§2A1.1 First Degree Murder: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2018
In fiscal year 2018, 49% of the 234 people sentenced in federal court under §2A1.1 received a sentence below the guideline range at the government's request: 115 people. Another 39% were within the range. The median prison term was 324 months (27 years).
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In brief: In fiscal year 2018, 49% of the 234 people sentenced in federal court under §2A1.1 received a sentence below the guideline range at the government's request: 115 people. Another 39% were within the range. The median prison term was 324 months (27 years).
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 234 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.
Below the Range at the Government's Request
The largest group, 115 people (49%), received a sentence below the guideline range at the government's request. A smaller group of 27 (12%) went below the range without such a request. Within the range were 91 people (39%), and above the range was 1 person (less than 1%).
For all fiscal years 2016 to 2025 under §2A1.1, 39% of sentences were within the range. For everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2018, 51% were within the range.
Prison Terms and Life Sentences
All 234 people (100%) received a prison term. The median was 324 months (27 years). A quarter received 470 months or more, and a quarter received 216 months or less.
60 people received a life sentence. These are terms imposed, not time served.
Plea and Trial Sentences
A total of 173 people (74%) pleaded guilty, and 61 were convicted after a trial. The median prison term after a guilty plea was 273 months. After a trial it was 470 months, based on 61 people convicted at trial and sent to prison.
Among guilty pleas, 88% had a written plea agreement and 12% were straight pleas with no agreement.
Mandatory Minimums and Supervised Release
For 137 of the 234 people with that information recorded (59%), a mandatory minimum prison term applied. After release, 219 people (94%) were ordered to serve supervised release. The median supervised release term was 60 months, and 1 person (less than 1%) was given supervised release for life.
Fines and Restitution
A fine was ordered for 5 people (2%). Restitution was ordered for 87 (37%).
What §2A1.1 Is and How It Connects to Court-Martial Law
Guideline §2A1.1 carries the title "First Degree Murder." The U.S. Sentencing Commission classifies all 234 cases under the offense type Murder. October 1, 2017 to September 30, 2018 is the fiscal year covered.
Article 118 of the UCMJ is the approved court-martial pairing for this guideline, and the comparison posts take that up. In the federal data, 30% of people were in criminal history category I and 23% were in category VI. Court-martial records have no such field.
Surrounding Years
In fiscal year 2017 there were 245 people, with a median prison term of 360 months and 49% within the range. In fiscal year 2019 there were 260 people, with a median of 300 months and 38% within the range. Each year appears in the table.
Over fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 2,592 people were sentenced under §2A1.1. Looking at every guideline in fiscal year 2018, the total was 69,425 people and the median prison term was 24 months.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 224 | 264 months | 76% |
| 2017 | 245 | 360 months | 65% |
| 2018 | 234 | 324 months | 74% |
| 2019 | 260 | 300 months | 74% |
| 2020 | 226 | 300 months | 71% |
| 2021 | 176 | 246 months | 84% |
| 2022 | 286 | 264 months | 83% |
| 2023 | 338 | 313.1 months | 71% |
| 2024 | 344 | 324 months | 72% |
| 2025 | 259 | 360 months | 69% |
Limits of the Records
The data count only people who were convicted and sentenced. They do not show the facts of any case or why the government asked for a lower sentence.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2018 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2A1.1 (234), U.S. Sentencing Commission individual data files. The primary guideline is the one that set the offense level for the most serious count.
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.
Who decides the sentence, and under what rules. Federal judges sentence every federal case. They must calculate the Sentencing Guidelines range, which is advisory, and must impose any mandatory minimum the statute requires unless an exception applies. In courts-martial, the accused could choose sentencing by members until the rules changed. For cases in which every guilty finding is for an offense committed after December 27, 2023, a military judge sentences alone, within sentencing parameters. Courts-martial tried in 2024 and later include both old-rule and new-rule cases, and the data cannot tell them apart.
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.
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.
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)
- §2A1.1 First Degree Murder: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- §2A1.1 First Degree Murder: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2017 (previous or next fiscal year)
- §2A1.1 First Degree Murder: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2019 (previous or next fiscal year)
- How Often Federal Judges Sentence Outside the Guideline Range
- Mandatory Minimums: How Many Federal Sentences Are Set by Congress
- Is Army Murder Prosecution Rising or Falling? Article 118, 2021–2025 (court-martial data)
- Article 118 Sentences in the Air Force: Confinement and Discharges, 2016–2025 (court-martial data)
- How Has Article 118 Changed in Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial Since 2017? (court-martial data)
- How Much Confinement for an Article 118 Conviction in the Navy-Marine Corps? (court-martial data)
- Article 118 (Murder): Court-Martial Data and Trends (court-martial data)
- Article 118 UCMJ: Murder (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.