§2A1.1 First Degree Murder: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2024
Fiscal year 2024 had 344 people sentenced in federal court under §2A1.1, a count higher than any other year in the table from 2016 to 2025. 102 received a life sentence. The median prison term was 324 months (27 years).
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In brief: Fiscal year 2024 had 344 people sentenced in federal court under §2A1.1, a count higher than any other year in the table from 2016 to 2025. 102 received a life sentence. The median prison term was 324 months (27 years).
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 344 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2024. 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.
The Largest Group Sentenced Under §2A1.1
The 344 people in fiscal year 2024 are the highest count in the yearly table. Fiscal year 2023 had 338 and fiscal year 2025 had 259. All 344 received a prison term (100%).
Of the 344, 102 received a life sentence. The median prison term was 324 months (27 years). A quarter received 470 months or more, and a quarter received 204 months or less.
Guilty Pleas and Trials
A total of 248 people (72%) pleaded guilty, and 96 were convicted after a trial. The median prison term after a guilty plea was 262 months. After a trial it was 470 months, based on 96 people convicted at trial and sent to prison.
Among guilty pleas, 96% had a written plea agreement and 4% were straight pleas with no agreement.
The plea and trial groups differ in size and in the cases they contain. The records cannot show how much of the gap in median terms comes from the plea itself.
Sentences Against the Guideline Range
Within the range: 43% (148 people). Below the range at the government's request: 46% (158). Below the range without a government request: 10% (33). Above the range: 1% (5).
Fiscal year 2023 had 40% within the range under this guideline, and fiscal year 2025 had 40%. Across all fiscal years 2016 to 2025, the share was 39%. For every guideline in fiscal year 2024, it was 46%.
Mandatory Minimums
A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 167 of the 344 people with that information recorded (49%).
A mandatory minimum is a lowest sentence set by statute. The records do not name the statute behind each minimum, and they do not show how a minimum affected the sentence in any one case.
Supervised Release and Financial Orders
Supervised release after prison was ordered for 330 people (96%), with a median term of 60 months. 5 people (1%) received supervised release for life. A fine was ordered for 12 (3%). Restitution was ordered for 131 (38%).
Guideline Title, Fiscal Year, and the UCMJ Link
§2A1.1 carries the title "First Degree Murder" in the Guidelines Manual. The offense type for the 344 cases in the Commission's data is Murder. Fiscal year 2024 ran from October 1, 2023 to September 30, 2024.
The approved crosswalk pairs this guideline with Article 118 of the UCMJ, covered in the comparison posts. Court-martial records have no criminal history field. In the federal group, 42% were in the lowest criminal history category and 12% in the highest.
All Years Together
Across fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 2,592 people were sentenced under §2A1.1, with a median prison term of 300 months. For every guideline in fiscal year 2024, there were 61,678 people and the median prison term was 30 months. The data include only people who were convicted and sentenced, and the terms are those imposed, not time served.
The count in a single year does not show why it differs from other years.
| 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 2024 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2A1.1 (344), 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 2023 (previous or next fiscal year)
- §2A1.1 First Degree Murder: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2025 (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.