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Drugs and Crime Facts
   Drug law violations

Pretrial, prosecution, and adjudication

Pretrial release | Prosecution and adjudication

Pretrial release

Federal court

About 60% of federal drug defendants adjudicated were detained between arrest and adjudication during 1999. Of those defendants released prior to adjudication, about half were released on their own recognizance; more than a quarter after posting bail; 19%, on an unsecured bond; and 4%, under restrictive conditions imposed by the court.

Source: BJS, Federal Drug Offenders, 1999 with Trends 1984-99, NCJ 187285, August 2001.

Defendants charged with drug or weapon offenses who were released prior to trial and terminated pretrial services during 2004, were more likely than other defendants to incur at least one violation during the release period (29% and 34%, respectively).

Source: BJS, Compendium of Federal Justice Statistics, 2004, NCJ 213476, December 2006.

State court

The State Court Processing Statistics (SCPS) program revealed that of persons charged with a felony drug offense in 2000 in the 75 most populous counties --

• 64% were released prior to case disposition
• 30% were held on bail
• 5% were denied bail

In 2000, among felony drug defendants, those charged with drug trafficking (62%) were less likely to be released than those charged with other drug offenses (66%).

In 2000 detained drug defendants had a median bail amount of $20,000. Among drug defendants, those charged with drug trafficking (22%) were about twice as likely to have bail set at $50,000 or more, compared to other drug defendants (11%).

Of felony drug defendants released prior to the disposition of their case, 47% were released within 1 day of their arrest, 76% within 1 week, and 93% within 1 month.

In 2000 of felony drug defendants released before case disposition, 27% failed to make a scheduled court appearance within 1 year. Twenty percent of the drug defendants who failed to appear returned to court by the end of the 1-year study period, while 7% remained fugitives. By original arrest offense category, released drug defendants (21%) had the highest rearrest rate. This included 15% of defendants released after being charged with drug trafficking.

Source: BJS, Felony Defendants in Large Urban Counties, 2000, NCJ 202021, December 2003.

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Prosecution and adjudication

• Prosecution of drug law violators
  • Federal
  • State
  • Juveniles
    
• Drug-related activities of prosecutors offices

Prosecution of drug law violators

Federal

Drug prosecutions have comprised an increasing proportion of the federal criminal caseload -- from 21% of defendants during 1982 to 35% during 2004.

U.S. attorneys initiated investigations involving 37,501 suspects for drug offenses in 2004.

Source: BJS, Compendium of Federal Justice Statistics, 2004, NCJ 213476, December 2006.

Of the suspects referred to U.S. attorneys during 1999, 31% were involved with marijuana; 28%, cocaine powder; 15%, crack cocaine; 15%, methamphetamine; 7%, opiates; and 3%, other drugs.

Sixty-five percent of those charged during 1999 had previously been arrested; 28% had 5 or more prior arrests. Half of those charged had previously been convicted; a third of a felony.

Source: BJS, Federal Drug Offenders, 1999 with Trends 1984-99, NCJ 187285, August 2001.

Drug and immigration offenders were more likely than others to be prosecuted before U.S. district court judges (75% and 50%, respectively). U.S. attorneys declined to prosecute 15% of drug offenders investigated during 2004. During 2004, more than a quarter (25%) of those declined for prosecution were referred to other authorities for prosecution or received an alternative resolution. During 1981 drug defendants accounted for less than a fifth of all federal prosecutions compared to 35% in 2004. Between 1981 and 2004 the number of suspects prosecuted for drug offenses increased 7% annually, on average, from 8,077 to 30,503.

Source: BJS, Compendium of Federal Justice Statistics, 2004, NCJ 213476, December 2006.

Of cases concluded in federal district court since 1989, drug and public order cases (includes immigration offenders) have increased at the greatest rate.

[D]

Click on the chart to view the data.

Note: Public order offenses include weapons and immigration offenses.
Source: BJS, Compendium of Federal Justice Statistics, annual.

Approximately 92% of drug defendants adjudicated during 2004 were convicted, compared to 76% during 1981. Twenty-nine percent of drug defendants convicted during 2003 were identified as noncitizens; more than half (56%) had at least one prior adult conviction.

Source: BJS Compendium of Federal Justice Statistics, 2003, NCJ 210299, October 2005, and Compendium of Federal Justice Statistics, 2004, NCJ 213476, December 2006.

The proportion of defendants sentenced to prison increased from 54% during 1988 to 78% during 2004. The proportion of drug offenders sentenced to prison increased from 79% to 93%.

Prison sentences imposed increased from an average of 55.1 months during 1988 to 59.7 months during 2004. For drug offenses, prison sentences increased from an average of 71.3 months to 83.6 months; for weapons offenses, sentences imposed increased from 52.3 months to 84.3 months.

Source: BJS, Compendium of Federal Justice Statistics, 2004, NCJ 213476, December 2006.

Drug offenders involved with crack cocaine (114 months), possessing a firearm (133 months), or with extensive prior records (125 months) received the longest prison terms, on average, during 1999.

Twenty-eight percent of convicted federal drug defendants received a reduced sentence for providing substantial assistance to prosecutors.

