, the propor-tion of criminal defendants appealingsome aspect of their conviction de-creased from 21% during 1994 to12% during 2004.

During 2003, 12,517 criminal appealswere filed. Eighty-seven percent of allappeals filed were appeals of convic-tions for offenses sentenced underthe sentencing guidelines. Sixty per-cent of the guideline-based appealsfiled challenged both the convictionand sentence imposed. Of the 11,076appeals terminated during 2004, 73%(or 8,135) were terminated on themerits. In 83% of the appeals termi-nated on the merits, the district courtruling was affirmed, at least in part.

Corrections

Community supervisionBetween 1990 and 2004, the numberof offenders on community supervi-sion increased by 29%, from 84,801during 1990 to 109,712 during 2004.While nearly equal proportions of of-fenders were serving terms of proba-tion and post-incarceration supervi-sion (parole or supervised release)during 1990, during 2004 over 73%were serving a term of post-incarceration supervision (70% super-vised release and 3% parole) while27% were on probation. Drug offend-ers comprised 12% of offenders onprobation, 54% of offenders servingterms of supervised release, and 40%of offenders on parole. Property of-fenders comprised 38% of offenderson probation, 22% of offenders serv-ing terms of supervised release, and8% of offenders on parole.

A total of 15,721 offenders terminatedprobation during 2004. Most of theseoffenders (82%) completed theirterms of probation successfully.Eleven percent of probationers termi-nating supervision during 2004 com-mitted technical violations; 5% com-mitted new crimes.

A total of 32,930 offenders completedterms of supervised release during2004. Of these offenders, 62% suc-cessfully completed their terms with-out violating conditions of release;22% committed technical violations;and 14% committed new crimes.

A total of 1,391 offenders completedterms of parole during 2004. Of theseoffenders, 49% successfully com-pleted their terms without violatingconditions of release; 27% committedtechnical violations; and 17% commit-ted new crimes.

Highlights 3

This Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS)report presents an overview of caseprocessing in the Federal criminal jus-tice system. The data presented arecompiled from the BJS Federal Jus-tice Statistics Program (FJSP) data-base. The FJSP database includesdata provided by the U.S. MarshalsService, Drug Enforcement Admin-istration, Administrative Office of theU.S. Courts, Executive Office for theU.S. Attorneys, Federal Bureau ofPrisons, and U.S. Sentencing Com-mission. The Administrative Office ofthe U.S. Courts, in addition to provid-ing data describing defendants incriminal cases processed by the Fed-eral judiciary, provides data describingdefendants processed by the Federalpretrial services agencies and theFederal probation and supervisionservice. The data can be downloadedfrom the Federal Justice Statistics Re-source Center at <http://fjsrc.urban.org>.

Each agency reports on cases proc-essed during a given year in an an-nual statistical report. These reportsare often incomparable across agen-cies due to the varying methods theagencies use to report case process-ing activities. As reported by an inter-agency working group, headed byBJS, the differences in the case proc-essing statistics are attributable, inpart, to the differing needs and mis-sions of the agencies. The workinggroup found the following differencesin reported statistics:

the universe of cases reported dur-ing a given period — some agen-cies report on those case process-ing events that occurred during aparticular period, whereas othersreport on those events recordedduring a particular period; and

many of the commonly used caseprocessing statistics — suspect/defendant processed, offense com-mitted, disposition, and sentenceimposed — are defined differentlyacross agencies.

BJS, through its FJSP, has recog-nized the incomparability of these an-nual statistical reports and has

attempted to reconcile many of thedifferences identified by the workinggroup. For instance, by combining da-tabases from several years, BJS isable to report on those cases that ac-tually occurred during the reportingperiod. Commonly used case proc-essing statistics are made compara-ble across stages by applying uniformdefinitions to data obtained from eachagency. Because definitions in theFJSP are consistent with those cate-gories in BJS programs describingState defendants convicted, sen-tenced, or imprisoned, the compari-son of Federal and State case proc-essing statistics is facilitated.

The 2004 Compendium, 19th in a se-ries which includes 1984, 1985, 1986,1988, 1989, 1990, 1992, 1993, 1994,1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, and 2003 describes de-fendants processed at each stage ofthe Federal justice system — arrestby Federal law enforcement agencies(chapter 1), investigation and prose-cution by the U.S. attorneys (chapter2), pretrial release or detention (chap-ter 3), adjudication in the U.S. districtcourts (chapter 4), sentencing (chap-ter 5), appeal of the conviction and/orsentence imposed (chapter 6), andcorrections (chapter 7) — for the 12-month period ending September 30,2004 (the Federal fiscal year). Prior to1994, the Compendium was reportedon a calendar-year basis.

The tables presented report eventsthat occurred during the Federal fiscalyear — October 1, 2003 - September30, 2004. Generally, the tables in-clude both individual and organiza-tional defendants. Organizational de-fendants are not included in tablesshowing defendants sentenced to in-carceration, or tables describing of-fenders under post-conviction com-munity supervision. Juvenile offenderscharged as adults are included in thereported statistics. Felony and misde-meanor distinctions are providedwhere possible (see "Offense classifi-cations" in Methodology).

Organization of the Compendium

Each chapter of the Compendiumdescribes a major stage in the pro-cessing of criminal suspects anddefendants. Each chapter con-tains Chapter notes that describe theuniverses of data used in the tablesand information relevant to the inter-pretation of individual tables. TheCompendium contains the following:

Chapter 1 describes arrests made byFederal law enforcement agencies forviolations of Federal law, including thecharacteristics of arrestees; warrantsinitiated and cleared by the U.S. Mar-shals Service are also reported.

Chapter 2 describes decisions madeby Federal prosecutors in screeningcriminal matters and the characteris-tics of defendants in cases prose-cuted or declined for prosecution.

Chapter 3 describes the pretrial re-lease and detention practices of theFederal judiciary, including the char-acteristics of defendants detained orreleased pending trial.

Chapter 4 describes actions by theFederal judiciary in adjudicating de-fendants in cases filed by the U.S.attorneys.

Chapter 5 describes the sentencesimposed by the Federal judiciary onconvicted defendants.

Chapter 6 describes appeals of crimi-nal convictions and sentences im-posed in the Federal courts, includingthe original offense charged.

Chapter 7 describes defendants un-der Federal correctional supervision— probation, parole, and supervisedrelease — including the outcome ofthe supervision (successful comple-tion or violations).

Introduction

Introduction 5

The Methodology section describesthe procedures followed in analyzingdata and developing tables.

The Glossary contains definitions forterms used in the Compendium.Since many terms used in the textand tables have specialized meanings(either because they refer to Federallaw or because of reporting proce-dures by the Federal agencies supply-ing the data), readers are encouragedto check the glossary for exact defini-tions of tabulated data.

Modifications in the 2004Compendium

The 2004 Compendium does not con-tain text or tables describing thedemographic characteristics of con-victed offenders in chapters 4 and 5,as it has historically. Nor does it con-tain any text or tables describing Fed-eral prisoners in chapter 7, as is usu-ally the case. The reason for theseexclusions is that BJS did not receive2004 data from the United StatesSentencing Commission nor from theFederal Bureau of Prisons, respec-tively.

Notes to reader

The tables in the Compendium wereconstructed to permit valid compari-sons within each table and to allowthe reader to compare percentages(but not raw totals) across tables. Itshould be understood, however, thatthe total number of subjects/defen-dants shown in a particular table maynot equal the number of subjects/de-fendants involved in a particular stageof processing, since some recordscould not be linked and some datasources did not include information onparticular data elements classified in aparticular table. Data notes indicatethe exact universe for individualtables.

The Compendium is a statistical pres-entation of Federal criminal justice in-formation with limited analyses oftrends or explanatory factors underly-ing the statistics. Analyses of Federaljustice statistics may be found in spe-cial reports and other publications,some of which are cited in the Com-pendium. Assessment of changingpatterns in the Compendium tabula-tions may depend on detailed exami-nation of sub-categories not shown inthe tabulations or may require othersources of information, such asknowledge of legislation or Federalagency procedures.


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Figure S.2.

Federal criminal case processing, October 1, 2003 - September 30, 2004


Suspects arrested


Offenders convicted

Offenders sentencedto prison*

Offenders sentencedto probation*

5,869

4,587

4,004

2,932

2,494

286

Violent offensesSuspects investigatedin matters concluded

Suspects arrested


Offenders convicted



5,019

335

1,897

1,069

606

683

Public-order offenses - regulatory


Suspects arrested


Offenders convicted



24,756

12,709

15,319

11,008

6,462

3,673

Property offenses - fraudulentSuspects investigatedin matters concluded

Suspects arrested


Offenders convicted



16,735

8,283

11,240

6,654

2,779

2,225

Public-order offenses - other


Suspects arrested


Offenders convicted



2,836

2,900

1,801

2,988

1,166

1,380

Property offenses - other


Suspects arrested


Offenders convicted



14,083

9,936

10,370

8,191

7,521

558

Weapon offenses

*Prison includes split, life, indeterminate, regular, and youth sentences. Offenders not shown as sentenced to prison or probation weresentenced by magistrates or received a fine-only sentence in Federal court. Probation excludes persons sentenced to prison.


Suspects arrested


Offenders convicted



148,229

140,755

116,363

74,782

58,106

11,067

All offenses


Suspects arrested


Offenders convicted



40,509

32,980

34,294

26,739

23,311

1,879

Drug offensesSuspects investigatedin matters concluded

Suspects arrested


Offenders convicted



37,326

39,135

36,781

15,201

13,767

383

Immigration offenses

Chapter 5

Sentencing

Chapter 5. Sentencing 67

Discussion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69

TablesOctober 1, 2003 – September 30, 2004

5.1. Sentence types for offenders sentenced incriminal cases terminated, by offense . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

5.2. Type and length of sentences imposedfor sentenced offenders, by offense . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74

5.3. Sentences imposed on convictedoffenders, by offense of convictionand method of disposition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75

Chapter notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77

Chapter 5

Sentencing


SentencingSupervisedrelease

Federalprisons

Fines andcosts

Probation,Parole,

Mixedsentence

Depending upon the type and severityof the offense, convicted offendersmay be sentenced to incarceration,probation, a fine, or a combination ofsanctions such as a split or mixedsentence (imprisonment as well as aperiod of probation supervision). (Fora definition of mixed sentences, seeGlossary, p. 117.) The Federal sen-tencing guidelines require a term ofsupervised release following serviceof any prison sentence of more than1 year. In addition, courts have thediscretion to impose supervisedrelease in any other case.

Except where otherwise indicated, ta-bles in this chapter are based on themost serious offense of conviction.They are not directly comparable withtables in earlier chapters that arebased on the most serious offense investigated or most serious offensecharged. (See “Offense classifica-tions” in Methodology, p. 113.)

Offenders convicted andsentences imposed (tables 5.1and 5.2)

Of the 74,782 offenders sentencedduring 2004 —

58,106 (78%) were sentenced toprison

11,067 (15%) were sentenced toprobation1

2,639 (4%) were ordered to pay onlya fine.

During 2004, 56,509 defendants con-victed of felonies were sentenced toprison representing 97% of all prisonsentences and 85% of all convicted fel-ons. Receiving prison sentences weredefendants convicted of felony —

violent offenses (94%)

drug and weapon offenses (93%)

immigration offenses (90%)

public-order offenses (71%)

property offenses (60%) (figure 5.1).

Among public-order offenders per-sons convicted of nonviolent sex of-fenses (96%) and escape (92%) werealmost as likely to receive prison sen-tences as violent, drug, weapon, andimmigration offenders.

Among property offenders personsconvicted of burglary (83%) were themost likely to receive prisonsentences.

Overall, 15% of convicted offenderswere sentenced to probation. Thepercentage of misdemeanants sen-tenced to probation (46%) was over 4times that of convicted felons (11%).

Persons convicted of gambling viola-tions were the most likely to receiveprobation (72%), followed by personsconvicted of communication violationsand larceny misdemeanors (70% and69% respectively).

While 4% of all convicted defendantswere ordered to pay only a fine, 18%of the felons convicted of antitrust vio-lations were so ordered. Fines weregenerally reserved for misdemeanoroffenders, 29% of whom receivedfines.

Average prison sentencesimposed (table 5.2)

For all offenders sentenced to prisonterms, the average term of imprison-ment imposed was 59.7 months. Per-sons convicted of felonies received anaverage of 61.2 months.

