REPORT: ALMOST 90% OF FEDERAL DEFENDANTS ARE CONVICTED

1998 Study Shows Three Out Of Four Offenders Get Sentenced To Prison

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Eighty-seven percent of defendants charged with federal
crimes were convicted in fiscal 1998 and almost three out of four people
convicted were sentenced to prison, the Justice Department reported Wednesday.

Nearly half of the 106,139 federal arrests during the 12 months that ended
Sept. 30, 1998, charged drug or immigration violations, according to the
first comprehensive study of federal arrest data by the Bureau of Justice
Statistics.

Drug violations accounted for 29 percent of the arrests and immigration
offenses for 20 percent.

Seventy-one percent of those convicted were sentenced to prison, up from 60
percent of those convicted in 1990. Offenders convicted of violent felonies
were sentenced to an average of 84.2 months in prison during 1998; felony
drug offenders to 78.8 months; immigration offenders to 26.4 months and
property offenders to 25.4 months.

In 1998, the time actually served reached 87 percent of the sentence, up
from 65 percent in 1990.

The number of defendants prosecuted rose to 78,172 in 1998, up 12.7 percent
from the 1997 total. Drug cases accounted for 38 percent of the increase;
immigration cases for 29 percent of it.

Eighty-three percent of federal defendants were charged with felonies. More
serious than misdemeanors, felonies carry a maximum penalty of more than
one year in prison.

Pretrial release also showed a decline -- to 43 percent of those charged in
1998, down from 62 percent in 1990. Those least likely to be released were
charged with immigration offenses, violent crimes, drug or weapons violations.

Of those released awaiting trial, 84 percent completed their release
without incident, but 3 percent committed new crimes, 2 percent failed to
make scheduled court appearances and 14.5 percent committed technical
violations of release conditions, like failure to participate in substance
abuse treatment.

The total exceeds 100 percent because some defendants fit more than one
category.

Appeals to U.S. Courts of Appeals remained constant at 10,000 to 11,000 a
year between 1990 and 1998. Of the 10,105 appeals completed in 1998, 82
percent upheld the district court ruling, at least in part.

The federal prison population topped 100,000 in 1998 for the first time, up
9,670 from 1997 to 108,925.

Of the 106,139 federal arrests during 1998, 73 percent were made by Justice
Department agencies -- the FBI, Immigration and Naturalization Service,
Drug Enforcement Administration, and Marshals Service.

Treasury Department agencies, including the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and
Firearms, Customs Service and Secret Service, made 11 percent of the arrests.

The rest were by other agencies, including the U.S. Postal Service, and the
Defense, Interior and Agriculture departments.