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# §2A1.2 Second Degree Murder: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2017
- URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2a1-2-second-degree-murder-fy2017/
- Published: 2026-11-04T10:27:22.000Z
- Updated: 2026-11-04T10:27:22.000Z
- Description: Of the 40 people who pleaded guilty under §2A1.2 in fiscal year 2017, 100% had a written plea agreement. The median prison term for all 46 people sentenced was 229.5 months (19.1 years), and the median for the 6 people convicted after a trial was 360 months.
- Author: Jocelyn C. Stewart
- Tags: Understanding Trends, Federal

[Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/) › [Federal Prosecution Analysis](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal/) › [§2A1.2 Second Degree Murder](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2a1-2-second-degree-murder/) › §2A1.2: FY2017

**In brief:** Of the 40 people who pleaded guilty under §2A1.2 in fiscal year 2017, 100% had a written plea agreement. The median prison term for all 46 people sentenced was 229.5 months (19.1 years), and the median for the 6 people convicted after a trial was 360 months.

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 46 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2017\. 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/).

## Plea Agreements and the Plea Rate

40 of the 46 people (87%) pleaded guilty, and 6 were convicted after a trial. Every guilty plea in this fiscal year came with a written plea agreement, and none was a straight plea.

For all guidelines in fiscal year 2017, 97% of people pleaded guilty. Across fiscal years 2016 to 2025, the plea rate for §2A1.2 was 88%.

## Prison Terms After a Plea and After a Trial

The median prison term was 213 months after a guilty plea and 360 months after a trial. The trial figure rests on 6 people, which is a small group, and the records do not show why the terms differ.

All 46 people (100%) were sentenced to prison. The overall median was 229.5 months. A quarter received 286 months or more, and a quarter received 180 months or less.

## Life Sentences and Supervised Release

2 people received a life sentence. 45 people (98%) were ordered to serve supervised release after prison, with a median term of 60 months, and 1 person (2%) received supervised release for life.

A fine was ordered for 3 people (7%), and restitution for 19 (41%).

## Range Position and Mandatory Minimums

25 sentences (54%) were within the guideline range. 7 (15%) were below the range at the government's request, and 5 (11%) were below it without a government request. 9 sentences (20%) were above the range.

A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 4 of the 46 people with that information recorded (9%). For all guidelines in fiscal year 2017, 49% of sentences were within the range.

## Neighboring Years

In fiscal year 2016, 52 people were sentenced under this guideline, with a median of 210 months and 44% of sentences within the range. In fiscal year 2018, 47 people were sentenced, with a median of 259 months and 51% within the range.

The median for all guidelines in fiscal year 2017 was 24 months. For §2A1.2 across fiscal years 2016 to 2025, it was 234 months for 651 people.

## Criminal History and the Table

50% of the people were in criminal history category I, the lowest, and 11% were in category VI, the highest.

The table lists the count, median prison term, and plea rate for fiscal years 2016 to 2025.

| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
| ----------- | ---------------- | ------------- | -------------- |
| 2016        | 52               | 210 months    | 88%            |
| 2017        | 46               | 229.5 months  | 87%            |
| 2018        | 47               | 259 months    | 83%            |
| 2019        | 45               | 180 months    | 96%            |
| 2020        | 27               | 210 months    | 93%            |
| 2021        | 45               | 210 months    | 100%           |
| 2022        | 80               | 218 months    | 85%            |
| 2023        | 110              | 262 months    | 84%            |
| 2024        | 105              | 210 months    | 90%            |
| 2025        | 94               | 251 months    | 87%            |

## Definitions and Limits

The Sentencing Guidelines Manual titles §2A1.2 "Second Degree Murder," and the Commission places these cases under the offense type Murder. Fiscal year 2017 ran from October 1, 2016 to September 30, 2017\. The guideline is part of the approved pairing with Article 118 of the UCMJ, covered in the comparison posts.

Only convicted and sentenced people are in the data. Acquittals and dismissals are not, and the records give no facts of individual cases.

### How We Counted

Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2017 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2A1.2 (46), 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)
- [§2A1.2 Second Degree Murder: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2a1-2-second-degree-murder/) (overview)
- [§2A1.2 Second Degree Murder: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2016](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2a1-2-second-degree-murder-fy2016/) (previous or next fiscal year)
- [§2A1.2 Second Degree Murder: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2018](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2a1-2-second-degree-murder-fy2018/) (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.