The average length of prison sen-tence length imposed varied amongmajor felony offense categories:

violent offenses (96.2 months)

weapon offenses (84.3 months)

drug offenses (83.6 months)

public-order offenses (43.6 months)

property offenses (27.4 months)

immigration offenses (26.9 months)(figure 5.2).

The average sentence length for fel-ony offenses (61.2 months) was al-most 11 times longer than averagesentence length for misdemeanor of-fenses (5.6 months).


Defendants convicted of drug, violent, immigration, and weapon felonies had the highest imprisonment rates, while those convicted ofproperty and public-order offenses had the highest rates of probation

0% 20% 40% 60% 80%

Percent of defendants convicted and sentenced

Violent

Property

Drug

Public-order

Weapon

Immigration

Category of offense

All offensesPrison

ProbationFelony offenses

100%

Figure 5.1. Rates of incarceration and probation for offenders convicted andsentenced in cases that terminated during October 1, 2003 - September 30,2004

1Offenders given an intermediate sanction suchas intermittent confinement or community con-finement that also included probation supervi-sion are counted among offenders givenprobation.

Relationship between sentenceimposed and mode of conviction(table 5.3)

During 2004 offenders convictedby trial were more likely to receiveprison sentences than those whopleaded guilty. Seventy-seven percentof the offenders convicted by guiltyplea received some prison time, while88% of offenders convicted at trial re-ceived prison sentences.

For violent offenders 93% of thoseconvicted by plea received prison sen-tences, as did 96% of those convictedat trial. For property offenders 59% ofthose convicted by plea receivedprison sentences, compared to 86%of those convicted at trial. For public-order offenders 70% of those con-victed by plea received sentences. Incontrast, 94% of those convicted attrial went to prison.

The average prison term imposed ondefendants convicted at trial was al-most three times longer than the termimposed on defendants convicted byplea. Defendants convicted at trial re-ceived 148.2 months on average (a

median of 97 months), while thoseconvicted by plea received an aver-age of 56.2 months (a median of 36months) (figure 5.3). Drug offendersconvicted at trial received an averageof 195.9 months as compared to 79.5months for drug offenders convictedby a guilty plea. Violent offenders whowent to trial received an average sen-tence of 177.5 months as comparedto the 90.4 months for those convictedby guilty plea. Those convicted at trialfor weapon offenses received, on av-erage, 186.8 months compared to the77.1 months for weapon offendersconvicted by guilty plea.


Violent and weapon felons received the longest prison sentences

0 20 40 60 80

Average number of months of sentence length

Violent

Property

Drug

Public-order

Weapon

Immigration

Category of offense

All offenses Prison

Probation

Felony offenses

100

Figure 5.2. Incarceration and probation sentence lengths (in months) of offenders convicted and sentenced in cases that terminated during October 1, 2003 - September 30, 2004


Defendants convicted at trial received longer sentences than thoseconvicted by guilty plea

0 50 100 150 200

Average number of months of sentences to prison

Violent

Property

Drug

Public-order

Weapon

Immigration

Category of offense

All offenses Guilty plea

Trial

Felony offenses

250

Figure 5.3. Average prison sentences imposed on defendants convicted attrial or by guilty plea, October 1, 2003 - September 30, 2004


eIn this table "Murder" includes nonnegligent manslaughter; “Sexualabuse” includes only violent sex offenses; "Fraud" excludes taxfraud; "Larceny" excludes transportation of stolen property; "Otherproperty offenses" excludes fraudulent property offenses and in-cludes destruction of property and trespassing; "Tax law violations"includes tax fraud; "Obscene material" denotes the mail or trans-port thereof; "All other felonies" includes felonies with unclassifiableoffense type; "Misdemeanors" includes misdemeanors, petty of-fenses, and unknown offense levels; and "Drug possession" alsoincludes other drug misdemeanors.

Note: For further information, see Chapter notes, item 1, p. 77.^Too few cases to obtain statistically reliable data.aIncludes offenders receiving incarceration, probation, split or mixed sen-tences, and fines. Not represented in the percentage columns, but also in-cluded in the totals, are offenders receiving deportation, suspended sen-tences, sealed sentences, imprisonment of 4 days or less, and nosentences.bAll sentences to incarceration, including split, mixed, life, and indeterminate.cIncludes offenders with split and mixed sentences.dTotal includes offenders whose sentence could not be determined.

26.054.814.11,657Other misdemeanors57.538.14.12,906Traffic offenses1.312.973.1520Immigration offenses7.447.238.71,464Drug possessione

18.469.211.3919Larceny4.149.925.2774Fraudulent property offenses

%29.3%46.0%19.48,240Misdemeanorse

%0.1%2.1%90.314,819Immigration offenses%0.1%6.7%93.08,082Weapon offenses

0.627.968.6344All other feloniese0.062.537.524Environmental5.947.144.134Wildlife0.015.480.826Traffic offenses0.018.878.132Obscene materiale0.05.295.6724Nonviolent sex offenses

^^^1Liquor offenses0.072.028.025Gambling0.520.077.1844Racketeering and extortion0.25.591.6415Escape5.819.271.252National defense0.525.070.7208Perjury, contempt, and intimidation0.050.750.0138Bribery0.236.562.4425Tax law violationse

%0.4%20.4%77.63,292Other0.835.555.5791Other regulatory offenses0.066.727.818Postal laws1.644.344.361Custom laws4.369.626.123Communications0.012.789.155Civil rights2.756.636.3113Transportation3.667.932.128Food and drug

17.652.923.517Antitrust%1.4%39.3%52.41,106Regulatory%0.7%25.2%71.34,398Public-order offenses

0.56.390.42,022Possession and other drug offenses0.24.793.222,450Trafficking

%0.2%4.9%92.924,472Drug offenses0.044.054.050Other property offensese1.828.369.3166Transportation of stolen property0.617.082.4165Arson and explosives0.015.567.258Motor vehicle theft0.543.853.21,307Larcenye0.015.183.053Burglary

%0.6%38.2%58.71,799Other0.833.863.91,007Counterfeiting1.434.260.373Forgery0.830.760.88,677Fraude2.240.446.7646Embezzlement

%0.9%31.6%60.210,403Fraudulent%0.8%32.6%60.012,202Property offenses

0.015.675.032Threats against the President0.010.584.986Kidnapping0.55.594.2415Sexual abusee0.02.598.11,380Robbery0.214.282.6465Assault

^^^1Negligent manslaughter0.56.392.1190Murdere

%0.2%5.8%93.52,569Violent offenses%0.3%10.9%84.966,542Felonies

%3.5%14.8%77.774,782All offensesd

Fine (only)ProbationcIncarcerationbMost serious offense of convictionPercent of offenders convicted and sentenced to—Total offenders

sentenceda

Table 5.1. Sentence types for offenders sentenced in criminal cases terminated, by offense,October 1, 2003 - September 30, 2004


eTotal includes offenders whose sentence could not be determined.fIn this table "Murder" includes nonnegligent manslaughter; “Sex-ual abuse” includes only violent sex offenses; "Fraud" excludestax fraud; "Larceny" excludes transportation of stolen property; "Other property offenses" excludes fraudulent property offensesand includes destruction of property and trespassing; "Tax lawviolations" includes tax fraud; "Obscene material" denotes themail or transport thereof; "All other felonies" includes felonies withunclassifiable offense type; "Misdemeanors" includes misdemean-ors, petty offenses, and unknown offense levels; and "Drug pos-session" also includes other drug misdemeanors.

^ Too few cases to obtain statistically reliable data. …No cases of this type occurred in the data.aTotal may not equal the sum of individual sanctions. The sum may exceed the total because split and mixed sentences are counted in incarceration and probation.Alternatively, the total may exceed the sum as the total includes offenders receivingdeportation, suspended sentences, sealed sentences, imprisonment of 4 days orless, and no sentences.bAll sentences to incarceration, including split, mixed, life, and indeterminatesentences.cIncludes offenders with split and mixed sentences.dExcludes sentences of life, death, and indeterminate sentences.

12.021.85.06.504309082331,657Other misdemeanors12.014.41.53.201,6711,1061182,906Traffic offenses36.038.66.04.50767380520Immigration offenses12.017.96.06.301086915671,464Drug possessionf12.021.66.06.40169636104919Larceny24.028.33.05.3032386195774Fraudulent property offenses

mo12.0mo19.8mo6.0mo5.602,4173,7941,5978,240Misdemeanorsf

mo36.0mo33.2mo24.0mo26.901931613,38714,819Immigration offensesmo36.0mo38.7mo57.0mo84.30105387,5188,082Weapon offenses

36.042.718.027.80296236344All other feloniesf36.038.5^^015924Environmental24.026.914.021.202161534Wildlife

^^14.022.60042126Traffic offenses^^27.032.70062532Obscene materialf

42.048.041.057.00038692724Nonviolent sex offenses……^^0011Liquor offenses

36.035.3^^018725Gambling36.034.951.070.904169651844Racketeering and extortion24.027.813.018.70123380415Escape

^^37.068.403103752National defense36.036.724.037.90152147208Perjury, contempt, and intimidation36.038.921.027.4007069138Bribery36.034.316.026.501155265425Tax law violationsf

mo36.0mo36.7mo27.0mo46.20146722,5553,292Other36.033.118.028.106281439791Other regulatory offenses36.037.3^^012518Postal laws36.029.218.023.501272761Custom laws36.039.8^^116623Communications

^^37.046.90074955Civil rights36.033.618.068.6036441113Transportation30.029.4^^119928Food and drug

^^^^39417Antitrustmo36.0mo33.4mo18.5mo32.30154355801,106Regulatorymo36.0mo35.4mo27.0mo43.60291,1073,1354,398Public-order offenses

36.035.560.081.90111281,8282,022Possession and other drug offenses36.041.760.083.80471,06020,91622,450Trafficking

mo36.0mo41.0mo60.0mo83.60581,18822,74424,472Drug offenses24.027.26.018.100222750Other property offensesf48.047.724.035.00347115166Transportation of stolen property36.034.843.075.20128136165Arson and explosives

^^18.027.10093958Motor vehicle theft36.040.318.031.3065736951,307Larcenyf

^^24.028.40084453Burglarymo36.0mo40.2mo21.0mo36.70106871,0561,799Other

36.038.418.024.1083406431,007Counterfeiting36.042.218.020.001254473Forgery36.038.918.026.60692,6615,2788,677Fraudf36.040.112.016.0014261302646Embezzlement

mo36.0mo38.9mo18.0mo25.80923,2876,26710,403Fraudulentmo36.0mo39.2mo18.0mo27.401023,9747,32312,202Property offenses

^^24.028.20052432Threats against the President^^61.5108.00097386Kidnapping

41.044.397.0112.20223391415Sexual abusef36.042.878.0105.300351,3541,380Robbery36.032.733.044.80166384465Assault

……^^0011Negligent manslaughter36.042.060.0111.20112175190Murderf

mo36.0mo38.2mo70.0mo96.2041502,4022,569Violent offensesmo36.0mo38.6mo37.0mo61.202227,27356,50966,542Feloniesmo36.0mo32.2mo37.0mo59.702,63911,06758,10674,782All offensese

MedianMeanMedianMeanFine (only)ProbationcIncarcerationbTotalaMost serious offense of convictionProbationdIncarcerationdNumber

Sentence lengthOffenders convicted and sentenced in criminal cases that terminated during fiscal year 2004

Table 5.2. Type and length of sentences imposed for sentenced offenders, by offense, October 1, 2003 - September 30, 2004


dTotal includes offenders whose sentence could not be determinedand 2 defendants for whom offense category could not be determined,both of whom received a sentence of probation. For further informationsee Chapter notes, item 1, p. 77.eIncludes nolo contendere.

aAll sentences to incarceration, including split, mixed, life, andindeterminate sentences.bIncludes offenders with split and mixed sentences.cExcludes sentences of life, death, and indeterminate sentences(1% of all incarceration).

