§2A1.2 Second Degree Murder: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2020
Only 27 people were sentenced under §2A1.2 in fiscal year 2020, the smallest count in the table for fiscal years 2016 to 2025. All 27 received a prison term, the median was 210 months (17.5 years), and 17 sentences (63%) were within the guideline range.
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › §2A1.2 Second Degree Murder › §2A1.2: FY2020
In brief: Only 27 people were sentenced under §2A1.2 in fiscal year 2020, the smallest count in the table for fiscal years 2016 to 2025. All 27 received a prison term, the median was 210 months (17.5 years), and 17 sentences (63%) were within the guideline range.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 27 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.
A Small Count for Fiscal Year 2020
The Commission counted 27 people with §2A1.2 as the primary guideline in fiscal year 2020. In fiscal year 2019 the count was 45, and in fiscal year 2021 it was 45. Across fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 651 people were sentenced under this guideline.
A group of 27 is small, so one year of figures should not be read as a trend.
Prison Terms
All 27 people (100%) were sentenced to prison. The median prison term was 210 months. A quarter received 325 months or more, and a quarter received 168 months or less. 1 person received a life sentence.
For all guidelines in fiscal year 2020, the median was 18 months. For this guideline over all years, it was 234 months.
Within the Range More Often
17 of the 27 sentences (63%) were within the guideline range. 4 (15%) were below the range at the government's request, and 2 (7%) were below it without that request. 4 sentences (15%) were above the range.
In fiscal year 2019, 36% of sentences under this guideline were within the range, and in fiscal year 2021 the figure was also 36%. For all guidelines in fiscal year 2020, it was 50%.
Pleas and Trial Convictions
25 people (93%) pleaded guilty, and 2 were convicted after a trial. Of the guilty pleas, 84% had a written plea agreement and 16% were straight pleas.
The median prison term was 210 months after a guilty plea and 309.5 months after a trial. The trial figure is based on 2 people and says little on its own.
Mandatory Minimums, Orders, and Criminal History
A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 2 of the 27 people with that information recorded (7%). 26 people (96%) were ordered to serve supervised release, with a median term of 60 months.
No fine was ordered for any of the 27 (0%). Restitution was ordered for 14 (52%). 33% were in criminal history category I, the lowest, and 22% were in category VI, the highest.
Definitions and Table
The guideline is titled "Second Degree Murder" in the Sentencing Guidelines Manual, and the Commission lists these cases as the offense type Murder. Fiscal year 2020 ran from October 1, 2019 to September 30, 2020.
The table lists each year's count and median. 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% |
Limits of the Data
Only convicted and sentenced people are counted, so acquittals and dismissals are not in the data. The records do not explain why the count in fiscal year 2020 is smaller than in other years, and they do not describe individual cases.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2020 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2A1.2 (27), 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 2019 (previous or next fiscal year)
- §2A1.2 Second 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.