Aggravated Assault Sentences in 2020: Federal Court vs. Courts-Martial
Guilty pleas were common in both systems in 2020. Of 12 aggravated assault convictions with a plea recorded at courts-martial, 11 (92%) were guilty pleas, and in federal court 329 of 341 people sentenced in fiscal year 2020 (96%) pleaded guilty. The median sentence was lower at courts-martial: 12 mo
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In brief: Guilty pleas were common in both systems in 2020. Of 12 aggravated assault convictions with a plea recorded at courts-martial, 11 (92%) were guilty pleas, and in federal court 329 of 341 people sentenced in fiscal year 2020 (96%) pleaded guilty. The median sentence was lower at courts-martial: 12 months of confinement, compared with a median federal prison term of 40 months.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 341 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2020, compared with court-martial results from this site's Military Trial Results data (updated November 2, 2026). Acquittals and dismissals come from a second source, the Federal Judicial Center's records of 753,808 federal defendants whose cases ended in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. It is part of the Federal Prosecution Analysis series, which builds on Military Moves Toward Sentencing Guidelines to Mirror the Federal System. How the numbers were built: How the Federal Comparison Data Was Built.
Guilty Pleas in 2020
For 2020, the court-martial records list a plea for 12 of the 13 convictions. 11 of those 12 were guilty pleas.
The median confinement after a guilty plea was 12 months, based on 11 cases with confinement. The 1 contested case with confinement had 36 months.
In federal court, 12 people were convicted after a trial. The median prison term was 38 months after a guilty plea and 60 months after a trial, based on 11 people convicted at trial and sent to prison. 89% of federal guilty pleas had a written plea agreement, and 11% were straight pleas.
Comparing Sentence Lengths
All 13 court-martial convictions with a sentence recorded included confinement (100%). The median adjudged confinement was 12 months, and a quarter of those convicted received 25 months or more.
In federal court, 327 of the 341 (96%) received a prison term and 11 (3%) received probation only. The median prison term was 40 months (3.3 years). A quarter received 60 months or more, and a quarter received 24 months or less.
The federal median was higher than the court-martial median. The military group, though, is only 13 convictions.
| Courts-martial, 2020 | Federal court, FY2020 | |
|---|---|---|
| Convictions or people sentenced | 13 | 341 |
| Sentenced to confinement or prison | 100% | 96% |
| Median confinement or prison | 12 months | 40 months |
| A quarter received this or more | 25 months | 60 months |
| Pleaded guilty | 11 of 12 with a plea recorded (92%) | 96% |
| Mandatory minimum applied | See the caveats | 26 of 340 with the information (8%) |
Which Services Had Convictions
The Marine Corps had 6 of the 13 convictions, the Air Force had 4, and the Navy had 3. The records list no Army convictions for aggravated assault with 2020 trial dates.
7 of the 13 convictions (54%) were at a general court-martial, the highest level of military trial court.
Punitive Discharges
Every person convicted in 2020 was enlisted. 12 of the 13 received a punitive discharge (92%). That included 5 dishonorable discharges and 7 bad-conduct discharges.
A dishonorable discharge is the more severe of the 2 and can only come from a general court-martial. Federal court does not impose discharges. It ordered supervised release after prison for 313 people (92%), with a median term of 36 months.
Federal Sentences and the Guidelines
Each federal case has a recommended guideline range. In fiscal year 2020, 46% of these sentences (157) were within it.
23% (78) were below the range at the government's request. 22% (76) were below it with no such request, and 9% (30) were above it.
A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 26 people (8%). Restitution was ordered for 68 (20%) and a fine for 12 (4%). 38% were in criminal history category I and 13% in category VI. Court-martial records carry no criminal history field.
The 2020 Federal Count Among Other Years
The 341 people sentenced in fiscal year 2020 is the lowest yearly count in the federal table below. Over fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 4,493 people were sentenced, with a median prison term of 40 months.
For courts-martial, 214 convictions had trial dates from 2016 to 2025, with a median confinement of 11.3 months.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 365 | 36.9 months | 95% |
| 2017 | 383 | 37 months | 96% |
| 2018 | 398 | 39.5 months | 94% |
| 2019 | 413 | 40 months | 94% |
| 2020 | 341 | 40 months | 96% |
| 2021 | 406 | 37 months | 95% |
| 2022 | 524 | 41 months | 94% |
| 2023 | 525 | 43 months | 93% |
| 2024 | 583 | 40 months | 91% |
| 2025 | 555 | 41 months | 91% |
Points the Records Do Not Settle
Federal fiscal year 2020 ran from October 1, 2019 to September 30, 2020. The court-martial year is calendar year 2020 by trial date.
Court-martial confinement is as adjudged, before clemency or appeal, and federal terms are as imposed rather than served. The data cannot show why sentences differed or whether the cases in each system were alike.
How We Counted
Courts-martial with a trial date in 2020 ending in a conviction for aggravated assault (Article 128) (13). Federal: people sentenced in fiscal year 2020 under guideline §2A2.2 (aggravated assault) (341), U.S. Sentencing Commission.
Federal fiscal years run from October 1 to September 30. No person, judge, or lawyer is identified in any of these records.