4.05.410.1859921207Trial6.05.619.62,3323,6951,5768,033Guilty pleae

mo6.0mo5.6%19.42,4173,7941,5978,240Misdemeanors

47.058.894.013110117Trial24.026.790.31831313,27714,702Guilty plea

mo24.0mo26.9%90.31931613,38714,819Immigration offenses120.0186.897.3020506520Trial51.077.192.7105187,0127,562Guilty plea

mo57.0mo84.3%93.0105387,5188,082Weapon offenses48.079.494.0015233248Trial27.040.869.9291,0922,9024,150Guilty plea

mo27.0mo43.6%71.3291,1073,1354,398Public-order offenses151.0195.998.6119889902Trial60.079.592.7571,16921,85523,570Guilty plea

mo60.0mo83.6%92.9581,18822,74424,472Drug offenses37.063.486.2454386448Trial17.025.459.0983,9206,93711,754Guilty plea

mo18.0mo27.4%60.01023,9747,32312,202Property offenses120.0177.596.307181188Trial63.590.493.341432,2212,381Guilty plea

mo70.0mo96.2%93.541502,4022,569Violent offenses97.0149.695.161182,3052,423Trial37.057.784.52167,15554,20464,119Guilty plea

mo37.0mo61.2%84.92227,27356,50966,542Felonies

97.0148.288.4912172,3262,630Trial36.056.277.32,54810,85055,78072,152Guilty pleae

mo37.0mo59.7%77.72,63911,06758,10674,782All offensesd

MedianMeanFine (only)ProbationbIncarcerationaSentence lengthcOffense of conviction and

method of disposition

Percent ofconvictedoffenders

Number of offenders convicted and sentenced in criminal cases who received—

Number ofconvictedoffenders

Offenders sentenced tosome incarceration

Table 5.3. Sentences imposed on convicted offenders, by offense of conviction and method of disposition,October 1, 2003 - September 30, 2004


Data tables describing demographic characteristics ofsentenced offenders are not shown in this Compendium,as fiscal year 2004 data have not yet been received by BJS fromthe United States Sentencing Commission.

1) Tables 5.1-5.3 were generatedfrom the AOUSC criminal masterdata files. Only records of defen-dants sentenced between Octo-ber 1, 2003, and September 30,2004, were selected. Offensesshown in these tables — offensesof conviction — are based on thelongest actual sentence imposed.

Chapter notes


The Federal justice database

Source of dataThe source of data for all tables in thisCompendium is the Bureau of JusticeStatistics (BJS) Federal justice data-base. The database is presently con-structed from source files provided bythe U.S. Marshals Service, the DrugEnforcement Administration, the Ex-ecutive Office for U.S. Attorneys, theAdministrative Office of the U.S.Courts, the United States SentencingCommission, and the U.S. Bureau ofPrisons. The Administrative Office ofthe U.S. Courts, in addition to provid-ing data describing defendants incases processed by the Federal judi-ciary, provides data describing defen-dants processed by the Federal pre-trial services agencies and the Fed-eral probation and supervisionservice. Federal law prohibits the useof these files for any purposes otherthan research or statistics. A descrip-tion of the source agency data files isprovided in the table at the end of thissection.

Reporting periodWherever possible, matters or caseshave been selected according to theevent which occurred during fiscalyear 2004 (October 1, 2003, throughSeptember 30, 2004). Files which areorganized by their source agenciesaccording to fiscal year nonethelessinclude some pertinent records in lateryears' files. For example, tabulationsof suspects in matters concluded dur-ing fiscal year 2004 in this Compen-dium have been assembled fromsource files containing records of2004 matters concluded which wereentered into the data system duringfiscal years 2004 or 2005.

Availability of data itemsThe availability of particular items ofinformation is affected by the datasource. For example, data on prose-cutors' decisions prior to court filingare provided for cases investigated byU.S. attorneys but not for those han-dled by other litigating divisions of theU.S. Department of Justice. CriminalDivision cases enter the data base

once they are filed in U.S. districtcourt, however.

Table construction andinterpretation

The tables presented report eventsthat occurred during the Federal fiscalyear — October 1, 2003 - September30, 2004. Generally the tables includeboth individual and organizational de-fendants. Organizational defendantsare not included in tables describingdefendants sentenced toincarceration, and offenders underpost-conviction supervision. Juvenileoffenders who are charged as adultsare included in the reported statistics.

Unit of analysisThe unit of analysis in chapters 1through 6 is a combination of a per-son (or corporation) and a matter orcase. For example, if a single personis involved in three different criminalcases during the time period specifiedin the table, he or she is counted threetimes in the tabulation. Similarly, if asingle criminal case involves a corpo-rate defendant and four individual de-fendants, it counts five times in thetabulation. In chapter 7 the unit ofanalysis for incarceration, probation,parole, or other supervised release isa person entering custody or supervi-sion, a person leaving custody or su-pervision, or a person in custody orsupervision at year-end. For example,a person convicted in two concurrentcases and committed once to the cus-tody of the Federal Bureau of Prisonsin the indicated time period is countedas one admission to a term of incar-ceration. A person who terminatesprobation twice in the indicated timeperiod, such as with a violation andagain after reinstatement, is countedas two terminations of probation.

InterpretationThe tables in the Compendium areconstructed to permit the user tomake valid comparisons of numberswithin each table and to compare per-centage rates across tables. The totalnumbers of subjects in Compendiumtables that are based on recordslinked between two files (for example,

the demographic tables in chapters 4and 5) are generally less than the totalnumber of records in either sourcefile. Accordingly, comparisons of ab-solute numbers across two or moretables in this volume and other datasources are not necessarily valid.

Offense classifications

ProcedureThe offense classification procedureused in this Compendium is based onthe classification system followed bythe Administrative Office of the U.S.Courts. Specific offenses are com-bined to form the BJS categoriesshown in the Compendium tables.*

Offense categories for Federal arres-tees in chapter 1 are based on theFBI’s National Crime Information Cen-ter (NCIC) offense classifications,which are converted into U.S. Mar-shals’ four-digit offense codes, which,in turn, are aggregated into the of-fense categories shown in the tables.These categories are similar, but maynot be directly comparable, to the BJSoffense categories used in otherchapters of this Compendium. Fordata from the Executive Office forU.S. Attorneys, which include UnitedStates Code citations but do not in-clude the Administrative Office of-fense classifications, United StatesCode titles and sections are trans-lated into the Administrative Officeclassification system and then aggre-gated into the offense categories usedin the tables. Offense categories forprisoners in chapter 7 are based oncombinations of offense designationsused by the Bureau of Prisons. Theyare similar to the categories in otherchapters and other tables in chapter7, but may not be directly comparable.

Felony/misdemeanor distinctionsFelony and misdemeanor distinctionsare provided where possible. Felony

Methodology 105

Methodology

*These categories correspond to theBureau of Justice Statistics crime defini-tions and, to the extent possible, are or-ganized and presented consistent withBJS publications on State criminal justicesystems.

offenses are those with a maximumpenalty of more than 1 year in prison.Misdemeanor offenses are those witha maximum penalty of 1 year or less.Felonies and misdemeanors are fur-ther classified using the maximumterm of imprisonment authorized.Section 3559, U.S. Code, Title 18classifies offenses according to thefollowing schedule:

FeloniesClass A felony — life imprisonment,or if the maximum penalty is death.

Class B felony — 25 years or more.

Class C felony — less than 25 yearsbut more than 10 years.

Class D felony — less than 10 yearsbut more than 5 years.

Class E felony — less than 5 yearsbut more than 1 year.

MisdemeanorsClass A misdemeanor — 1 year orless but more than 1 month.

Class B misdemeanor — 6 monthsor less but more than 30 days.

Class C misdemeanor — 30 days orless but more than 5 days.

Infraction — 5 days or less, or if noimprisonment is authorized.

In this Compendium felony and mis-demeanor distinctions are providedwhere the data permit these distinc-tions. Chapters 1 and 2 do not usethis distinction because many sus-pects cannot be so classified at thearrest and investigation stages in thecriminal justice process. Chapter 3 nolonger reports this distinction becausethe Pretrial Services Agency no longergathers this information. Chapters 4and 5 distinguish between felony andmisdemeanor offenses, as do tables7.1, 7.3, 7.5, and 7.7. Tables 7.9, and7.11–7.14 follow the convention ofother BJS publications by separatelytabulating offenders whose actual im-posed sentences are less than orequal to 1 year and those whose ac-tual sentences are greater than 1year.

Most serious offense selectionWhere more than one offense ischarged or adjudicated, the most seri-ous offense (the one that may or didresult in the most severe sentence) isused to classify offenses. The offensedescription may change as the crimi-nal justice process proceeds. Tablesindicate whether investigated,charged or adjudicated offenses areused. In chapter 2 the most seriousoffense is based on the criminal leadcharge as determined by the assis-tant U.S. attorney responsible for thecriminal proceeding. In chapter 3 themajor charged offense is based uponthe Administrative Office’s offense se-verity classification system, as deter-mined by the pretrial officer responsi-ble for the case. To select thisoffense, the officer ranks offenses ac-cording to severity based on maxi-mum imprisonment, type of crime,and maximum fines. In chapter 4 themost serious offense charged is theone that has the most severe potentialsentence. For chapter 5 conviction of-fenses are based on statutory maxi-mum penalties. In chapter 6 offensesare classified by the offense of convic-tion. In tables 7.1–7.8, the most seri-ous offense of conviction is either theone having the longest sentence im-posed or, if equal sentences were im-posed or there was no imprisonment,the offense carrying the highest se-verity code as determined by the Ad-ministrative Office’s offense severitycode ranking. In tables 7.9–7.16, pris-oners are classified according to theoffense that bears the longest singleincarceration sentence.

Offense categoriesFor offense categories in all text ta-bles, the following conditions apply:

“Murder” includes nonnegligentmanslaughter.

“Sexual abuse” includes only violentsex offenses.

“Fraud” excludes tax fraud.

“Larceny” excludes transportation ofstolen property.

“Other property felonies” excludesfraudulent property offenses and in-cludes destruction of property andtrespass.

“Tax law violations” includes taxfraud.

“Obscene material” denotes the mailor transport thereof.

“Wildlife” includes offenses previ-ously included in the “Migratory birds”category.

“Environmental” includes some of-fenses previously included in the “Ag-riculture” and “Other Regulatory”categories.

“All other offenses” includes felonieswith unknown or unclassifiable of-fense type.

“Misdemeanors” includes misde-meanors, petty offenses, and un-known offense levels.

“Drug possession” also includesother drug misdemeanors.


Methodology 107

Corrections:7.9, 7.10, 7.11, 7.12,7.13, 7.14, 7.15, 7.16

The data extracts contain information on all offenders released fromprison over a specific period of time plus information about offendersin prison when the data extracts are made. The information coversthe time from when offenders enter prison until their release from thejurisdiction of the Bureau of Prisons. Tables 7.9-7.16 exclude prison-ers sentenced by a District of Columbia Superior Court judge for vio-lations of the DC Criminal Code.

Bureau of Prisons (BOP): Extract fromBOP’s online Sentry System

Corrections:7.1, 7.2, 7.3, 7.4, 7.5,7.6, 7.7, 7.8

Contains information about supervisions provided by probation offi-cers for persons placed on probation or supervised release fromprison. The files contain records of individuals entering or currently onsupervision, as well as records of offenders terminating supervision.

AOUSC — Federal Probation and Su-pervision Information System (FPSIS)

Appeals:6.1, 6.2, 6.3, 6.4, 6.5

Contains information on criminal appeals filed and terminated in U.S.Courts of Appeals. Records of appeals filed, pending, or terminatedinclude information on the nature of the criminal appeal, the underly-ing offense, and the disposition of the appeal.

AOUSC: Court of Appeals

Adjudication:4.5 (defendantcharacteristics)

Sentencing:5.4, 5.5, 5.6 (defendantcharacteristics)

Contains information on criminal defendants sentenced pursuant tothe provisions of the Sentencing Reform Act of 1984. Data files arelimited to those defendants whose court records have been obtainedby the U.S. Sentencing Commission.

United States Sentencing Commission(USSC) — Monitoring Data Base

Adjudication:4.1, 4.2, 4.3, 4.4, 4.5

Sentencing:5.1, 5.2, 5.3, 5.4, 5.5, 5.6

Contains information about the criminal proceedings against defen-dants whose cases were filed in U.S. district courts. Includes informa-tion on felony defendants, Class A misdemeanants — whether han-dled by U.S. district court judges or U.S. magistrates — and othermisdemeanants provided they were handled by U.S. district courtjudges. The information in the data files cover criminal proceedingsfrom case filing through disposition and sentencing. Data are avail-able on criminal defendants in cases filed, pending, and terminated.

Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts(AOUSC) — Criminal Termination Files

Pretrial release:3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 3.4, 3.5, 3.6,3.7, 3.8, 3.9, 3.10

Adjudication:4.5 (defendantcharacteristics)

Sentencing:5.4, 5.5, 5.6 (defendantcharacteristics)

Contains data on defendants interviewed, investigated, or supervisedby pretrial services. The information covers defendants’ pretrial hear-ings, detentions, and releases from the time they are interviewedthrough the disposition of their cases in district court. The data de-scribe pretrial defendants processed by Federal pretrial service agen-cies within each district. Defendants who received pretrial servicesthrough a local, non-Federal agency, such as the District of Columbia,are not included.

AOUSC: Pretrial Services Agency(PSA) — Pretrial Services Act Informa-tion System

Prosecution:2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 2.4, 2.5, 2.6

Contains information on the investigation and prosecution of suspectsin criminal matters received and concluded, criminal cases filed andterminated, and criminal appeals filed and handled by U.S. attorneys.The central system files contain defendant-level records about theprocessing of matters and cases; the central charge files contain therecords of the charges filed and disposed in criminal cases. Data areavailable on matters and cases filed, pending, and terminated.

Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys(EOUSA) — National LIONS System file

Arrest:1.4, 1.5

Contains data on suspects arrested by DEA agents, both within andoutside the continental U.S. The data include information on charac-teristics of arrestees, type of drug for which arrested, as well as thetype and number of weapons at time of arrest.

Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)— Defendant Statistical System

Arrest:1.1, 1.2, 1.3

Warrant:1.6, 1.7, 1.8, 1.9

Contains data on suspects arrested for violations of Federal law, byFederal enforcement agencies and data about warrants initiated orcleared. The data include information on characteristics of Federalarrestees.

United States Marshals Service (USMS)— Prisoner Tracking System (PTS)— Warrant Information Network

Compendium tablesDescription of data files contentsData source agency —

data files

Source agencies for Compendium data tables

Acquittal — legal judgment that acriminal defendant has not beenproven guilty beyond a reasonabledoubt of the charges against him.

Administrative case closure — Thetermination of a community supervi-sion case due to administrative rea-sons such as: long-term hospitaliza-tion, death, deportation, incarcerationin an unrelated case, or at the admin-istrative discretion of the Chief Proba-tion Officer.

Affirmed — in the appellate courts,the decree or order is declared validand will stand as rendered in thelower court.

Agriculture violations — violationsof the Federal statutes on agricultureand conservation: for example, viola-tions of the Agricultural Acts, Insecti-cide Act, and the Packers and Stock-yards Act, 1921; also violations oflaws concerning plant quarantine andthe handling of animals pertaining toresearch (7 U.S.C., except sectionson food stamps (fraud); also 16U.S.C. sections relating generally toviolations in operating public parks,such as trespassing for hunting,shooting, and fishing).

Antitrust violations — offenses re-lating to Federal antitrust statutes,which aim to protect trade and com-merce from unlawful restraints, pricefixing, monopolies (for example, 15U.S.C. §§ 1, 3, 8, 20, and 70(i)), anddiscrimination in pricing or in furnish-ing services or facilities (15 U.S.C. §§13(c) and 13(e)).

Appeal — a review by a higher courtof a judgment or decision of a lowercourt.

Appeals, U.S. Court of — an inter-mediate Federal court, inferior to theU.S. Supreme Court, but higher thanthe U.S. district court. The function ofthe U.S. court of appeals is to reviewthe final decisions of the districtcourts, if challenged. There are 13courts of appeal in the Federal systemrepresenting the 12 judicial circuitsand the Federal circuit (28 U.S.C. §41).

Appellant — the party which takes anappeal from one court or jurisdictionto another; opposite of appellee.

Appellee — the party against whomthe appeal is taken; opposite ofappellant.

Arson — willfully or maliciously set-ting, or attempting to set, fire to anyproperty within the special maritimeand territorial jurisdiction of the UnitedStates as defined in 18 U.S.C. § 7 (18U.S.C. § 81; and 49A U.S.C. §§ 1804and 1809). (See also, "Explosives.")

Assault — intentionally inflicting or at-tempting or threatening to inflict bodilyinjury to another person. Applies toanyone within the special maritimeand territorial jurisdiction of the UnitedStates as defined in 18 U.S.C. § 7, orto any Government official, foreign of-ficial, official guest, internationally pro-tected person, or any officer or em-ployee of the United States desig-nated in 18 U.S.C. § 1114 (for exam-ple, 16 U.S.C. §§ 1857(e) and 1859;18 U.S.C. §§ 111(a), 112(b),113(c)(e), 114, 115(c), 351(d)(e), 372,373, 1502, 1751(c), 1959, 2118(c),and 2231(a); 21 U.S.C. §§ 461(c),675(b), and 1041(c); 26 U.S.C. §§7212(a)(b); 29 U.S.C. § 1141; 46U.S.C. § 701; and 49A U.S.C. §1472(k)); also certain violations of theFair Housing Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C.§§ 3610 and 3631).

Bail — the sum of money promisedas a condition of release, to be paid ifa released defendant defaults (18U.S.C. § 3142(c)).

Booking — a procedure following anarrest in which information about thearrest and the suspect is recorded.

Bribery — offering or promising any-thing of value with intent to unlawfullyinfluence a public official in the dis-charge of official duties. Applies gen-erally to bank employees, officers oremployees of the U.S. Government,witnesses, or any common carrier. In-cludes soliciting or receiving anythingof value in consideration of aiding aperson to obtain employment in theU.S. Government. Also, receiving orsoliciting any remuneration, directly or

indirectly, in cash or any kind in returnfor purchasing, ordering, leasing, orrecommending to purchase any good,service, or facility (18 U.S.C. §§201(a), 203(a)(b), 204, 207(a)(c), 208,210, 211, 213, 215, and 663; 21U.S.C. § 622; 46 U.S.C. § 239(i); and49 U.S.C. §§ 104, 917(b), and11904(b)).

Burglary — breaking and enteringinto another's property with intent tosteal within the special maritime andterritorial jurisdiction of the UnitedStates, as defined in 18 U.S.C. § 7.Includes breaking and entering intoany official bank, credit union, savingsand loan institution, post office, vesselor steamboat assigned to the use ofmail service, or personal property ofthe United States; or breaking theseal or lock of any carrier facility con-taining interstate or foreign shipmentsof freight or express (18 U.S.C. §§2111, 2113(a), and 2115-17).

Career offender — defendants arecounted as career offenders if theyare at least 18 years old at the time ofthe instant offense, if the instant of-fense of conviction is a felony — thatis either a crime of violence or a drugcrime — and if they have at least twoprior felony convictions of either acrime of violence or a drug crime.

Case — in this Compendium, a judi-cial proceeding for the determinationof a controversy between partieswherein rights are enforced or pro-tected, or wrongs are prevented or re-dressed; any proceeding judicial in itsnature.

Civil rights — violations of civil liber-ties such as the personal, naturalrights guaranteed and protected bythe Constitution. Includes the CivilRights Acts, such as those enactedafter the Civil War, and more recentlyin 1957 and 1964.

Collateral bond — an agreementmade by a defendant as a condition ofhis or her pretrial release that requiresthe defendant to post property valuedat the full bail amount as an assur-ance of his or her intention to appearat trial.

Glossary 109

Glossary

Communication — violations cover-ing areas of communication such asthe Communications Act of 1934 (in-cluding wire tapping and wire inter-ception). A communication is ordinar-ily considered to be a deliberate inter-change of thoughts or opinions be-tween two or more persons.

Community confinement — a formof commitment either as a substitutefor Federal imprisonment or as a con-dition of probation in a communitytreatment center, halfway house, res-titution center, mental health facility,alcohol or drug rehabilitation center,or other community facility; and par-ticipation in gainful employment, em-ployment search efforts, communityservice, vocational training, treatment,educational programs, or similarfacility-approved programs duringnonresidential hours. Under the Fed-eral sentencing guidelines, communityconfinement may be a substitute forimprisonment on a day-to-day basisfor defendants with a guideline maxi-mum of less than 16 months of im-prisonment. (See also, U.S.S.G. §5C1.1(e).)

Commutation of sentence — the actof reducing a Federal criminal sen-tence resulting from a conviction bythe executive clemency of the Presi-dent of the United States.

Complaint — a written statement ofthe essential facts constituting the of-fense charged, with an offer to provethe fact, so that a prosecution may beinstituted. The complaint can be"taken out" by the victim, the police of-ficer, the district attorney, or other in-terested party.

Concurrent sentence — a sentenceimposed which is to be served at thesame time as another sentence im-posed earlier or during the same pro-ceeding (18 U.S.C. § 3584). (Seealso, "Consecutive sentence.")

Conditional release — in this Com-pendium, at the pretrial stage, a con-ditional release is release from deten-tion contingent on any combination ofrestrictions that are deemed neces-sary to guarantee the defendant's

appearance at trial or the safety of thecommunity (see text in Chapter 2 ofthis Compendium.)

Consecutive sentence — a sen-tence imposed that will follow anothersentence imposed earlier or duringthe same proceeding; opposite ofconcurrent sentence.

Conspiracy — an agreement by twoor more persons to commit or to ef-fect the commission of an unlawful actor to use unlawful means to accom-plish an act that is not in itselfunlawful; also any overt act in further-ance of the agreement. A personcharged with conspiracy is classifiedunder the substantive offense alleged.

Continuing criminal enterprise — afelony committed as part of a continu-ing series of violations, which is un-dertaken by a person in concert withfive or more other persons with re-spect to whom such person occupiesa position of organizer, a supervisoryposition, or any other position of man-agement, and from which such per-son obtains substantial income or re-sources (21 U.S.C. § 848(c)).

Conviction — the result of a criminaltrial which ends in a judgment that thedefendant is guilty. The final judgmenton a verdict or finding of guilty, a pleaof guilty, or a plea of nolo contendere,but does not include a final judgmentwhich has been expunged by pardon,reversed, set aside, or otherwise ren-dered invalid.

Corporate defendant — the defen-dant in a case is an entity, a collectionof persons, business or corporation,not an individual person.

Corporate surety — in this Compen-dium, a surety; one who has enteredinto a bond to give surety for another;for example, bail bondsman. As acondition of his or her release, the de-fendant enters into an agreement thatrequires a third party such as a bailbondsman to promise to pay the fullbail amount in the event that the de-fendant fails to appear. (See also,"Surety bond.")

Counterfeiting — falsely making,forging, or altering obligations with aview to deceive or defraud, by passingthe copy or thing forged for that whichis original or genuine. Applies to obli-gation or security of the United States,foreign obligation or security, coin orbar stamped at any mint in the UnitedStates, money order issued by thePostal Service, domestic or foreignstamp, or seal of any department oragency of the United States. Includespassing, selling, attempting to pass orsell, or bringing into the United Statesany of the above falsely made articles.Also, making, selling, or possessingany plates or stones (or any otherthing or instrument) used for printingcounterfeit obligations or securities ofthe United States, foreign obligationsor securities, Government transporta-tion requests, or postal stamp; orknowingly and intentionally traffickingin falsified labels affixed to phono re-cords, motion pictures, or audio visualworks (for example, 18 U.S.C. §§ 471,473, 477, 479, 481, 485, 487, 501,507, 509, 513(b), 2318, and 2320).

Courts — See "Appeals, U.S. Courtof" and "District court, U.S." Pursuantto Article III of the Constitution, judicialpower is vested in the following Fed-eral Courts: The U.S. Supreme Court,the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Dis-trict of Columbia, and the U.S. districtcourt for the District of Columbia.

Criminal career — the longitudinalsequence of crimes committed by anindividual offender.

Criminal history category — underthe Federal sentencing guidelines, aquantification of the defendant's priorcriminal record and the defendant'spropensity to recidivate. Guidelinecriminal history categories range fromCategory I (primarily first-time offend-ers) to Category VI (career criminals).

Custom laws — violations regardingtaxes which are payable upon goodsand merchandise imported or ex-ported. Includes the duties, toll,tribute, or tariff payable upon mer-chandise exported or imported.


Deadly or dangerous weapon — aninstrument capable of inflicting deathor serious bodily injury.