Source: BJS, Federal Drug Offenders, 1999 with Trends 1984-99, NCJ 187285, August 2001.

In addition to the 1,477 defendants charged with money laundering as the primary charge during 2001, money laundering was a secondary offense in 630 cases. Of these 630 cases, the most serious offense charged was drug-related (90%), followed by property (6%), public-order (4%), and violent offenses (1%).

Ninety-two percent of the 623 defendants adjudicated for money laundering as a secondary offense during 2001 were convicted. Of those convicted, 6% of convictions were obtained via trial verdicts. Drug trafficking had the highest rate of conviction (92%).

About 90% of defendants convicted of money laundering as a secondary offense received a prison sentence. Rates of imprisonment varied across the types of offenses (drug offenses, 90%; property offenses, 73%; and public-order offenses, 72%). Defendants with a drug offense as the most serious offense received prison terms with an average 97 months, compared to 44 months for property offenders. Prison terms for public-order offenses (including racketeering/extortion) had an average of 70 months.

Source: BJS, Money Laundering Offenders, 1994-2001, NCJ 199574, June 2003.

Federal drug offenders sentenced during 1986 could expect to serve approximately 58% of the prison sentence imposed. The remaining portion of the sentence was served on parole, provided the offender did not violate any conditions of release. Under the Sentencing Reform Act, defendants are required to serve at least 87% of the prison sentence imposed.

Source: BJS, Time Served in Prison by Federal Offenders, 1986-97, NCJ 171682, June 1999.

State

In 2004 an estimated --

• 282,592 adults were arrested for drug trafficking
• 201,760 persons were convicted of felony drug trafficking
• 139,214 drug traffickers were sentenced to incarceration
• 78,686 drug traffickers were sentenced to state prison (or 34 for every 100 drug trafficking arrests).

• 83% were males
• 43% were between ages 20 and 29
• 51% were white
• 47% were black.

In 2004, drug offenders comprised about a third (34%) of all persons convicted of a felony in state courts. Drug traffickers accounted for 19% of all convicted felons; drug possessors also accounted for 15% of all convicted felons.

• Ninety-six percent of drug trafficking convictions in 2004 resulted from guilty pleas; 2% resulted from jury trials; and 2% from bench trials.
• Sixty-nine percent of persons convicted of drug trafficking in 2004 were sentenced to some kind of incarceration: 39% to state prison and 30% to local jail.
• The average prison sentence for persons convicted of drug trafficking was 5 years, of which the estimated time to be served was 2 years and 4 months.
  
  Source: BJS, State Court Sentencing of Convicted Felons, 2004, Statistical Tables, NCJ 217995, July 2007.
  

In 2004 of persons convicted of drug possession, 35% were sentenced to prison, 29% to jail, and 31% to probation. The average prison sentence was 3 years, of which the estimated time to be served was 16 months.

In 2004, besides being sentenced to incarceration or probation, drug offenders incurred other penalties --

• 37% were ordered to pay a fine
• 13% pay victim restitution
• 11% receive treatment
• 11% perform community service
• 11% comply with some other additional penalty (for example, undergo house arrest or appear periodically for drug testing).
  
  Source: BJS, State Court Sentencing of Convicted Felons, 2004, Statistical Tables, NCJ 217995, July 2007.

Juveniles

In 2002 juvenile courts in the United States processed an estimated 1,615,400 delinquency cases. Delinquency cases involve juveniles charged with violations of the law that would be crimes if committed by adults. The number of delinquency cases handled by juvenile courts increased 41% since 1985. During this time period, the number of drug law violation cases (193,200) increased 159%.

Fifty-eight percent of the delinquency cases processed in 2002 involved a juvenile younger than age 16 at referral, compared with 60% in 1990. In 2002, juveniles under age 16 were responsible for 41% (76,600) of drug law violation cases.

Source: OJJDP, Delinquency Cases in Juvenile Court, 2002, Fact Sheet, NCJ FS 200602, November 2006.

Between 1985 and 2002, the number of delinquency cases in which adjudicated youth were ordered out of the home to some form of residential placement rose 44%. In 2002, 18% of adjudicated delinquency cases involving drug law violations were ordered to residential placement.

In 2002, 8% (35,100) of delinquency cases involving females were for drug offenses. For males 13% (158,100) were drug offense cases.

Source: OJJDP, Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 2006 National Report, NCJ 212906, March 2006.

Drug-related activities of prosecutors' offices

In 2005, 24% of all offices assigned prosecutors to handle community-related activities. Of the offices assigning prosecutors to community-related activities, 37% reported that these prosecutors were located outside of the central prosecutor's offices in places such as the police department or a community-based office. The types of offenses handled most often by prosecutors assigned to community-related activities were drug crime (81%), violent crime (77%), juvenile crime (53%), and property crime (63%). Over three-fourths of the offices that assigned prosecutors to community-related activities indicated that these prosecutors carried a full caseload.

Source: BJS, Prosecutors in State Courts, 2005, NCJ 213799, July 2006.

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Page last revised on August 14, 2008