§2A1.2 Second Degree Murder: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2025
In fiscal year 2025, 94 people were sentenced under §2A1.2, and 26% of those with the information recorded were subject to a mandatory minimum. The median prison term was 251 months (20.9 years), and 6 people received a life sentence.
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › §2A1.2 Second Degree Murder › §2A1.2: FY2025
In brief: In fiscal year 2025, 94 people were sentenced under §2A1.2, and 26% of those with the information recorded were subject to a mandatory minimum. The median prison term was 251 months (20.9 years), and 6 people received a life sentence.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 94 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2025. 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.
Mandatory Minimums and Government-Requested Reductions
A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 24 of the 94 people with that information recorded (26%).
The share of sentences below the guideline range at the government's request was 30% (28 of 94) in fiscal year 2025. Another 12% (11) were below the range without a government request.
Sentences within the range were 40% (38), and sentences above the range were 18% (17). The fiscal year 2025 within-range share was lower than the 46% for all years under this guideline.
Prison Terms in Fiscal Year 2025
The U.S. Sentencing Commission counted 94 people with §2A1.2 as the primary guideline, a guideline titled "Second Degree Murder" in the Guidelines Manual. All 94 received a prison term. None received probation only.
The median prison term was 251 months (20.9 years). A quarter received 353.4 months or more, and a quarter received 180 months or less. The terms are those imposed by the court, not time served.
Fiscal year 2025 ran from October 1, 2024 to September 30, 2025.
Pleas, Trials, and Plea Agreements
A total of 82 of the 94 people (87%) pleaded guilty, and 12 were convicted after a trial. Of those who pleaded guilty, 98% had a written plea agreement.
The median prison term was 240 months after a guilty plea and 312 months after a trial. The trial figure comes from 12 people.
After prison, 88 people (94%) were ordered to serve supervised release, with a median term of 60 months. A fine was ordered for 7 (7%) and restitution for 37 (39%).
Criminal History
The lowest criminal history category (Category I) held 47% of the group, and the highest (Category VI) held 13%.
Court-martial records do not include a criminal history field.
How Fiscal Year 2025 Fits With Earlier Years
The previous year, fiscal year 2024, had 105 people, a median prison term of 210 months, and 50% within the range. The 2025 median was higher.
For all fiscal years 2016 to 2025, the guideline covered 651 people, with a median of 234 months and 88% guilty pleas. The 2025 median was higher than that all-years median.
Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2025 totaled 66,662 people. Their median prison term was 24 months, 98% pleaded guilty, and 51% were within the range. The yearly table below lists each year 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 Cannot Be Read From These Records
The data includes only people who were convicted and sentenced. It has no acquittals or dismissals.
The records do not show why the share with a mandatory minimum or the median differs between years, and a single year does not make a trend. The guideline is paired with Article 118 of the UCMJ in the comparison posts, and this post reports federal numbers on their own.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2025 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2A1.2 (94), 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 2024 (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.