> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.bodiesburied.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Federal Fentanyl Trafficking Sentences, Fiscal Year 2025 - URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-fentanyl-trafficking-sentences-fy2025/ - Published: 2026-11-03T06:11:55.000Z - Updated: 2026-11-03T06:11:55.000Z - Description: The median federal prison term for fentanyl trafficking in fiscal year 2025 was 65 months (5.4 years), the highest fentanyl median in the table. It covers 3,878 people sentenced that year. For all drug trafficking cases in fiscal year 2025, the median was higher, at 72 months. - Author: Jocelyn C. Stewart - Tags: Understanding Trends, Federal [Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/) › [Federal Prosecution Analysis](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal/) › [Drug Distribution and Importation](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-drug-distribution-importation-vs-article-112a/) › Fentanyl: FY2025 **In brief:** The median federal prison term for fentanyl trafficking in fiscal year 2025 was 65 months (5.4 years), the highest fentanyl median in the table. It covers 3,878 people sentenced that year. For all drug trafficking cases in fiscal year 2025, the median was higher, at 72 months. Updated November 3, 2026 · Sources: U.S. Sentencing Commission and Federal Judicial Center, fiscal years 2016–2025 This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 3,878 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](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal/) series, which builds on [Military Moves Toward Sentencing Guidelines to Mirror the Federal System](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/military-sentencing-guidelines-federal-system/). How the numbers were built: [How the Federal Comparison Data Was Built](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-data-methodology/). ## Median Prison Term for Fentanyl in Fiscal Year 2025 Among people sent to prison, the median term was 65 months. A median is the middle value: the term in the center when every term is placed in order. The spread was wide. A quarter of the group received 120 months or more, and a quarter received 33 months or less. 3 people were sentenced to life. The table shows the fentanyl median for each fiscal year from 2021 through 2025\. The fiscal year 2025 figure is the highest of those years. The records do not show why medians differ from year to year. | 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% | ## How Fentanyl Compared With Other Drugs Every §2D1.1 drug trafficking case in fiscal year 2025 is counted in a wider group of 15,950 people. That group had a median prison term of 72 months, higher than the fentanyl median. A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 2,030 fentanyl cases (52%). The share for every drug that year was 58%. For fentanyl across fiscal years 2016 to 2025, the share was 55%. ## Where These Numbers Come From The U.S. Sentencing Commission is the source. The post counts people whose primary guideline was §2D1.1, the guideline for drug trafficking, and whose primary drug type was fentanyl. The Commission's data holds only people who were convicted and sentenced. Anyone acquitted, and anyone whose case was dismissed, is missing from it. Federal fiscal year 2025 ran from October 1, 2024, through September 30, 2025. ## Prison or Probation Prison terms were imposed on 3,733 of the 3,878 people (96%). Probation only, with no prison or other confinement, was imposed on 128 (3%). ## Plea Cases and Trial Cases 3,794 people (98%) pleaded guilty. 84 were convicted after a trial. Written plea agreements were part of 94% of the guilty pleas. Straight pleas, with no agreement, were 6%. After a guilty plea, the median prison term was 63 months. After a trial, it was 240 months, based on 83 people convicted at trial and sent to prison. Trial cases may differ from plea cases in drug quantity, charges, and history, and the records do not measure those differences. ## Sentences and the Guideline Range The guideline range is the range of months produced by the federal sentencing guidelines for a case. The position of the sentence was recorded for 3,876 people. 43% (1,674) were sentenced below the range at the government's request. 30% (1,151) were sentenced within the range. 24% (927) were sentenced below the range without a government request. 3% (124) were sentenced above the range. ## Other Parts of the Sentence Supervised release was ordered for 3,683 people (95%), with a median term of 36 months. Lifetime supervised release was ordered for 3 people (less than 1%). There were fines for 152 people (4%) and restitution orders for 157 (4%). 42% of the group were in criminal history category I. 13% were in category VI. ## Gaps in the Record The federal data cannot be matched with courts-martial for this drug. Court-martial records do not track drug type in a countable way, and they have no criminal history field. Military drug distribution cases have their own posts. Nothing in these records explains the reasoning behind a particular sentence or a government request. ### How We Counted People sentenced in fiscal year 2025 whose primary guideline was §2D1.1 and whose primary drug type was fentanyl (3,878), 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](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/military-sentencing-guidelines-federal-system/) (the background article) - [Federal Prosecution Analysis](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal/) (all federal posts) - [How the Federal Comparison Data Was Built](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-data-methodology/) (sources and method) - [Drug Distribution and Importation: Federal vs. Court-Martial Sentences, 2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-drug-distribution-importation-vs-article-112a/) (overview) - [Federal Fentanyl Trafficking Sentences, Fiscal Year 2024](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-fentanyl-trafficking-sentences-fy2024/) (previous or next year) - [Federal Methamphetamine Trafficking Sentences, Fiscal Year 2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-methamphetamine-trafficking-sentences-fy2025/) (same year, other drug) - [Federal Powder Cocaine Trafficking Sentences, Fiscal Year 2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-powder-cocaine-trafficking-sentences-fy2025/) (same year, other drug) - [Federal Heroin Trafficking Sentences, Fiscal Year 2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-heroin-trafficking-sentences-fy2025/) (same year, other drug) - [Federal Marijuana Trafficking Sentences, Fiscal Year 2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-marijuana-trafficking-sentences-fy2025/) (same year, other drug) - [Federal Crack Cocaine Trafficking Sentences, Fiscal Year 2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-crack-cocaine-trafficking-sentences-fy2025/) (same year, other drug) - [Federal Other Drug Trafficking Sentences, Fiscal Year 2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-other-drug-trafficking-sentences-fy2025/) (same year, other drug) - [Drug Distribution Sentences Since the 2023 Military Sentencing Reform: What the Data Shows So Far](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-drug-distribution-2023-sentencing-reform-so-far/) - [Drug Distribution Charges: How Often Federal Trials and Courts-Martial End in Acquittal](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-drug-distribution-acquittal-rate-vs-courts-martial/) - [§2D1.1 Unlawful Manufacturing, Importing, Exporting, or Trafficking (Including Possession with Intent to Commit These Offenses): Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2d1-1-unlawful-manufacturing-importing-exporting-or-trafficking-including/) (court-martial data) - [Army Article 112a Cases by the Numbers, 2021–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/army-article-112a-trend-2021-2025/) (court-martial data) - [Are Air Force Drug Courts-Martial Disappearing? Article 112a, 2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/air-force-article-112a-trend-2016-2025/) (court-martial data) - [Is Navy-Marine Corps Drug Prosecution Rising or Falling? Article 112a, 2017–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/navy-marine-corps-article-112a-trend-2017-2025/) (court-martial data) - [Article 112a (Wrongful Use, Possession of Controlled Substances): Court-Martial Data and Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/article-112a-courts-martial/) (court-martial data) - [Article 112a UCMJ Drug Offenses and Positive Urinalysis](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/ucmj/article-112a-drug-offenses/?ref=bodiesburied.com) (law firm reference page) - [U.S. Sentencing Commission, Individual Offender Datafiles](https://www.ussc.gov/research/datafiles/commission-datafiles?ref=bodiesburied.com) (source) - [Federal Judicial Center, Integrated Database (criminal defendants)](https://www.fjc.gov/research/idb?ref=bodiesburied.com) (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](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/?ref=bodiesburied.com). This analysis is for education and information only. It is not legal advice, and every case is different.