Declination — the decision by aprosecutor not to file a case in a mat-ter received for investigation. In thisCompendium, immediate declinations(that is, where less than 1 hour of timeis spent on a case) are excluded.

Defendant — the party against whomrelief or recovery is sought in an ac-tion or suit, or the accused in a crimi-nal case.

Departure — under the Federal sen-tencing guidelines, the term used todescribe a sentence imposed outsidethe applicable guideline sentencingrange. A court may depart when itfinds an aggravating or mitigating cir-cumstance of a kind, or to a degree,not adequately taken into considera-tion by the Sentencing Commission informulating the guidelines that shouldresult in a sentence different from thatdescribed (18 U.S.C. § 3553(b);U.S.S.G. § 5K2.0). (See also, "Sub-stantial assistance.")

Deportation or Treaty Transfer —the act of expelling a foreigner from a country, usually to the country of origin due to the commission of acrime — or prior criminal record.

Deposit bond — an agreement madeby a defendant as a condition of his orher release that requires the defen-dant to post a fraction of the bail be-fore he or she is released.

Detainer — a notification sent by aprosecutor, judge, or other official(such as, law enforcement officer) ad-vising a prison official that a prisoneris wanted to answer criminal chargesand requesting continued detention ofthe prisoner or notification of the pris-oner's impending release.

Detention — the legally authorizedconfinement of persons after arrest,whether before or during prosecution.Only those persons held 2 or moredays are classified as detained in thisCompendium.

Dismissal — termination of a casebefore trial or other final judgment

(including nolle prosequi and deferredprosecution).

Disposition — the decision made ona case brought before a criminalcourt.

Distribution — delivery (other thanby administering or dispensing) of acontrolled substance (21 U.S.C. §802(6)). The term "controlled sub-stance" means any drug or other sub-stance, or immediate precursor, in-cluded in schedule I, II, III, IV, or V ofpart B of subchapter I of Chapter 13(title 21). The term does not includedistilled spirits, wine, malt beverages,or tobacco, as those terms are de-fined or used in subtitle E of the Inter-nal Revenue Code of 1986.

District court, U.S. — trial courts withgeneral Federal jurisdiction overcases involving Federal laws or of-fenses and actions between citizensof different States.

District of Columbia — the jurisdic-tion of the U.S. district court for theDistrict of Columbia. This Compen-dium includes Federal offenses prose-cuted in U.S. district courts, and ex-cept for tables based on data from theBureau of Prisons, excludes violationsof the District of Columbia Code andcases prosecuted in the District of Co-lumbia Superior Court.

Drug offenses — offenses underFederal or State laws prohibiting themanufacture, import, export, distribu-tion, or dispensing of a controlled sub-stance (or counterfeit substance), orthe possession of a controlled sub-stance (or a counterfeit substance)with intent to manufacture, import, ex-port, distribute, or dispense. Also us-ing any communication facilities whichcauses or facilitates a felony under ti-tle 21, or furnishing of fraudulent orfalse information concerning prescrip-tions as well as any other unspecifieddrug-related offense. (See also, "Dis-tribution," "Possession," and"Trafficking.")

Dual and Successive ProsecutionPolicy ("Petite Policy") — Prosecu-toral guidelines used to determinewhether to bring a Federal

prosecution based on substantially thesame act(s) or transactions involvedin a prior state or Federal proceeding.See Rinaldi v. United States, 434 U.S.22, 27, (1977); Petite v. United States,361 U.S. 529 (1960).

Embezzlement — the fraudulent ap-propriation of property by a person towhom such property has been lawfullyentrusted. Includes offenses commit-ted by bank officers or employees; of-ficers or employees of the PostalService; officers of lending, credit, orinsurance institutions; any officer oremployee of a corporation or associa-tion engaged in commerce as a com-mon carrier; court officers of the U.S.courts; or officers or employees of theUnited States. Also, stealing from em-ployment and training funds, pro-grams receiving Federal funds, andIndian tribal organizations; or selling,conveying, or disposing of any money,property, records, or thing of value tothe United States or any departmentthereof without authority (for example,15 U.S.C. § 645(c); 18 U.S.C. §§ 153,334, 642-57, 665(a)(b), 666(b), 1163,1709, 1711, 1956, and 1957; 25U.S.C. § 450(d); 29 U.S.C. § 502(b);and 42 U.S.C. §§ 1760, 2971, and3220(b)).

Environmental offenses — viola-tions of Federal law enacted to protectthe environment, such as the CleanAir Act (42 U.S.C. §§ 7401-7491), andthe Clean Water Act (33 U.S.C. §§1251-1376). Environmental protectionlaws protect the safety and well-beingof communities from excessive andunnecessary emission of environ-mental pollutants.

Escape — departing or attempting todepart from the custody of a correc-tional institution; a judicial, correc-tional, or law enforcement officer; or ahospital where one is committed fordrug abuse and drug dependencyproblems. Knowingly advising, aiding,assisting, or procuring the escape orattempted escape of any person froma correctional facility, an officer, or theabove-mentioned hospital as well asconcealing an escapee. Providing orattempting to provide to an inmate inprison a prohibited object; or making,

Glossary 111

possessing, obtaining, or attemptingto make or obtain a prohibited object(as defined in 18 U.S.C. § 1791(d)(1)(A)). Instigating, assisting, at-tempting to cause, or causing any mu-tiny or riot at any Federal penal, de-tention, or correctional facility, or con-veying into any of these institutionsany dangerous instrumentalities (forexample, 18 U.S.C. §§ 751(a)(b),752(a), 753, 755-56, 1071, 1073,1791(a)(c), (d)(1)(A), 1792,3146(a)(b)(d), 3147 and 3615; 28U.S.C. § 1826; 42 U.S.C. §§ 261 and3425; and 50 U.S.C § 823).

Exclusion — the rule that evidencesecured by illegal means and in badfaith cannot be introduced in a crimi-nal trial.

Expiration of sentence — the com-pletion of an offender's prison sen-tence by standard means (see Re-leases from prison).

Explosives — violations of Federallaw involving importation, manufac-ture, distribution, and storage of ex-plosive material. Includes unlawful re-ceipt, possession or transportation ofexplosives without a license (18U.S.C. § 842(a)), where prohibited bylaw (18 U.S.C. § 842(c), or using ex-plosives during commission of a fel-ony (18 U.S.C. § 844(h)). Also in-cludes violations relating to dealing instolen explosives (18 U.S.C. §842(h)), using mail or other form ofcommunication to threaten an individ-ual with explosives (18 U.S.C. §844(e), and possessing explosive ma-terials at an airport (18 U.S.C. §844(g), and 49A U.S.C. §§ 1804 and1809). (See also, "Arson" and 18U.S.C. §§ 842(e)(g)(i)(k); and§ 844(b).)

Failure to appear — willful absencefrom any court appointment.

Felony — a criminal offense punish-able by death or imprisonment for aterm exceeding 1 year. According to18 U.S.C. § 3559, felonies are classi-fied into 5 grades based on maximumterms of imprisonment: Class Afelony, if the maximum term is life im-prisonment, or if the maximum pen-alty is death; Class B, if 25 years or

more; Class C, if less than 25 years,but 10 years or more; Class D, if lessthan 10 years, but five or more years;and Class E, if less than 5 years, butmore than 1.

Filing — the initiation of a criminalcase in U.S. district court by formalsubmission to the court of a chargingdocument alleging that one or morenamed persons have committed oneor more specified offenses. In thisCompendium, each defendant in acase is counted separately, and onlythe most serious alleged offense isconsidered.

Financial conditions — monetaryconditions upon which release of adefendant before trial is contingent.Includes deposit bond, surety bond,and collateral bond. (See also, "Spe-cific definitions.")

Fine — a monetary penalty imposedas punishment for an offense.

First release — in this Compendium,prisoners who are released from theBureau of Prisons for the first time af-ter their commitment by a U.S. districtcourt (that is, excludes offenders whoare returned to prison after their firstrelease to supervision).

Food and drug violations — viola-tions of the Federal Food, Drug, andCosmetic Act such as regulations forclean and sanitary movement of ani-mals (21 U.S.C. § 134(b)), adultera-tion or misbranding of any food ordrug (21 U.S.C. § 331(a)), failure totransmit information about prescrip-tion drugs (21 U.S.C. § 331(o)), andintent to defraud and distribute adul-terated material (21 U.S.C. § 676).(See also, 18 U.S.C. § 1365(b); 21U.S.C. §§ 17, 22, 63, 115, 122, 126,134(d), 142, 144, 151, 153, 155, 158,201, 205, 209, 210, 212, 331(b)-(g),331(i)-(n)(p)(t), 333(a), 458(a), 459,460(a)-(d), 461(a), 463, 466,610(a)(c), 611(a), 620, 642, 1037,1041(a), and 1175.)

Forgery — falsely making or materi-ally altering a document with the intentto defraud. Includes such falsificationwith intent to pass off as genuine anyof the following: U.S. Postal Service

money order; postmarking stamp orimpression; obligation or security ofthe United States; foreign obligation,security, or bank note; contractors'bond, bid, or public record; deed;power of attorney; letters patent; sealof a court or any department oragency of the U.S. Government; thesignature of a judge or court officer;ships' papers; documents on entry ofvessels; customs matters; coin or bar;and so forth. Also includes making,possessing, selling, or printing platesor stones for counterfeiting obligationsor securities, and detaching, altering,or defacing any official, device, markor certificate (for example, 18 U.S.C.§§ 483, 493, 495, 497, 503, 505,510(a)(b), and 511; 19 U.S.C. § 1436;and 21 U.S.C. §§ 458(b)(c)).

Fraud — unlawfully depriving a per-son of his or her property or legalrights through intentional misrepre-sentation of fact or deceit other thanforgery or counterfeiting. Includes vio-lations of statutes pertaining to lend-ing and credit institutions, the PostalService, interstate wire, radio, televi-sion, computer, credit card, veteransbenefits, allotments, bankruptcy, mar-keting agreements, commodity credit,the Securities and Exchange Com-mission, railroad retirement, unem-ployment, Social Security, food stamp,false personation, citizenship, pass-ports, conspiracy, and claims andstatements, excluding tax fraud. Thecategory excludes fraud involving taxviolations that are shown in a sepa-rate category under "Public-order,other offenses." (See also, specific of-fenses in this glossary for citations.)

Fraudulent property offenses —see "Property offenses, fraudulent."

Fugitive — a person convicted or ac-cused of a crime who hides from lawenforcement or flees across jurisdic-tional lines to avoid arrest orpunishment.

Fugitive investigation — a fugitiveinvestigation is initiated upon receiptof a warrant typically involving per-sons violating conditions of probation,parole, or bond release, as well as es-caped prisoners. The U.S. Marshals


Service has administrative responsi-bility for all Federal fugitive investiga-tions.

Gambling — the Federal offense oftransporting, manufacturing, selling,possessing, or using any gamblingdevice in the District of Columbia orany possession of the United Statesor within Indian country or the specialmaritime and territorial jurisdiction ofthe United States as defined in 18U.S.C. § 7. Includes transportinggambling devices in the jurisdiction ofthe United States (except underauthority of the Federal Trade Com-mission or any State that has a lawproviding for their exemption fromthese provisions), transmitting wager-ing information in interstate or foreigncommerce, interstate transporting ofwagering paraphernalia, importing ortransporting lottery tickets, or mailinglottery tickets or related matter (for ex-ample, 15 U.S.C. §§ 1173 and 1175;and 18 U.S.C. §§ 1082(a), 1084,1302, 1956, and 1962).

Good-time — time credited towardearly release to an offender for goodbehavior in imprisonment. Under the1984 Sentencing Reform Act, twoclasses of prisoners are ineligible toreceive good-time credits: (1) misde-meanants serving a term of imprison-ment of 1 year or less; and (2) felonsserving life sentences. All other Fed-eral prisoners receive a flat allocationof 54 days per year of sentenceserved; credit for a partial year re-maining at the end of the sentence isprorated. The annual allotment doesnot change according to the length oftime a Federal inmate already hasspent in prison (18 U.S.C. § 3624(b)).

Guideline sentencing range —under the Federal sentencing guide-lines, the range of imprisonment cor-responding to the applicable guidelineoffense level and criminal historycategory. The guideline offense levelincorporates any minimum terms ofimprisonment required by statute aswell as the statutory maximum term of imprisonment, where applicable.

