§2A1.2 Second Degree Murder: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2019
The median prison term under §2A1.2 in fiscal year 2019 was 180 months (15 years) for 45 people, the lowest median in the table for fiscal years 2016 to 2025. All 45 received a prison term, and 43 (96%) pleaded guilty.
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In brief: The median prison term under §2A1.2 in fiscal year 2019 was 180 months (15 years) for 45 people, the lowest median in the table for fiscal years 2016 to 2025. All 45 received a prison term, and 43 (96%) pleaded guilty.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 45 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.
A Median of 180 Months
All 45 people (100%) were sentenced to prison. The median prison term was 180 months. A quarter received 300 months or more, and a quarter received 120 months or less.
In fiscal year 2018, the median under this guideline was 259 months, and in fiscal year 2020 it was 210 months. Across fiscal years 2016 to 2025, it was 234 months. For all guidelines in fiscal year 2019, it was 21 months.
Almost All Pleaded Guilty
43 people (96%) pleaded guilty, and 2 were convicted after a trial. This compares with 88% across all years for this guideline and 98% for all guidelines in fiscal year 2019.
The median prison term was 180 months after a guilty plea and 300 months after a trial. A trial group of 2 people is too small for a comparison. 91% of the guilty pleas had a written plea agreement, and 9% were straight pleas.
Sentences Above the Range
Position against the guideline range showed 16 sentences (36%) within the range and 12 (27%) above it. 11 sentences (24%) were below the range at the government's request, and 6 (13%) were below it without that request.
In fiscal year 2018, 51% of sentences were within the range, and in fiscal year 2020 the figure was 63%.
Mandatory Minimums and Supervised Release
A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 8 of the 45 people with that information recorded (18%).
All 45 people (100%) were ordered to serve supervised release after prison, with a median term of 60 months.
Fines, Restitution, and Criminal History
A fine was ordered for 3 people (7%), and restitution for 20 (44%).
67% of the people were in criminal history category I, the lowest. 11% were in category VI, the highest. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.
About This Guideline and the Table
The Sentencing Guidelines Manual titles §2A1.2 "Second Degree Murder," and the Commission lists these cases as the offense type Murder. Fiscal year 2019 ran from October 1, 2018 to September 30, 2019.
The table shows every year. The guideline is part of the approved pairing with Article 118 of the UCMJ, covered in the comparison posts.
| 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% |
What the Records Cannot Show
A median is the middle value when prison terms are listed from shortest to longest, and prison terms are those imposed at sentencing, not time served. The primary guideline is the one that set the offense level for the most serious count, so other counts in a case are not described here.
Only convicted and sentenced people are in the data. Acquittals and dismissals are not, and the records do not say why the median in fiscal year 2019 is different from other years.
With 45 people in the year, the figures should not be read as a trend.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2019 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2A1.2 (45), 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)
- §2A1.2 Second Degree Murder: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- §2A1.2 Second Degree Murder: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2018 (previous or next fiscal year)
- §2A1.2 Second 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.