NCJ Number
163171
Date Published
1996
Length
4 pages
Annotation
During 1993, approximately 63,800 defendants were prosecuted by U.S. attorneys in Federal district courts or were processed in Federal courts of appeal; about one-third of these defendants were prosecuted for drug offenses.
Abstract
Most defendants whose cases were terminated in Federal district courts were convicted. Among those convicted, 65 percent were sentenced to prison. At the end of 1993, the Federal Bureau of Prisons held more than 82,000 prisoners who were convicted of a Federal offense, an increase of 11 percent over 1992. U.S. attorneys opened matters for investigation against 110,286 suspects during 1993; 30 percent were investigated for drug offenses, 28 percent for fraudulent property offenses, and less than 6 percent for violent offenses. U.S. attorneys prosecuted 59 percent of 108,854 suspects in matters concluded during 1993. Drug suspects were more likely than other suspects to have charges filed against them, and about 75 percent of suspects in drug cases were prosecuted. About 61 percent of 47,755 defendants who were interviewed by pretrial service officers and whose cases were disposed had been released before disposition. About 46 percent of defendants had a prior criminal history, and 15 percent committed their offense while under supervision for another offense. Cases were terminated against 64,640 defendants, with 83 percent convicted. The average time from filing to disposition was slightly more than 8 months for all cases. Of 53,435 defendants sentenced during 1993, 65 percent were incarcerated, 30 percent were placed on probation, and 8 percent were ordered to pay a fine. The average prison sentence imposed for a felony offenses was 63 months. Of 20,449 offenders under probation supervision during 1993, 81 percent successfully completed their probation terms. 2 tables and 1 figure