Guilty plea — a plea in response to formal charges admitting that the

defendant committed offenses ascharged. In this Compendium, thiscategory also includes pleas of nolocontendere.

Hispanic — ethnic category based on classification by reporting agency.Hispanic persons may be of any race.

Home detention — a form of confine-ment and supervision either as a sub-stitute for imprisonment or as a condi-tion of probation that restricts the de-fendant to his place of residence con-tinuously (except for authorized ab-sences) and enforced by appropriatemeans of surveillance by the proba-tion office. Under the Federal sen-tencing guidelines, home detentionmay be a substitute for imprisonmenton a day-to-day basis for defendantswith a guideline maximum sentence ofless than 16 months imprisonment.(See also, U.S.S.G. § 5C1.1.)

Homicide — see "Murder."

Immigration offenses — offenses in-volving illegal entrance into the UnitedStates, illegally reentering after beingdeported, willfully failing to deportwhen so ordered, willfully remainingbeyond days allowed on conditionalpermit, or falsely representing oneselfto be a citizen of the United States. In-cludes violations relating to provisionsfor special agricultural workers and tothose relating to limitations on immi-grant status (such as employment).Also includes bringing in or harboringany aliens not duly admitted by an im-migration officer (for example, 8U.S.C. §§ 1160, 1252(d), 1255,1282(a), 1286, 1324-25, and1326(a)).

Incarceration — any sentence ofconfinement, including prison, jail, andother residential placements.

Indeterminate sentence — a prisonsentence whose maximum or mini-mum term is not specifically estab-lished at the time of sentencing (18U.S.C. §§ 4205(b)(1)(2)).

Indictment — the formal charging ofthe defendant with a particular crimeby a grand jury. In the Federalsystem, a defendant may waive

indictment and be proceeded againstthrough an information. (See also,Fed. R. Crim. P. 7(b).)

Information — the formal accusationcharging the defendant with a particu-lar crime but brought by the U.S. attor-ney rather than by the grand jury.

Infraction — an offense for which themaximum term of imprisonment is 5days or less, or where no imprison-ment is authorized, according to18 U.S.C. ' 3559.

Initial appearance/hearing — thefirst appearance of a criminal defen-dant before a judge or a magistrate.

Instant offense — the offense ofconviction and all relevant conduct un-der U.S.S.G § 1B1.3.

Intermittent confinement — a formof commitment, in a prison or jail, ei-ther as a substitute for imprisonmentor as a condition of probation. Underthe Federal sentencing guidelines, in-termittent confinement may be a sub-stitute for imprisonment (each 24hours of intermittent confinement iscredited as 1 day of incarceration) fordefendants with a guideline maximumof less than 16 months imprisonment.(See also, U.S.S.G. § 5C1.1.)

Jail credit — the number of days de-ducted from an offender's sentencefor time spent in custody prior to be-ing sentenced to prison.

Jurisdictional offenses — acts thatare Federal crimes because of theplace in which they occur (such as onan aircraft, on Federal land or prop-erty) and for certain crimes on Indianreservations or at sea, but which can-not be classified in a more specificsubstantive category.

Juvenile — a person who has not at-tained the age of 18 years; or for thepurposes of a juvenile delinquencyhearing, a person who has not at-tained the age of 21 years (18 U.S.C.§ 5031).

Juvenile delinquency — a violationof Federal law committed by a personprior to the age of 18 years that would

Glossary 113

have been a crime if committed by anadult (18 U.S.C. § 5031).

Kidnapping — unlawfully seizing anyperson as defined in 18 U.S.C. § 1201for ransom or reward, except in thecase of a minor by a parent. Includesreceiving, possessing, or disposing ofany money or other property that hasbeen delivered as ransom or rewardin connection with a kidnapping aswell as conspiring to kidnap. Also, in-cludes kidnapping or attempting tokidnap any Government official, thePresident of the United States, thePresident-elect, the Vice President,any foreign official, any official guest,or any internationally protectedperson. (See also, 18 U.S.C. §351(b); and hostage taking as definedin 18 U.S.C. § 1203.)

Labor law violations — violations of,for example, the Fair Labor StandardsAct of 1938 and the Taft-Hartley Act,which govern a broad spectrum of ac-tivities relating to labor-managementrelations (for example, 29 U.S.C. §§186(a), 461(a), 463, 1021(b), 1022,1023(b)(d), 1024(a)(c), 1027,1111(a)(b), 1112(c), 1811, 1816, 1821and 1851).

Larceny — the act of taking and car-rying away any personal property ofanother with intent to steal or convertit to one's own use or gain. Includesstealing, possessing or illegally sellingor disposing of anything of value tothe United States or any of its depart-ments or agencies; or stealing from abank, the Postal Service, or any inter-state or foreign shipments by carrier.Also encompasses receiving or pos-sessing stolen property or pirate prop-erty; and stealing or obtaining by fraudany funds, assets, or that belong to, orare entrusted to, the custody of an In-dian tribal organization (for example,18 U.S.C. §§ 641, 659, 661-62, 667,1168(a), 1704, 1707, and 2113(b)).(This offense category excludes thetransportation of stolen property.)

Liquor violations — violations of In-ternal Revenue Service laws onliquor, as well as violations of liquorlaws not cited under these laws, suchas dispensing or unlawfully

possessing intoxicants in Indian coun-try; transporting intoxicating liquorsinto any State, territory, district, orpossession where sale is prohibited;shipping packages containing un-marked and unlabeled intoxicants;shipping liquor by C.O.D.; knowinglydelivering a liquor shipment to some-one other than to whom it has beenconsigned; and violating in any waythe Federal Alcohol Administration Act(for example, 18 U.S.C. §§ 1154,1156, 1263 and 1265; 26 U.S.C. §§5113, 5171(c), 5179, 5214, 5222,5291, 5301(b), 5601, 5603(a), 5604,5606, 5608(a), 5661(a), 5662, 5672,5681(a)(c), 5683, 5685(b) and 5687;and 27 U.S.C. §§ 203, 205(f), 206(b)and 208(a)).

Magistrates (U.S.) (Federal) — judi-cial officers appointed by judges ofFederal district courts having manybut not all of the powers of a judge.Magistrates are designated to hear awide variety of motions and other pre-trial matters in both criminal and civilcases. With consent of the parties,they may conduct civil or misde-meanor criminal trials. Magistrates,however, may not preside over felonytrials or over jury selection in felonycases.

Mailing or transportation of ob-scene materials — a violation of Fed-eral law relating to knowingly usingthe mail for mailing obscene or crime-inciting matter, as defined in 18U.S.C. § 1461 and 39 U.S.C. §3001(e). Also includes transporting forsale or distribution, importing, ortransporting any obscene matter in in-terstate or foreign commerce. (Seealso, 18 U.S.C. §§ 1462-63.)

Major offense (while on conditionalrelease) — allegation, arrest, or con-viction of a crime for which the mini-mum sentence is incarceration forover 90 days or greater than 1 year onprobation. (See also PACTS Statisti-cal Reporting Guide, Version 1.0, Ad-ministrative Office of the U.S. Courts.)

Mandatory sentences — a sentencethat includes a minimum term of im-prisonment that the sentencing courtis statutorily required to impose

barring the government's motion ofsubstantial assistance. See, for exam-ple, 18 U.S.C. §§ 841 and 960, whichprovide for mandatory sentencesranging from 5 years imprisonment tolife imprisonment depending on thequantity of drugs involved.

Mandatory sentencing enhance-ment — a form of mandatory sen-tence in which the minimum term ofimprisonment is to be imposed con-secutive to any other term of impris-onment imposed. See, for example,18 U.S.C. § 924(c), which provides fora 5-year to lifetime enhancement forthe use of a firearm during the com-mission of a crime; 18 U.S.C. §844(h), which provides for a 5-yearenhancement for use of firearms orexplosives during the commission of acrime; and 18 U.S.C. § 929 which pro-vides for a 5-year enhancement forthe use of armor-piercing ammunitionduring the commission of a crime.

Mandatory release — the release ofan inmate from prison after confine-ment for a time period equal to his orher full sentence minus statutorygood-time, if any. Federal prisonersreleased on mandatory release maystill be subject to a period of post-release community supervision.

Material witness — a person withsignificant information about the sub-ject matter of a criminal prosecutionnecessary to resolve the matter.

Matter — in this Compendium, a potential case under review by a U.S. attorney on which more than 1 hour is expended.

Matters concluded — in this Com-pendium, matters about which a finaldecision has been reached by a U.S.attorney. Specifically includes mattersfiled as cases, matters declined afterinvestigation, matters referred for dis-position by U.S. magistrates, and mat-ters otherwise terminated withoutreaching court.

Migratory birds offenses — viola-tions of acts relating to birds whichmove from one place to another inseason. Includes taking, killing, orpossessing migratory birds, or any


part, nest, or egg thereof, in violationof Federal regulations or the transpor-tation laws of the State, territory, ordistrict from which the bird was taken.Also, misuse or non-use of amigratory-bird hunting and conserva-tion stamp (for example, 16 U.S.C. §§690(g), 701, 703, 704-6, 707(b), 708,711, and 718(a)(e)(g)).

Minor offense (while on conditionalrelease) — conviction of a crime forwhich the maximum sentence is in-carceration for 90 days or less, proba-tion of 1 year or less, or a fine of $500or less. (See also, PACTS StatisticalReporting Guide, Version 1.0, Admin-istrative Office of the U.S. Courts.)

Misdemeanor — a criminal offensepunishable by a jail term not exceed-ing 1 year and any offense specificallydefined as a misdemeanor by the Ad-ministrative Office of the U.S. Courtsfor the purposes of data collection.According to 18 U.S.C. § 3559, mis-demeanors are classified in 3 lettergrades, based on the maximum termsof imprisonment: Class A, if 1 year orless, but more than 6 months; ClassB, if 6 months or less, but more than30 days; and Class C, 30 days orless, but more than 5 days. (Thiscategory includes offenses previouslycalled minor offenses that were re-classified under the Federal Magis-trate Act of 1979.)

Mistrial — the termination of a trialbefore its normal conclusion becauseof a procedural error, statements by awitness, judge or attorney whichprejudice a jury, a deadlock by a jurywithout reaching a verdict afterlengthy deliberation (a "hung" jury), orthe failure to complete a trial withinthe time set by the court.

Mixed sentence — a sentence re-quiring the convicted offender to servea term of imprisonment, followed by aterm of probation. Unless otherwisenoted, offenders receiving mixed sen-tences are included in both incarcera-tion and probation categories.

Most serious offense — in this Com-pendium, the offense with the greatestpotential sentence; or with respect to

tables describing Federal prisoners,the offense with the greatest imposedsentence (for example, prison data inChapter 6).

Motor carrier violations — violationsof the Federal statutes relating to theMotor Carrier Act, which regulates(routes, rates) of motor carriers offreight and passengers in interstatecommerce. The Act is administeredby the Interstate Commerce Commis-sion (for example, 15 U.S.C. §§ 1984,1986, 1988 and 1990; 49 U.S.C. §§117(a), 301(f), 303(f), 322(a)(d), 411,526, 917(f), 1021(b)(f), 11703,11903(a), 11904, 11907, 11909(a),11909(c), 11910, 11913, and 11914;and 49A U.S.C. § 120).

Motor vehicle theft — interstate orforeign transporting, receiving, con-cealing, storing, bartering, selling, ordisposing of any stolen motor vehicleor aircraft (for example, 18 U.S.C. §§2119, 2313, and 2322; and 49AU.S.C. § 1472(i)).

Murder — the unlawful killing of a hu-man being with malice aforethought,either express or implied. Nonnegli-gent manslaughter is the unlawful kill-ing of a human being without malice.This offense covers committing or at-tempting to commit murder (first orsecond degree) or voluntary man-slaughter within the special maritimeand territorial jurisdiction of the UnitedStates (18 U.S.C. § 7). Includes killingor attempting to kill any Governmentofficial, the President of the UnitedStates, the President-elect, the VicePresident, any officers and employeesof the United States, any foreign offi-cials, any official guests, or any inter-nationally protected persons. As ap-plied to the owner or charterer of anysteamboat or vessel, knowingly andwillfully causing or allowing fraud, ne-glect, misconduct, or violation of anylaw resulting in loss of life (18 U.S.C.§§ 113(a), 115(a), 1111-13, 1115,1117, 1512(a)(1), 1751(a), and2332(b)).

