Federal Crack Cocaine Trafficking Sentences, Fiscal Year 2025
Fiscal year 2025 had 463 federal sentences for crack cocaine trafficking, the smallest yearly count in the fiscal year 2016 to 2025 table. The median prison term was 60 months (5 years), lower than the 72-month median for all §2D1.1 drug trafficking cases. A mandatory minimum applied to 34% of crack
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In brief: Fiscal year 2025 had 463 federal sentences for crack cocaine trafficking, the smallest yearly count in the fiscal year 2016 to 2025 table. The median prison term was 60 months (5 years), lower than the 72-month median for all §2D1.1 drug trafficking cases. A mandatory minimum applied to 34% of crack cocaine cases, compared with 58% across all drugs.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 463 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2025. 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.
The Smallest Yearly Count Since 2016
The U.S. Sentencing Commission recorded 463 people sentenced for crack cocaine trafficking in fiscal year 2025. The yearly table shows a higher count for every earlier fiscal year back to 2016, when the count was 1,544.
The records count sentences only. They do not show how many cases were charged in the same period, and they cannot show why the count changed.
Fiscal year 2025 ran from October 1, 2024, to September 30, 2025.
| 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% |
How Crack Cocaine Sentences Differed From All Drug Cases
Across all 15,950 people sentenced under §2D1.1 in fiscal year 2025, the median prison term was 72 months. The crack cocaine median of 60 months was lower.
Mandatory minimums applied less often in the crack cocaine group. A statutory minimum prison term applied to 159 of the 463 people (34%). For all drugs that year, the rate was 58%.
Prison Terms and Probation in 2025
Prison was ordered for 442 of the 463 people (95%). Probation only, with no prison or other confinement, was ordered for 20 (4%).
Among those who went to prison, a quarter received 100 months or more. A quarter received 24 months or less.
Which Way Did Sentences Depart From the Guidelines?
Guideline range information was available for 462 people. The largest group, 195 people (42%), received a sentence below the range at the government's request.
Another 141 (31%) were below the range without a government request. Within-range sentences numbered 116 (25%). Above-range sentences numbered 10 (2%).
A government request for a lower sentence usually takes the form of a motion. A judge may also impose a lower sentence without one. The data records the kind of departure or variance, not the reason.
Guilty Pleas and 9 Trial Convictions
Of the 463 people, 454 (98%) pleaded guilty. Only 9 were convicted after a trial.
The median prison term after a guilty plea was 60 months. After a trial, it was 180 months, a figure drawn from just 9 people. The plea and trial groups were not matched on their charges or facts, so the medians cannot be compared as like for like.
Most guilty pleas, 92%, were made under a written plea agreement. Straight pleas made up 8%.
Other Parts of the Sentence
Supervised release after prison was ordered for 440 people (95%), with a median of 36 months. 1 person (less than 1%) received supervised release for life.
A fine was ordered for 16 people (3%). Restitution was ordered for 5 (1%).
In criminal history category I, the lowest, were 25% of the group. In category VI, the highest, were 22%.
What These Records Do Not Include
Only convicted and sentenced people are in the Sentencing Commission data, so acquittals and dismissals do not appear. Court-martial records have no criminal history field and do not record drug type in a countable way. Military drug distribution cases are covered in separate posts.
How We Counted
People sentenced in fiscal year 2025 whose primary guideline was §2D1.1 and whose primary drug type was crack (463), 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 2024 (previous or next year)
- Federal Methamphetamine Trafficking Sentences, Fiscal Year 2025 (same year, other drug)
- Federal Powder Cocaine Trafficking Sentences, Fiscal Year 2025 (same year, other drug)
- Federal Heroin Trafficking Sentences, Fiscal Year 2025 (same year, other drug)
- Federal Fentanyl Trafficking Sentences, Fiscal Year 2025 (same year, other drug)
- Federal Marijuana Trafficking Sentences, Fiscal Year 2025 (same year, other drug)
- Federal Other Drug Trafficking Sentences, Fiscal Year 2025 (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.