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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 2002 (30%), were more likely than other defendants to incur at least one violation during the release period.

Source: BJS, Compendium of Federal Justice Statistics, 2002, NCJ 205368, September 2004.

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

As reported in the Compendium of Federal Justice Statistics, drug prosecutions have comprised an increasing proportion of the Federal criminal caseload -- from 21% of defendants during 1982 to 35% during 2002.

During 2002, U.S. attorneys initiated investigations involving 38,154 suspects for drug offenses.

Source: BJS, Compendium of Federal Justice Statistics, 2002, NCJ 205368, September 2004.

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 82%, respectively). U.S. attorneys declined to prosecute 18% of drug offenders investigated during 2002. During 2002, a quarter (24%) 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% during 2002. Between 1981 and 2002 the number of suspects prosecuted for drug offenses increased 6% annually, on average, from 8,077 to 30,775.

Source: BJS, Compendium of Federal Justice Statistics, 2002, NCJ 205368, September 2004.

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

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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 2002 were convicted, compared to 76% during 1981. Thirty percent of drug defendants convicted during 2002 were identified as noncitizens; more than half (55%) had at least one prior adult conviction.

Source: BJS, Compendium of Federal Justice Statistics, 2002, NCJ 205368, September 2004.

The proportion of defendants sentenced to prison increased from 54% during 1988 to 75% during 2002. The proportion of drug offenders sentenced to prison increased from 79% to 91%.

Prison sentences imposed increased from 55.1 months during 1988 to 57.1 months during 2002. For drug offenses, prison sentences increased from 71.3 months to 76.0 months; for weapons offenses, sentences imposed increased from 52.3 months to 91.4 months.

Source: BJS, Compendium of Federal Justice Statistics, 2002, NCJ 205368, September 2004.

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

From 1998 to 2000 the estimated numbers for drug traffickers --

• decreased from 286,899 to 261,402 adults arrested for drug trafficking
• increased to 195,183 to 203,400 persons convicted of felony drug trafficking
• increased to 138,580 to 140,346 drug traffickers sentenced to incarceration
• decreased from 87,832 to 83,394 drug traffickers sentenced to State prison (or 32 for every 100 drug trafficking arrests).

• 84% were males
• 43% were between ages 20 and 29.

The racial composition of drug traffickers convicted in State courts changed from to 1998 to 2000:

In 2000, drug offenders comprised a third of all persons convicted of a felony in State courts. Drug traffickers accounted for 22% of all convicted felons; drug possessors also accounted for 13% of all convicted felons.

• Ninety-six percent of drug trafficking convictions in 2000 resulted from guilty pleas; 2% resulted from jury trials; and 2% from bench trials.
• Sixty-nine percent of persons convicted of drug trafficking in 2000 were sentenced to some kind of incarceration: 41% to prison, 28% to jail, and 31% on probation.
• The average prison sentence for persons convicted of drug trafficking was 4 years and 3 months, of which the estimated time to be served was more than 2 years.
  

In 2000 of persons convicted of drug possession, 33% were sentenced to prison, 31% to jail, and 36% to probation. The average prison sentence was 2 years and 8 months, of which the estimated time to be served was 17 months.

The median time from arrest to State court sentencing was 158 days for a drug trafficking case in 2000.

More drug offenders incurred additional penalties in 2000 than in 1998. In 2000, besides being sentenced to incarceration or probation, drug offenders incurred other penalties --

• 27% were ordered to pay a fine
• 6% pay victim restitution
• 7% receive treatment
• 6% perform community service
• 7% comply with some other additional penalty (for example, undergo house arrest or appear periodically for drug testing).
  
  Source: BJS, Felony Sentences in State Courts, 2000, NCJ 198821, June 2003.

Juveniles

In 1999 juvenile courts in the United States processed an estimated 1,673,000 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 27% between 1990 and 1999. During this time period, the number of drug law violation cases (191,200) increased 169%.

In 1999 males accounted for 84% (160,800) of drug law violation cases, compared to 76% of all delinquency cases.

Juveniles under age 16 were responsible for 40% (76,600) of drug law violation cases but almost 60% of delinquency cases in 1999.

Source: OJJDP, Delinquency Cases in Juvenile Courts, 1999, Fact Sheet, NCJ FS 200302, September 2003.

In 1999 the proportion of adjudicated cases of a drug offense placed outside the home was under 30% for youth age 15 and 16 or older. Between 1990 and 1999, the use of out-of-home placement for adjudicated delinquency cases involving youth under age 15 declined for drug offense cases.

Source: OJJDP, Juvenile Court Statistics 1999, NCJ 201241, November 2003.

Drug-related activities of prosecutors offices

In 2001, 23% of all offices assigned prosecutors to handle community-related activities. Of the offices assigning prosecutors to handle community-related activities, 30% 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 (80%), over 60% for violent, juvenile, and property crimes, and public-order crime (46%).

Source: BJS, Prosecutors in State Courts, 2001, NCJ 193441, May 2002.

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Page last revised on September 28, 2004