National defense violations — viola-tions of the national defense laws onthe Military Selective Service Act, theDefense Production Act of 1950, the

Economic Stabilization Act of 1970(which includes prices, rents, andwages), the Subversive ActivitiesControl Act, alien registration, treason(including espionage, sabotage, sedi-tion, and the Smith Act of 1940); alsoviolations relating to energy facilities,curfew and restricted areas, exporta-tion of war materials, trading with anenemy, illegal use of uniform and anyother violations of the Federal statutesconcerning national defense (for ex-ample, 8 U.S.C. §§ 1304(e) and1306(b)(d); 10 U.S.C. §§ 976 and2408; 18 U.S.C. §§ 703, 705, 711,713, 792, 794, 797, 799, 953, 961,965, 967, 970, 1366(a), 1382, 2152,2153(b), 2154(b), 2155(b), 2156(b),2382, 2384, 2386, 2388(a)(c), and2390; 22 U.S.C. §§ 253, 286, 447,447(c), 450, 455, 612, 614(b)(f), 617,1178(c), 1182, 1199, 1978(c),2778(b), 4198, 4202 and 5113(c); 42U.S.C. §§ 2274(b), 2276, 2278(b) and2384(b); and 50A U.S.C. §§ 2, 3(a)(c),16, 167, 210, 322, 324, 326, 328,421(a)(c), 462, 468(b), 643(a), 781,783(b)(d), 789, 794, 797, 851, 1152,1705, 1436(e), 1809(c), 2062,2071(b), 2073, 2405(a)(b), and2410(b)).

Negligent manslaughter — causingthe death of another, within the spe-cial maritime and territorial jurisdictionof the United States as defined in 18U.S.C. § 7, by wanton or reckless dis-regard for human life. Also negligentmanslaughter of any Government offi-cial, the President of the UnitedStates, the President-elect, the VicePresident, any officers and employeesof the United States, any foreign offi-cials, any official guests, or any inter-nationally protected persons. This of-fense category also includes miscon-duct, negligence, or inattention to du-ties by ship officers on a steamboat orvessel resulting in death to any per-son (18 U.S.C. § 1112).

New law — In this Compendium de-fendants convicted and sentencedpursuant to the Sentencing ReformAct of 1984. (See also "Old law.")

Nolle prosequi — Latin for "we shallno longer prosecute," the statement isan admission by the prosecutor that

Glossary 115

the charges cannot be proved or thatevidence has demonstrated the de-fendant’s innocence.

Nolo contendere — defendant's pleain a criminal case indicating that he orshe will not contest charges, but notadmitting or denying guilt.

Non-citizen — a person who is with-out U.S. citizenship, including legal aliens (for example, resident aliens,tourists, and refugees/asylees) and illegal aliens.

Non-jury trial — a trial in which thejudge alone decides factual as well aslegal questions, and makes the finaljudgment.

Nonviolent sex offenses — trans-porting, coercing, or enticing any indi-vidual (including minors) to go fromone place to another in interstate orforeign commerce, in the District ofColumbia, or in any territory or pos-session of the United States with theintent and purpose to engage in pros-titution, or any sexual activity for whichany person can be charged with acriminal offense (8 U.S.C. § 1328 and18 U.S.C. §§ 1460, 1466, 2251-52,2257, 2421 and 2423).

Not convicted — acquittal by benchor jury trial, mistrial, and dismissal (in-cluding nolle prosequi and deferredprosecution).

Not guilty — plea entered by the ac-cused to a criminal charge. If the de-fendant refuses to plead, the court willenter a plea of not guilty. Also theform of a verdict in a criminal trialwhere the jury acquits the defendant.

Offense — violation of U.S. criminallaw. In this Compendium, where morethan one offense is charged, the of-fense with the greatest potential pen-alty is reported.

Offense level — under the Federalsentencing guidelines, a quantificationof the relative seriousness of the of-fense of conviction and any offense-specific aggravating or mitigating fac-tors. Guideline offense levels rangefrom level 1 (the least seriousoffense) to level 43 (the most seriousoffense).

Old law — in this Compendium, de-fendants convicted and sentencedpursuant to laws applicable before theSentencing Reform Act of 1984. (Seealso, "New law.")

Parole — period of supervision afterrelease from custody before the expi-ration of sentence. The U.S. ParoleCommission is empowered to grant,modify or revoke the parole of all Fed-eral offenders. Pursuant to the Sen-tencing Reform Act of 1984, parolewas abolished and defendants are re-quired to serve the imposed sentence(less 54 days per year good-time forsentences greater than 1 year, but notlife imprisonment), followed by a termof supervised release. Because of thenumber of Federal inmates sentencedunder pre-Sentencing Reform provi-sions, the number of offenders on pa-role is declining.

Perjury — a false material declarationunder oath in any proceeding beforeor ancillary to any court or grand juryof the United States. Includes know-ingly or willfully giving false evidenceor swearing to false statements underoath or by any means procuring or in-stigating any person to commitperjury. This offense also includes anyofficers and employees of the Govern-ment listed under 13 U.S.C. §§ 21-25who willfully or knowingly furnish, orcause to be furnished, any false infor-mation or statement (for example, 2U.S.C. § 192; 13 U.S.C. § 213; 15U.S.C. § 2614; 18 U.S.C. §§ 401, 402,1504, 1506, 1508, 1510, 1512(b),1513, and 1622; 28 U.S.C. § 1866(g);42 U.S.C. § 5411; 43 U.S.C. § 104;and 49A U.S.C. §§ 1472 (m)(o)).

Personal recognizance — pretrialrelease condition in which the defen-dant promises to appear at trial andno financial conditions are required tobe met.

Petty offense — a Class B misde-meanor, a Class C misdemeanor, oran infraction with fines as specified in18 U.S.C. §§ 3571. (See also, "Misde-meanor" and "Infraction.")

Plea bargaining — practice wherebya defendant in a criminal proceeding

agrees to plead guilty to a charge inexchange for the prosecution's coop-eration in securing a more lenientsentence or some other mitigation.

Pornographic — that which is of orpertaining to obscene literature; ob-scene, licentious. Material is porno-graphic or obscene if the average per-son, applying contemporary commu-nity standards, would find that thework taken as a whole appeals to theprurient interest; and if it depicts in apatently offensive way sexualconduct; and if the work taken as awhole lacks serious literary, artistic,political, or scientific value. (See Millav. California, 113 U.S. 15 (1973).)

Possession — offense involving thepossession of a controlled substance,acquiring a controlled substance bymisrepresentation or fraud, attemptingor conspiring to possess, or simplepossession of a controlled substancein schedules I-V (as defined by 21U.S.C. § 812). Includes possession ofa controlled substance in schedule Ior II, or a narcotic drug in schedule IIIor IV on board a vessel of the UnitedStates or vessels within custom wa-ters of the United States, or by anycitizen of the United States on board avessel. Also, possessing any punch,die, plate, stone, or any other thingdesigned to reproduce the label uponany drug or container is an offenseunder this category. Distributing asmall amount of marijuana for no re-muneration is treated as simple pos-session and, therefore, is included inthis offense category (for example, 21U.S.C. §§ 829 (a)(b)(c),841(a)(b)(d)(g), 842(a)(c), 843(a),844(a), 846, 955, and 962).

Postal laws — offenses relating tothe mail; pertaining to the post office.

Presentence Investigation Report(PSR) — following a presentence in-vestigation, a report to the court pre-pared by the probation officer beforethe imposition of sentence, as re-quired by law; unless the court findsthat there is information in the recordsufficient to enable the meaningful ex-ercise of sentencing authoritypursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3553, and the


court explains this finding on therecord.

Presentment — an accusation initi-ated by the grand jury itself, and in ef-fect, an instruction that an indictmentbe drawn.

Pretrial diversion — an agreementto defer (and possibly drop) prosecu-tion conditioned on the defendant'sgood behavior and/or participation inprograms (such as job training, coun-seling, education) during a statedperiod.

Pretrial release — the release of adefendant from custody, for all or partof the time, before or during prosecu-tion. The defendant may be releasedeither on personal recognizance orunsecured bond or on financial condi-tions. The category includes defen-dants released within 2 days after ar-rest and defendants who were initiallydetained but subsequently releasedafter raising bail or having releaseconditions changed at a subsequenthearing.

Pretrial revocation — the decision todetain a defendant on pretrial releasefor violating conditions of release orcommitting a new crime.

Preventive detention — the deten-tion of a defendant awaiting trial forthe purpose of preventing further mis-conduct.

Probation — sentence imposed forcommission of a crime whereby theconvicted criminal offender is re-leased into the community under thesupervision of a probation officer inlieu of incarceration. An act of clem-ency available only to those found eli-gible by the court, probation offers achance for reform and rehabilitationfor the defendant. For this purpose,the defendant must agree to specifiedstandards of conduct; violation ofsuch standards subjects his liberty torevocation.

Procedural termination — a judg-ment based on the methods and me-chanics of the legal process, includingall the rules and laws governing thatprocess. Procedural law is

distinguished from "substantive" law,which involves the statutes and legalprecedents upon which cases aretried and judgments made. See also,"Administrative case closure" and"Terminated on the merits."

Property offenses, fraudulent —property offenses involving the ele-ments of deceit or intentional misrep-resentation. Specifically includes em-bezzlement, fraud (excluding taxfraud), forgery, and counterfeiting.

Property offenses, non-fraud-ulent — violent offenses againstproperty: burglary, larceny, motor ve-hicle theft, arson, transportation ofstolen property, and other property of-fenses (destruction of property andtrespassing). These offenses aretermed "non-fraudulent" only for thepurpose of distinguishing them fromthe category "Property offenses,fraudulent," above.

Property offenses, other — offensesthat involve the destruction of propertymoving in interstate or foreign com-merce in the possession of a commonor contract carrier. Includes the mali-cious destruction of Governmentproperty, or injury to U.S. postal prop-erty such as mailboxes or mailbags.Trespassing on timber and Govern-ment lands is also included in thiscategory of offenses (for example, 2U.S.C. § 167(c)(g); 15 U.S.C. § 1281;16 U.S.C. §§ 3, 45(d), 114, 121, 123,152, 430(q), 433, 470, 478, 481, 551,and 605; 18 U.S.C. §§ 1164, 1361-62,1364, 1852, 1854, 1856, 1858, 1860,1863, 1864(c), and 2071(b); 40U.S.C. §§ 193 (h)(q)(r)(s); 43 U.S.C. §316; and 47 U.S.C. §§ 13 and 22).

Public-order offenses,non-regulatory — offenses concern-ing weapons; immigration; tax law vio-lations (tax fraud); bribery; perjury; na-tional defense; escape; racketeeringand extortion; gambling; liquor; mail-ing or transporting of obscene materi-als; traffic; migratory birds;conspiracy, aiding and abetting, andjurisdictional offenses; and "otherpublic-order offenses." These of-fenses are termed "non-regulatory"only for the purpose of distinguishing

them from the category "Public-orderoffenses, regulatory" below.

Public-order offenses, other — vio-lations of laws pertaining to bigamy,disorderly conduct on the U.S. Capitolgrounds, civil disorder, and travel toincite to riot (for example, 18 U.S.C.§§ 228, 231, 1367, and 1385; 40U.S.C. §§ 193(b)(d)(g)(o)(p); and 47U.S.C. §§ 223(a)(b)). Included in"Public-order offenses,non-regulatory."

Public-order offenses,regulatory — violations of regulatorylaws and regulations in agriculture,antitrust, labor law, food and drug,motor carrier, and other regulatory of-fenses that are not specifically listedin the category "Public-order offenses,non-regulatory."

Racketeering and extortion — rack-eteering is demanding, soliciting, orreceiving anything of value from theowner, proprietor or other person hav-ing a financial interest in a business,by means of a threat or promise, ei-ther express or implied. Extortion isthe obtaining of money or propertyfrom another, without his consent, in-duced by the wrongful use of force orfear. This offense code covers usinginterstate or foreign commerce or anyfacility in interstate or foreign com-merce to aid racketeering enterprisessuch as arson, bribery, gambling, liq-uor, narcotics, prostitution, and extor-tionate credit transactions; obtainingproperty or money from another, withhis or her consent induced by actualor threatened force; violence, black-mail, or committing unlawful interfer-ence with employment or business;transmitting by interstate commerceor through the mail any threat to injurethe property, the person, or the repu-tation of the addressee or of another;or kidnaping any person with intent toextort. Applies to officers or employ-ees of the United States, or anyonerepresenting himself or herself assuch (for example, 18 U.S.C. §§ 831,872, 874, 875(b)(d), 877, 878(b), 892,894, 1365(d), 1952-53, 1955-60,1962-63).

