§2A1.2 Second Degree Murder: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2024
Of the 105 people sentenced under §2A1.2 in fiscal year 2024, 90% pleaded guilty and all 105 were sent to prison. The median prison term was 210 months (17.5 years), which was lower than the median of 262 months in fiscal year 2023 and the median of 234 months for all years.
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › §2A1.2 Second Degree Murder › §2A1.2: FY2024
In brief: Of the 105 people sentenced under §2A1.2 in fiscal year 2024, 90% pleaded guilty and all 105 were sent to prison. The median prison term was 210 months (17.5 years), which was lower than the median of 262 months in fiscal year 2023 and the median of 234 months for all years.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 105 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.
Fiscal Year 2024 at a Glance
The U.S. Sentencing Commission recorded 105 people in fiscal year 2024 whose primary guideline was §2A1.2, titled "Second Degree Murder" in the Guidelines Manual. All 105 received a prison term, and none received probation only.
The median prison term was 210 months (17.5 years). A quarter received 315 months or more, and a quarter received 156 months or less. 2 people received a life sentence.
The fiscal year ran from October 1, 2023 to September 30, 2024.
Pleas and Trials
A total of 95 of the 105 people (90%) pleaded guilty. The other 10 were convicted after a trial.
After a guilty plea, the median prison term was 200 months. After a trial it was 295.5 months. Only 10 people are in the trial group, so that median is based on a small number of cases.
Of those who pleaded guilty, 95% had a written plea agreement and 5% were straight pleas with no agreement.
Sentences Compared With the Guideline Range
Sentences within the range were 50% (53) of the 105 people with the information. Below-range sentences at the government's request were 22% (23), and below-range sentences without a government request were 10% (10). Sentences above the range were 18% (19).
A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 18 of the 104 people with that information recorded (17%).
Supervised release was ordered for 101 people (96%), with a median term of 60 months. A fine was ordered for 2 people (2%), and restitution for 36 (34%).
Criminal History
In this year, 46% of the group was in the lowest criminal history category (Category I) and 6% was in the highest (Category VI).
Court-martial records do not have a criminal history field, so there is no military number to set beside these.
Earlier Years, Later Years, and All Cases
Fiscal year 2023 had 110 people under this guideline, a median of 262 months, and 45% within the range. Fiscal year 2025 had 94 people, a median of 251 months, and 40% within the range. The median for fiscal year 2024 was lower than both neighbors.
Across fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 651 people were sentenced under §2A1.2. All were sent to prison, 88% pleaded guilty, and 46% were within the range.
For comparison, everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2024 totaled 61,678 people. Their median prison term was 30 months, 97% pleaded guilty, and 46% were sentenced within the range.
The yearly table covers every fiscal year from 2016 to 2025 for this guideline.
| 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 Leave Out
The Commission data counts only people who were convicted and sentenced. Acquittals and dismissals do not appear, and the prison terms are the terms imposed, not time served.
A single year is not a trend, and the records cannot show why the median differs from year to year. This guideline is part of the approved pairing with Article 118 of the UCMJ. This post reports the federal numbers on their own.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2024 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2A1.2 (105), 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 2023 (previous or next fiscal year)
- §2A1.2 Second 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.