§2A1.1 First Degree Murder: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2020
In fiscal year 2020, 160 of the 226 people sentenced in federal court under §2A1.1 (71%) pleaded guilty, with a median prison term of 198 months. The 66 convicted after a trial had a median of 470 months. The overall median was 300 months (25 years).
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In brief: In fiscal year 2020, 160 of the 226 people sentenced in federal court under §2A1.1 (71%) pleaded guilty, with a median prison term of 198 months. The 66 convicted after a trial had a median of 470 months. The overall median was 300 months (25 years).
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 226 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2020. 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.
Sentences After Guilty Pleas in Fiscal Year 2020
Of the 226 people, 160 (71%) pleaded guilty and 66 were convicted after a trial. The median prison term after a guilty plea was 198 months. After a trial it was 470 months, based on 66 people convicted at trial and sent to prison.
Of the guilty pleas, 84% had a written plea agreement and 16% were straight pleas with no agreement. The data cannot show how the cases in the plea and trial groups differed.
Overall Prison Terms
All 226 people (100%) received a prison term. The median was 300 months (25 years). A quarter received 447.8 months or more, and a quarter received 144 months or less.
46 people received a life sentence. Prison terms are those imposed, not time served.
Mandatory Minimums
A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 128 of the 226 people with that information recorded (57%). The records do not name the statutes involved.
Guideline Range Position
Below the range at the government's request: 46% (103 people). Within the range: 36% (81). Below the range without a government request: 18% (40). Above the range: less than 1% (2).
Fiscal year 2019 had 38% within the range under this guideline, and fiscal year 2021 had 33%. For all guidelines in fiscal year 2020, 50% were within the range. For all years from 2016 to 2025 under §2A1.1, the figure is 39%.
After Release and Financial Orders
Supervised release after prison was ordered for 219 people (97%), with a median term of 60 months, and 3 people (1%) were given supervised release for life. A fine was ordered for 13 (6%). Restitution was ordered for 67 (30%).
What the Guideline Says and Where It Fits
§2A1.1 is titled "First Degree Murder." The Sentencing Commission puts these 226 cases under the offense type Murder. The fiscal year began on October 1, 2019 and ended on September 30, 2020.
In the approved crosswalk, this guideline pairs with Article 118 of the UCMJ. See the comparison posts for that pairing. Court-martial records have no criminal history field. In the federal group, 26% were in the lowest criminal history category and 13% in the highest.
A Look at Other Years
Fiscal year 2019 had 260 people under this guideline and a median prison term of 300 months. Fiscal year 2021 had 176 people and a median of 246 months. The table covers every year from 2016 to 2025.
Over all those years, 2,592 people were sentenced under §2A1.1. For every guideline in fiscal year 2020, there were 64,565 people and the median prison term was 18 months. The data include only people who were convicted and sentenced.
| 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 2020 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2A1.1 (226), 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 2019 (previous or next fiscal year)
- §2A1.1 First Degree Murder: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2021 (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.