Drug traffickers (17 percent) and drug possessors (17 percent) together accounted for an estimated 34 percent of the felons convicted in State courts in 1988. Violent offenders accounted for about 15 percent of the felons, including murderers (1 percent), rapists (2 percent), robbers (6 percent), and those convicted of aggravated assault (6 percent). State courts sentenced 44 percent of convicted felons to a State prison, 25 percent to a local jail, 30 percent to straight probation, and 1 percent to other nonincarceration sentences. State courts sentenced 2 percent of those convicted or murder or nonnegligent manslaughter to capital punishment. The average sentence to local jail was 7 months. The average probation sentence was almost 3 years and 7 months. The average sentence to State prison was nearly 6 years and 4 months; felons were expected to serve about 2 years before release. Tables