§2A1.1 First Degree Murder: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2019
A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 144 of the 259 people (56%) with that information recorded among the 260 sentenced in federal court under §2A1.1 in fiscal year 2019. The median prison term was 300 months (25 years), and 60 people received a life sentence.
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In brief: A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 144 of the 259 people (56%) with that information recorded among the 260 sentenced in federal court under §2A1.1 in fiscal year 2019. The median prison term was 300 months (25 years), and 60 people received a life sentence.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 260 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2019. 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.
How Often a Mandatory Minimum Applied
A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 144 of the 259 people with that information recorded (56%). A mandatory minimum is a statutory floor for the sentence.
The records do not show which statute set the floor in each case, and they cannot show how a floor affected the final sentence.
The Length of Prison Terms
Of the 260 people, 259 (more than 99%) received a prison term, and 1 (less than 1%) received probation only. The median prison term was 300 months (25 years). A quarter received 470 months or more, and a quarter received 159 months or less.
60 people received a life sentence. The terms are those the court imposed, not time served.
Guilty Pleas and Trial Verdicts
A guilty plea was entered by 193 people (74%), and 67 were convicted after a trial. After a guilty plea the median prison term was 240 months. After a trial it was 470 months, based on 67 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.
Where Sentences Fell Against the Range
Below the range at the government's request: 47% (122 people). Within the range: 38% (99). Below the range without a government request: 14% (37). Above the range: less than 1% (2).
Across all fiscal years 2016 to 2025 under §2A1.1, 39% of sentences were within the range, and for every guideline in fiscal year 2019 the figure was 51%. Fiscal year 2018 had 39% within the range under this guideline, and fiscal year 2020 had 36%.
Release Conditions and Money Orders
Supervised release after prison was ordered for 250 people (96%), with a median term of 60 months. 3 people (1%) received supervised release for life. A fine was ordered for 4 (2%). Restitution was ordered for 71 (27%).
The Guideline and Its Military Counterpart
The Guidelines Manual's title for §2A1.1 is "First Degree Murder," and the Commission's offense type for the 260 cases is Murder. The fiscal year ran from October 1, 2018 to September 30, 2019. Only people who were convicted and sentenced are counted.
The approved crosswalk pairs this guideline with Article 118 of the UCMJ, and the comparison posts discuss the pair. Court-martial records have no criminal history field. In the federal group, 35% were in the lowest criminal history category and 17% in the highest.
Counts From Year to Year
Fiscal year 2018 had 234 people with a median prison term of 324 months. Fiscal year 2020 had 226 people with a median of 300 months. The table lists 2016 to 2025.
A total of 2,592 people were sentenced under this guideline across those years. For every guideline in fiscal year 2019, there were 76,538 people and the median prison term was 21 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% |
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2019 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2A1.1 (260), 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 2018 (previous or next fiscal year)
- §2A1.1 First Degree Murder: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2020 (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.