§2A1.3 Voluntary Manslaughter: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025
Federal courts sentenced 325 people under §2A1.3 in fiscal years 2016 to 2025, and 324 of them received prison. The median prison term was 99 months (8.2 years). Sentences above the guideline range were given to 118 people (36%).
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In brief: Federal courts sentenced 325 people under §2A1.3 in fiscal years 2016 to 2025, and 324 of them received prison. The median prison term was 99 months (8.2 years). Sentences above the guideline range were given to 118 people (36%).
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 325 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal years 2016 to 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.
What Section 2A1.3 Covers
The Sentencing Guidelines Manual titles §2A1.3 "Voluntary Manslaughter," and the Sentencing Commission files these cases as Manslaughter. A person is counted when §2A1.3 was the primary guideline, the one that set the offense level for the most serious count.
Acquittals and dismissals are not in the data. It covers only people who were convicted and sentenced. Because the data starts at sentencing, it does not show how many charged cases ended another way.
The Length of Prison Terms
Only 1 person (less than 1%) received probation only. For the 324 who went to prison, the median was 99 months. A quarter received 144 months or more, and a quarter received 78 months or less.
A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 25 people (8%). The terms are those imposed, not time served.
Sentences Above the Range
Above the guideline range were 118 of the 325 sentences (36%). Within the range were 148 (46%). Below the range at the government's request were 34 (10%), and below the range without a request were 25 (8%).
Above-range sentences were the second most common group, after sentences within the range. The records do not show how far above the range any sentence was.
Pleas and Trials
Guilty pleas were entered by 300 people (92%), and 25 were convicted after a trial. Among those who pleaded guilty, 95% had a written plea agreement.
The median prison term after a guilty plea was 97 months. After a trial it was 121 months, based on 25 people. Trial convictions were a small share of the 325, so the overall median of 99 months is close to the plea median.
Supervised Release, Fines, and Restitution
Supervised release after prison was ordered for 316 people (97%), with a median term of 36 months. A fine was ordered for 5 people (2%). Restitution was ordered for 142 people (44%).
On criminal history, 47% were in the lowest criminal history category I, and 6% were in the highest, VI.
How Sentences Changed Over the Decade
The median prison term was 97 months in fiscal years 2016 to 2019, covering 107 people, and 100 months in fiscal years 2020 to 2025, covering 218 people. That is about the same.
The yearly table shows 12 people sentenced in 2020 and 50 in 2024, so counts changed more than medians. Yearly medians were 83 months in 2018, 113.5 months in 2017, and 111.5 months in 2025. The records do not explain the year-to-year differences.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 27 | 108 months | 96% |
| 2017 | 30 | 113.5 months | 93% |
| 2018 | 23 | 83 months | 96% |
| 2019 | 27 | 96 months | 96% |
| 2020 | 12 | 100.5 months | 92% |
| 2021 | 28 | 91 months | 96% |
| 2022 | 40 | 107.5 months | 88% |
| 2023 | 43 | 97 months | 91% |
| 2024 | 50 | 109 months | 86% |
| 2025 | 45 | 111.5 months | 96% |
Court-Martial Crosswalk
This guideline is part of the approved pairing with Article 119 of the UCMJ, which the comparison posts cover. This post gives only the federal side.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2A1.3 (325), from the U.S. Sentencing Commission's 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)
- §2A3.5 Failure to Register as a Sex Offender: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025 (same guideline chapter part)
- §2A1.1 First Degree Murder: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025 (same guideline chapter part)
- §2A2.4 Obstructing or Impeding Officers: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025 (same guideline chapter part)
- §2A6.1 Threatening or Harassing Communications: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025 (same guideline chapter part)
- §2A2.1 Assault with Intent to Commit Murder: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025 (same guideline chapter part)
- Guilty Pleas in Army Manslaughter Cases: How Often, and What Came Next (court-martial data)
- Navy-Marine Corps Article 119 Cases by the Numbers, 2017–2025 (court-martial data)
- What Sentence Follows a Navy-Marine Corps Manslaughter Conviction? (court-martial data)
- Article 119 (Manslaughter): Court-Martial Data and Trends (court-martial data)
- Article 119 UCMJ: Voluntary and Involuntary Manslaughter (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.