Glossary 117

Release

Extraordinary release — unusualmethods of prisoners exiting prison,such as death, commutation, andtransfer to another facility.

Standard release — the usual wayprisoners exit prison, including full-term sentence expirations, expirationswith good time, mandatory releases,and releases to parole.

Remand — to send back. The act ofan appellate court in sending a caseback to the lower court for furtheraction.

Remove — transfer from Federalcourt (usually to a State court).

Restitution — the action of restoringor giving back something to its properowner or making reparations to onefor loss or injury previously inflicted.

Reversal — the act of an appellatecourt annulling a judgment of a lowercourt because of an error.

Revocation — termination of a pro-bation, parole, or mandatory releaseorder because of either a rule violationor a new offense and forcing the of-fender to begin or continue serving hisor her sentence.

Robbery — taking anything of valuefrom the person or presence of an-other by force or by intimidation, withinthe special maritime and territorial ju-risdiction of the United States (18U.S.C. §§ 7). Includes robbery ofbank property, U.S. postal property, orpersonal property of the UnitedStates. Also, assaulting or putting thelife of any person in jeopardy by theuse of a dangerous weapon whilecommitting or attempting to commitsuch robbery (for example, 18 U.S.C.§§ 1661, 1991, 2112, 2113(c) (d),2114, 2116, and 2118(a)).

Rule 20 transfer — upon petition by adefendant, a transfer of proceedingsto the district in which the defendant isarrested, when the defendant is ar-rested, held, or present in a districtother than that in which an indictmentor information is pending against him.In this case, the defendant may state

in writing a wish to plead guilty or nolocontendere, to waive trial in the districtin which the indictment or informationis pending, and to consent to the dis-position of the case in the district inwhich the defendant was arrested(Fed. R. Crim. P. 20).

Rule 40 transfer — upon petition bythe U.S. attorney, commitment to an-other district; transfer proceedings ofa defendant arrested in a district foran alleged offense committed in an-other district (Fed. R. Crim. P. 40).

Sentence — sanction imposed on aconvicted offender. For sentences toincarceration, the maximum time theoffender may be held in custody is re-ported. (See also, "Split sentence,""Mixed sentence," "Indeterminate sen-tence," and "Mandatory sentence.")

Sentencing Guidelines (Federal) —guidelines established by the UnitedStates Sentencing Commission to befollowed by the Federal courts in thesentencing of those convicted of Fed-eral offenses. Established pursuant tothe Sentencing Reform Act of 1984,the sentencing guidelines prescribe arange of sentences for each class ofconvicted persons as determined bycategories of offense behavior and of-fender characteristics.

Sexual abuse — rape, assault withintent to commit rape, and carnalknowledge of a female under 16 whois not one's wife, within the territorialand special maritime jurisdictions ofthe United States as defined in 18U.S.C. § 7 (for example, 22D U.S.C. §2801). Also includes cases of sexualabuse, including of a minor (18 U.S.C.§§ 2241(a) (c), 2242(2)(B), and 2243)and in Federal prisons (18 U.S.C.§ 2244(a)).

Shock incarceration — an intenseconfinement program, consisting of ahighly regimented schedule that pro-vides the strict discipline, physicaltraining, hard labor, drill, and cere-mony characteristic of military basictraining.

Special maritime and territorial ju-risdiction — areas of Federal juris-diction outside the jurisdiction of any

State, including (1) the high seas,Great Lakes, and connecting water-ways; (2) Federal lands; and (3)U.S.-owned aircraft in flight over thehigh seas (18 U.S.C. § 7).

Split sentence — See, "Mixedsentence."

Stale — the case/matter is too old tosupport successful prosecution.

Substantial assistance — a form ofcooperation with the government inwhich the defendant provides the gov-ernment with information, testimony,or other assistance relating to thecriminal activities of other persons inexchange for a sentence reduction.Substantial assistance provides theonly mechanism for judges to imposea sentence below an applicable man-datory sentence (U.S.S.G. 5K1.1 ascodified at 18 U.S.C. § 3553(e)).

Supervised release — under theSentencing Reform Act of 1984, aform of post-imprisonment supervi-sion to be imposed by the court as apart of the sentence of imprisonmentat the time of initial sentencing. Unlikeparole, a term of supervised releasedoes not replace a portion of the sen-tence of imprisonment, but rather isan order of supervision in addition toany term of imprisonment imposed bythe court (compare also withprobation).

Surety bond — an agreement by thedefendant as a condition of his or herrelease that requires a third party(usually a bail bondsman) to promiseto pay the full bail amount in the eventthat the defendant fails to appear.

Suspect — a person who is under in-vestigation or interrogation as a likelyperpetrator of a specific criminaloffense.

Tax law violations — tax fraud of-fenses, such as income tax evasionand fraud; counterfeiting any stampswith intent to defraud the collection orpayment of tax; willfully failing to col-lect or pay tax; failure to obey sum-mons to produce any papers concern-ing taxes; failing to furnish receipts foremployees of tax withheld; failing to


furnish information relating to certaintrusts, annuity, and bond purchaseplans; putting fraudulent or falsestatements on tax returns; and not ob-taining a license for a business thatmakes a profit from foreign items.Also included in this offense categoryare violations of excise and wageringtax laws and any other laws listed be-low from the Internal Revenue ServiceCode (for example, 26 U.S.C. §§3402, 4412, 5751, 5762(a1),6047(a)(c), 6331, 6420(e2), 6674,7121, 7201, 7203(c), 7204,7206(a)(c), 7208(a)(c), 7210, 7213(b),(d), 7214(b), 7216, 7232, 7513, 7602,and 7604(b)).

Technical violation — failure to com-ply with any of the conditions of pre-trial release, probation, or parole, ex-cluding alleged new criminal activity.May result in revocation of releasestatus. Examples of conditions thatmay be imposed and then violated in-clude remaining within a specified ju-risdiction or appearing at specified in-tervals for drug tests.

Terminated on the merits — a judg-ment made after consideration of thesubstantive as distinguished from pro-cedural issues in a case. See also,"Procedural termination."

Termination — at the pretrial serv-ices stage: execution of sentence, ac-quittal, dismissal, diversion, or fugitivestatus; in the U.S. district court: con-viction, acquittal, or dismissal; and atprobation or supervised release: theremoval of a person from supervisioneither for successful completion of theterm of supervision or as the result ofa revocation.

Threats against the President —knowingly and willfully depositing inthe mail, at any post office, or by anyletter carrier a letter, paper, writing,print, missive, or document containingany threat to take the life of or to inflictbodily harm upon the President, VicePresident, or any other officer in orderof succession to the Presidency.Knowingly and willfully making suchthreats in any way to the above-named people (18 U.S.C. § 871).

Time served — the portion of the im-posed sentence that was spent inprison, from the prisoner's arrival intojurisdiction of the Bureau of Prisonsuntil release from prison, plus any jailtime served and credited. For prison-ers serving concurrent sentences,time served may exceed the longestsingle sentence imposed.

Traffic offenses — driving while in-toxicated, or any moving or parkingviolations on Federal lands (for exam-ple, 40 U.S.C. § 212(b)).

Trafficking — knowingly and inten-tionally importing or exporting anycontrolled substance in schedule I, II,III, IV, or V (as defined by 21 U.S.C.§ 812). Includes manufacturing, dis-tributing, dispensing, selling, or pos-sessing with intent to manufacture,distribute, or sell a controlled sub-stance or a counterfeit substance; ex-porting any controlled substance inschedules I-V; manufacturing or dis-tributing a controlled substance inschedule I or II for purposes of unlaw-ful importation; or making or distribut-ing any punch, die, plate, stone, orany other thing designed to reproducethe label upon any drug or container,or removing or obliterating the label orsymbol of any drug or container. Alsoincludes knowingly opening, maintain-ing or managing any place for the pur-pose of manufacturing, distributing, orusing any controlled substance (forexample, 19 U.S.C. § 1590; 21 U.S.C.§§ 333(e), 825(a)-(d), 830(a),841(a)-(b) (d)(e)(g), 842(a), 843(a)(b),845, 846, 848, 854, 856, 858,859(a)(b), 860(a), 861(c)(f), 952(a)(b),953(a)(e), 957, 959, 960(a)(b)(d), 961,962, and 963; and 46A U.S.C. §§1903(g) and (j)).

Transportation — violations of theFederal statutes relating to the MotorCarrier Act, which regulates (routes,rates) motor carriers of freight andpassengers in interstate commerce.

Transportation of stolen property —transporting, selling, or receiving sto-len goods, stolen securities, stolenmoneys, stolen cattle, fraudulent Statetax stamps, or articles used in coun-terfeiting, if the above articles or

goods involve or constitute interstateor foreign commerce (18 U.S.C. §§2315, 2317).

Trial conviction — conviction byjudge or jury after trial.

True bill — an indictment.

United States — includes the outlyingterritories (Guam, Puerto Rico, North-ern Marianas Islands, and the U.S.Virgin Islands) and the territory occu-pied by the 50 States and the Districtof Columbia.

U.S. attorneys — all United States at-torneys. Prosecutorial data in thisCompendium come from the CentralSystem and Central Charge Files ofthe Executive Office for U.S.Attorneys.

Unsecured bond — an agreement bythe defendant as a condition of his orher release in which the defendantagrees to pay full bond amount in theevent of nonappearance at trial, but isnot required to post security as a con-dition to release.

Violation (of pretrial release, proba-tion, or parole) — allegation of a newcrime or a technical violation while onpretrial release, probation, or parole.

Violent offenses — threatening, at-tempting, or actually using physicalforce against a person. Includes mur-der, negligent manslaughter, assault,robbery, sexual abuse, kidnaping, andthreats against the President. (Seealso, specific offenses for citations.)

Warrant — an order (writ) of a courtthat directs a law enforcement officerto arrest and bring a person beforethe judge, such as those charged witha crime, escaped Federal prisoners,or probation, parole, or bond defaultviolators.

Warrant clearance or execution —refers to the closing of a fugitive in-vestigation. Warrants can be clearedor executed in many ways, such aswith the arrest or surrender of a fugi-tive, dismissed by the court, or when a detainer is lodged against a fugitivealready in custody (see Detainer).

Glossary 119

Warrant initiation — refers to theopening of a fugitive investigationupon receipt of a warrant.

Weapons violations — violations ofany of the provisions of 18 U.S.C. §§922 and 923 concerning the manufac-turing, importing, possessing, receiv-ing, and licensing of firearms and am-munition. Includes manufacturing,selling, possessing, or transporting(within any territory or possession ofthe United States, within Indian coun-try, or within the special maritime andterritorial jurisdiction of the UnitedStates) (18 U.S.C. §§ 7) any switch-blade knife; or making, receiving, pos-sessing, or transporting a firearm notregistered in the National FirearmsRegistration Transfer Record. Also,engaging in importing, manufacturing,or dealing in firearms if not registeredwith the secretary in the InternalRevenue Service District in which thebusiness is conducted or not havingpaid a special occupational tax. In ad-dition, this code covers cases wherein a crime of violence or drug traffick-ing enhanced punishment is handeddown when committed with a deadlyweapon (for example, 15 U.S.C. §1242; 18 U.S.C. §§ 922(a)(c)(e)(g)(i)(k)(m)(n) (q), 923, 924(a)(c)(f)(h)and 930; 26 U.S.C. §§ 5801, 5811,5821, 5841, 5843, 5851, and5861(b)(d)(h)(j)(l); 40 U.S.C. §193f(a); and 49A U.S.C. § 1472(q)).

Wildlife offenses — violations ofFederal law enacted to protect endan-gered or threatened species, as wellas migratory birds. The EndangeredSpecies Act (16 U.S.C. §1531(b))makes it unlawful for any person totake, import, sell or ship endangeredor threatened wildlife, and the Migra-tory Bird Treaty Act (16 U.S.C. §§703) protects migratory birds. The La-cey Act (16 U.S.C. § 3372) prohibitsthe trade in illegally taken fish andwildlife.


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