Federal Fentanyl Trafficking Sentences, Fiscal Year 2022
Federal courts sentenced 2,501 people for fentanyl trafficking in fiscal year 2022. For 46% of them (1,138), the sentence was below the guideline range at the government's request. The median prison term was 57 months (4.8 years), and 98% of the 2,501 pleaded guilty.
Understanding Trends in Military Practice · 7 min read
Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › Drug Distribution and Importation › Fentanyl: FY2022
In brief: Federal courts sentenced 2,501 people for fentanyl trafficking in fiscal year 2022. For 46% of them (1,138), the sentence was below the guideline range at the government's request. The median prison term was 57 months (4.8 years), and 98% of the 2,501 pleaded guilty.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 2,501 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2022. 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.
Government Requests Were the Most Common Result
Federal judges start from a guideline range, a span of months the sentencing guidelines produce from the offense and the person's record. The records show the sentence's position against that range for 2,500 of the 2,501 people.
A sentence below the range at the government's request was the most common result: 46% (1,138). A sentence within the range followed at 28% (691).
Below the range without a government request accounted for 24% (592). Above the range accounted for 3% (79). The records do not say what led the government to make a request in any case.
What the Fiscal Year 2022 Count Covers
These are U.S. Sentencing Commission records. The group is people sentenced under §2D1.1, the drug trafficking guideline, whose primary drug the Commission recorded as fentanyl.
Only convicted and sentenced people appear. Cases that ended in acquittal or dismissal are left out.
The federal fiscal year runs from October 1 to September 30. Fiscal year 2022 therefore covers sentences from October 1, 2021, through September 30, 2022.
Prison Terms, Probation, and Life Sentences
A prison term was imposed on 2,439 people (98%). Probation only, with no prison or other confinement, was imposed on 58 (2%).
The median prison term was 57 months. At the upper end, a quarter received 90 months or more. At the lower end, a quarter received 24 months or less. 3 people received a life sentence.
For all drugs under §2D1.1 in fiscal year 2022, the median prison term was 60 months. Fentanyl across fiscal years 2016 to 2025 also had a median of 60 months. The fiscal year 2022 fentanyl median was lower than both.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 1,648 | 48 months | 99% |
| 2022 | 2,501 | 57 months | 98% |
| 2023 | 3,338 | 60 months | 98% |
| 2024 | 3,963 | 60 months | 98% |
| 2025 | 3,878 | 65 months | 98% |
Plea Agreements and the Few Trials
Of the 2,501 people, 2,458 (98%) pleaded guilty. The remaining 43 were convicted after a trial.
A written plea agreement was part of 93% of the guilty pleas. Straight pleas with no agreement made up 7%.
People who pleaded guilty had a median prison term of 54 months. People convicted at trial had a median of 180 months, based on 43 people sent to prison. These groups were not chosen at random, so the difference cannot be read as the cost of going to trial.
How Often Did a Mandatory Minimum Apply?
A statutory mandatory minimum prison term applied to 1,539 people (62%).
That share was lower than the 67% for all §2D1.1 drug trafficking cases in fiscal year 2022. It was higher than the 55% for fentanyl across all fiscal years from 2016 to 2025.
After Prison: Supervision and Other Penalties
Courts ordered supervised release for 2,397 people (96%), with a median term of 36 months. 2 people (less than 1%) received supervised release for life.
Fines were ordered for 99 people (4%), and restitution for 63 (3%).
Criminal history category I, the lowest, included 39% of the group. Category VI, the highest, included 14%.
What the Records Leave Out
Drug type is not recorded in court-martial records in a way that can be counted, so this post makes no military comparison. Military records also lack a criminal history field. Separate posts cover military drug distribution cases.
The federal numbers cannot show why any person received a given sentence or how strong the evidence was in a case.
How We Counted
People sentenced in fiscal year 2022 whose primary guideline was §2D1.1 and whose primary drug type was fentanyl (2,501), 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 Fentanyl Trafficking Sentences, Fiscal Year 2021 (previous or next year)
- Federal Fentanyl Trafficking Sentences, Fiscal Year 2023 (previous or next year)
- Federal Methamphetamine Trafficking Sentences, Fiscal Year 2022 (same year, other drug)
- Federal Powder Cocaine Trafficking Sentences, Fiscal Year 2022 (same year, other drug)
- Federal Heroin Trafficking Sentences, Fiscal Year 2022 (same year, other drug)
- Federal Marijuana Trafficking Sentences, Fiscal Year 2022 (same year, other drug)
- Federal Crack Cocaine Trafficking Sentences, Fiscal Year 2022 (same year, other drug)
- Federal Other Drug Trafficking Sentences, Fiscal Year 2022 (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.