Federal Crack Cocaine Trafficking Sentences, Fiscal Year 2018
In fiscal year 2018, the median federal prison term for crack cocaine trafficking was 68 months (5.7 years), the highest yearly median in the fiscal year 2016 to 2025 table. That was higher than the 60-month median for all §2D1.1 drug trafficking cases that year. The Sentencing Commission counted 1,
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In brief: In fiscal year 2018, the median federal prison term for crack cocaine trafficking was 68 months (5.7 years), the highest yearly median in the fiscal year 2016 to 2025 table. That was higher than the 60-month median for all §2D1.1 drug trafficking cases that year. The Sentencing Commission counted 1,350 people sentenced for crack cocaine.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 1,350 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2018. 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.
A Higher Median Than Other Drugs
The 68-month median for crack cocaine in fiscal year 2018 is above the figure for drug trafficking as a whole. All §2D1.1 cases that year, every drug included, numbered 18,404 people, and their median prison term was 60 months.
The pattern reverses for mandatory minimums. One applied to 671 crack cocaine cases (50%). Across all drugs in fiscal year 2018, a mandatory minimum applied to 61%, more often than for crack cocaine.
The yearly table shows the crack cocaine median for each fiscal year from 2016 to 2025. Fiscal year 2018 has the highest value listed.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 1,544 | 63 months | 97% |
| 2017 | 1,543 | 61 months | 97% |
| 2018 | 1,350 | 68 months | 96% |
| 2019 | 1,506 | 60 months | 96% |
| 2020 | 1,168 | 60 months | 97% |
| 2021 | 1,049 | 60 months | 98% |
| 2022 | 1,086 | 60 months | 97% |
| 2023 | 855 | 50.5 months | 99% |
| 2024 | 673 | 60 months | 98% |
| 2025 | 463 | 60 months | 98% |
The Spread of Prison Terms
Prison terms were given to 1,315 of the 1,350 people (97%). Another 21 (2%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement.
The median describes the middle of the prison terms. The longest quarter received 111 months or more, and the shortest quarter received 37 months or less. 6 people received a life sentence.
Were These Sentences Inside the Guideline Range?
Information on the guideline range was available for all 1,350 sentences. Within the range were 514 people, or 38%.
The largest group outside the range was below it without a government request: 443 people (33%). Below-range sentences at the government's request covered 348 (26%). Sentences above the range covered 45 (3%).
A government-requested reduction usually follows a motion by prosecutors. A reduction without one reflects the judge's own decision. The data does not record why.
Pleading Guilty Compared With Going to Trial
Of the 1,350 people, 1,302 (96%) pleaded guilty and 48 were convicted after a trial. Among the guilty pleas, 90% involved a written plea agreement, and 9% were straight pleas.
The median prison term after a guilty plea was 64 months. After a trial it was 174 months, based on the 48 people convicted at trial and sent to prison. The trial group may differ from the plea group in drug amounts, charges, and history, and the data does not account for those differences.
Supervised Release, Fines, and Restitution
Courts ordered supervised release after prison for 1,313 people (97%), with a median term of 48 months.
Fines were ordered in 41 cases (3%). Restitution was ordered in 14 (1%).
Criminal history categories run from category I, the lowest, to category VI, the highest. In fiscal year 2018, 19% of this group were in category I and 25% were in category VI.
What This Data Does Not Cover
Only people convicted and sentenced appear in Sentencing Commission data. Acquittals and dismissed cases are not part of these counts. A fiscal year runs from October 1 to September 30, and the drug listed is the primary drug the Commission recorded.
There is no crack cocaine figure for courts-martial. Military records do not list drug type in a form that can be counted, and they have no criminal history field.
How We Counted
People sentenced in fiscal year 2018 whose primary guideline was §2D1.1 and whose primary drug type was crack (1,350), 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
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.
Federal supervised release. Most federal prison sentences are followed by a term of supervised release that the judge sets as part of the sentence. A person who violates it can be sent back to prison. A court-martial cannot sentence anyone to supervision after release. Military parole and mandatory supervised release are decided later by a board, not by the judge at trial.
Mandatory minimum sentences. Many federal statutes on drugs, images of child exploitation, child sex abuse, and firearms carry mandatory minimum prison terms. The UCMJ has mandatory minimums only for a few offenses (a dishonorable discharge or dismissal for rape and sexual assault, and life for premeditated murder). Federal sentences for these offenses are partly set by Congress, not by the judge.
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.
How life sentences and "time served" are counted. In the federal numbers, a life sentence is counted as 470 months, and any other sentence longer than 470 months is counted as just under 470 months. A sentence of "time served" is counted as one day (0.03 months). Averages are affected by these rules; medians much less.
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)
- Drug Distribution and Importation: Federal vs. Court-Martial Sentences, 2016–2025 (overview)
- Federal Crack Cocaine Trafficking Sentences, Fiscal Year 2017 (previous or next year)
- Federal Crack Cocaine Trafficking Sentences, Fiscal Year 2019 (previous or next year)
- Federal Methamphetamine Trafficking Sentences, Fiscal Year 2018 (same year, other drug)
- Federal Powder Cocaine Trafficking Sentences, Fiscal Year 2018 (same year, other drug)
- Federal Heroin Trafficking Sentences, Fiscal Year 2018 (same year, other drug)
- Federal Marijuana Trafficking Sentences, Fiscal Year 2018 (same year, other drug)
- Federal Other Drug Trafficking Sentences, Fiscal Year 2018 (same year, other drug)
- Drug Distribution Sentences Since the 2023 Military Sentencing Reform: What the Data Shows So Far
- Drug Distribution Charges: How Often Federal Trials and Courts-Martial End in Acquittal
- §2D1.1 Unlawful Manufacturing, Importing, Exporting, or Trafficking (Including Possession with Intent to Commit These Offenses): Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025 (court-martial data)
- Army Article 112a Cases by the Numbers, 2021–2025 (court-martial data)
- Are Air Force Drug Courts-Martial Disappearing? Article 112a, 2016–2025 (court-martial data)
- Is Navy-Marine Corps Drug Prosecution Rising or Falling? Article 112a, 2017–2025 (court-martial data)
- Article 112a (Wrongful Use, Possession of Controlled Substances): Court-Martial Data and Trends (court-martial data)
- Article 112a UCMJ Drug Offenses and Positive Urinalysis (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.