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# §2A1.1 First Degree Murder: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2021
- URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2a1-1-first-degree-murder-fy2021/
- Published: 2026-11-04T10:07:17.000Z
- Updated: 2026-11-04T10:07:17.000Z
- Description: In fiscal year 2021, 176 people were sentenced in federal court under §2A1.1, and 147 of them (84%) pleaded guilty. All 176 received a prison term, with a median of 246 months (20.5 years). 23 people received a life sentence.
- Author: Jocelyn C. Stewart
- Tags: Understanding Trends, Federal

[Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/) › [Federal Prosecution Analysis](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal/) › [§2A1.1 First Degree Murder](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2a1-1-first-degree-murder/) › §2A1.1: FY2021

**In brief:** In fiscal year 2021, 176 people were sentenced in federal court under §2A1.1, and 147 of them (84%) pleaded guilty. All 176 received a prison term, with a median of 246 months (20.5 years). 23 people received a life sentence.

Updated November 4, 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 176 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2021\. 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/).

## A Small Count and a High Plea Rate

Fiscal year 2021 had 176 people under this guideline, a count that is smaller than in 2020, when there were 226\. Of the 176, 147 (84%) pleaded guilty and 29 were convicted after a trial.

Among guilty pleas, 93% had a written plea agreement and 5% were straight pleas with no agreement. The records do not show why the count was smaller this year.

## How Long Were Prison Terms?

Every person (100%) received a prison term. The median was 246 months (20.5 years). A quarter received 402 months or more, and a quarter received 180 months or less.

23 people received a life sentence. After a guilty plea the median prison term was 240 months. After a trial it was 470 months, based on 29 people convicted at trial and sent to prison.

## Mandatory Minimums

A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 82 of the 176 people with that information recorded (47%). Terms are those imposed, not time served.

The records do not name the statutes that set these minimums. They also do not show how a minimum changed the sentence in any one case.

## Sentences Compared With the Guideline Range

Below the range at the government's request: 51% (89 people). Within the range: 33% (58). Below the range without a government request: 15% (26). Above the range: 2% (3).

For all fiscal years 2016 to 2025 under §2A1.1, 39% of sentences were within the range. Fiscal year 2020 had 36% and fiscal year 2022 had 29%. For every guideline in fiscal year 2021, the figure was 43%.

A sentence below the range at the government's request is the most common result in this group. The records do not give the reasons for any of those requests.

## Supervised Release, Fines, and Restitution

Supervised release after prison was ordered for 175 people (more than 99%), with a median term of 60 months. 2 people (1%) were given supervised release for life. A fine was ordered for 5 (3%). Restitution was ordered for 56 (32%).

## The Guideline and the UCMJ Pairing

The Guidelines Manual lists §2A1.1 under the title "First Degree Murder." The offense type the Commission assigns to the 176 cases is Murder. The fiscal year ran from October 1, 2020 to September 30, 2021.

The approved crosswalk pairs the guideline with Article 118 of the UCMJ, which the comparison posts examine. Court-martial records lack a criminal history field. In the federal group, 30% were in the lowest criminal history category and 14% in the highest.

## Years Before and After

Fiscal year 2020 had a median prison term of 300 months, and fiscal year 2022 had 264 months, with 286 people. The table lists 2016 to 2025, and 2,592 people were sentenced under this guideline across those years.

For everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2021, there were 57,287 people and the median prison term was 29 months. Only convicted and sentenced people are in the data.

| 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 2021 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2A1.1 (176), 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](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)
- [§2A1.1 First Degree Murder: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2a1-1-first-degree-murder/) (overview)
- [§2A1.1 First Degree Murder: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2020](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2a1-1-first-degree-murder-fy2020/) (previous or next fiscal year)
- [§2A1.1 First Degree Murder: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2022](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2a1-1-first-degree-murder-fy2022/) (previous or next fiscal year)
- [How Often Federal Judges Sentence Outside the Guideline Range](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-sentences-outside-guideline-range/)
- [Mandatory Minimums: How Many Federal Sentences Are Set by Congress](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-mandatory-minimum-sentences/)
- [Is Army Murder Prosecution Rising or Falling? Article 118, 2021–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/army-article-118-trend-2021-2025/) (court-martial data)
- [Article 118 Sentences in the Air Force: Confinement and Discharges, 2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/air-force-article-118-sent-2016-2025/) (court-martial data)
- [How Has Article 118 Changed in Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial Since 2017?](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/navy-marine-corps-article-118-trend-2017-2025/) (court-martial data)
- [How Much Confinement for an Article 118 Conviction in the Navy-Marine Corps?](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/navy-marine-corps-article-118-sent-2017-2025/) (court-martial data)
- [Article 118 (Murder): Court-Martial Data and Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/article-118-courts-martial/) (court-martial data)
- [Article 118 UCMJ: Murder](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/practice-areas/court-martial/article-118/?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.