What to Keep in Mind
Who is in each set of numbers. The federal sentencing numbers come from the U.S. Sentencing Commission. They count only people who were convicted and sentenced in federal district court. People whose cases were dismissed or who were acquitted are not in them. The military numbers come from court-martial results, which include acquittals. To compare acquittal or dismissal rates, the federal side uses a different source: the Federal Judicial Center's case data, which counts every defendant whose case ended.
Different cases reach each system. Federal prosecutors bring a narrow set of cases. In fiscal year 2024, immigration and drug trafficking cases were 59% of everyone sentenced in federal court (36,664 of 61,678). Many crimes that the military prosecutes, such as most assaults, most sexual assaults between adults, and drug use, are usually state crimes for civilians and reach federal court only in special situations, such as on federal land or in Indian Country. A federal case and a court-martial for the same crime can involve different kinds of facts.
No parole in federal prison; credit for good conduct. Federal prison has no parole for crimes committed on or after November 1, 1987. A federal prisoner can earn up to 54 days of good conduct credit for each year of the sentence the judge imposed, which is about 15%. Some federal prisoners can also earn First Step Act time credits, but many offenses make a person ineligible. The numbers in this post are the sentences judges imposed, not the time people actually served.
Military confinement credit and parole. For military sentences adjudged after 2004, good conduct time is 5 days for each month of confinement, about 16%. Military prisoners can also earn up to 8 more days a month for work and programs and up to 2 days a month for special acts, with a limit of 15 days a month in total. Military prisoners can be considered for parole by their service's clemency and parole board. The military numbers in this post are the confinement adjudged at trial, not the time served.
Military sentences include punishments federal sentences do not. A court-martial sentence can include a punitive discharge (bad-conduct discharge, dishonorable discharge, or dismissal for officers), reduction in rank, and forfeiture of pay. These have no federal counterpart. A comparison of months of confinement leaves them out. A short confinement term combined with a dishonorable discharge is a heavier sentence than the months alone show.
Time periods. Federal numbers are by federal fiscal year (October 1 to September 30), based on the sentencing date. The military numbers are by trial date. Neither source has the date of the offense, so a change in law shows up in either data set gradually.
Offense categories do not line up exactly. Each comparison uses a federal offense group chosen to match the military article as closely as possible (see the crosswalk). Some matches are close; others are partial. The post says which federal guideline or statute was used and why it is not an exact match.
Related Analysis
- Military Moves Toward Sentencing Guidelines to Mirror the Federal System (the background article)
- Federal Prosecution Analysis (all federal posts)
- How the Federal Comparison Data Was Built (sources and method)
- Aggravated Assault: Federal Sentences vs. Article 128 Courts-Martial, 2016–2025 (overview)
- Aggravated Assault Sentences in 2019: Federal Court vs. Courts-Martial (previous or next year)
- Aggravated Assault Sentences in 2021: Federal Court vs. Courts-Martial (previous or next year)
- Aggravated Assault Sentences Since the 2023 Military Sentencing Reform: What the Data Shows So Far
- Aggravated Assault: Federal Sentences vs. Air Force Courts-Martial, 2016–2025
- Aggravated Assault: Federal Sentences vs. Army Courts-Martial
- Aggravated Assault: Federal Sentences vs. Marine Corps Courts-Martial
- Aggravated Assault: Federal Sentences vs. Navy Courts-Martial, 2016–2025
- Aggravated Assault: Courts-Martial at Camp Lejeune vs. Federal Court in the Eastern District of North Carolina
- Aggravated Assault: Courts-Martial at Camp Pendleton vs. Federal Court in the Southern District of California
- Army Article 128 Cases by the Numbers, 2021–2025 (court-martial data)
- Article 128 Sentences in the Army: Confinement and Discharges, 2021–2025 (court-martial data)
- How Often Are Contested Army Article 128 Cases Acquitted? (court-martial data)
- When Army Accused Plead Guilty to Assault (court-martial data)
- Fewer or More? Assault Charges at Air Force Courts-Martial, 2016–2025 (court-martial data)
- What Sentence Follows an Air Force Assault Conviction? (court-martial data)
- Pleading Guilty to Article 128 in the Air Force: What Sentences Followed? (court-martial data)
- Navy-Marine Corps Article 128 Cases by the Numbers, 2017–2025 (court-martial data)
- What Sentence Follows a Navy-Marine Corps Assault Conviction? (court-martial data)
- Not Guilty Pleas in Navy-Marine Corps Article 128 Cases: What Happened at Trial (court-martial data)
- Guilty Pleas in Navy-Marine Corps Assault Cases: How Often, and What Came Next (court-martial data)
- Article 128 (Assault): Court-Martial Data and Trends (court-martial data)
- Article 128 UCMJ: Assault, Aggravated Assault, and Strangulation (law firm reference page)
- U.S. Sentencing Commission, Individual Offender Datafiles (source)
- Federal Judicial Center, Integrated Database (criminal defendants) (source)
About the author. Jocelyn C. Stewart is a retired Army JAG with more than 24 years of trying courts-martial and more than 200 jury trials. She hosts Where All The Bodies Are Buried and runs the Law Office of Jocelyn C. Stewart. This analysis is for education and information only. It is not legal advice, and every case is different.