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# §2A1.4 Involuntary Manslaughter: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2021
- URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2a1-4-involuntary-manslaughter-fy2021/
- Published: 2026-11-04T10:28:56.000Z
- Updated: 2026-11-04T10:28:56.000Z
- Description: In fiscal year 2021, the median prison term under §2A1.4 was 18 months, the lowest median in the table for fiscal years 2016 to 2025. 28 people were sentenced, and 27 (96%) were sent to prison. The median for the guideline across all years was 37 months.
- Author: Jocelyn C. Stewart
- Tags: Understanding Trends, Federal

[Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/) › [Federal Prosecution Analysis](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal/) › [§2A1.4 Involuntary Manslaughter](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2a1-4-involuntary-manslaughter/) › §2A1.4: FY2021

**In brief:** In fiscal year 2021, the median prison term under §2A1.4 was 18 months, the lowest median in the table for fiscal years 2016 to 2025\. 28 people were sentenced, and 27 (96%) were sent to prison. The median for the guideline across all years was 37 months.

Updated November 4, 2026 · Sources: U.S. Sentencing Commission and Federal Judicial Center, fiscal years 2016–2025

This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 28 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2021\. 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](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal/) series, which builds on [Military Moves Toward Sentencing Guidelines to Mirror the Federal System](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/military-sentencing-guidelines-federal-system/). How the numbers were built: [How the Federal Comparison Data Was Built](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-data-methodology/).

## An 18-Month Median Prison Term

The Guidelines Manual titles §2A1.4 "Involuntary Manslaughter." The U.S. Sentencing Commission recorded 28 people with this primary guideline in fiscal year 2021\. 27 of them (96%) received a prison term, and none received probation only.

The median prison term was 18 months. A quarter of those sent to prison received 36.5 months or more, and a quarter received 14.3 months or less. Fiscal year 2020 had a median of 38 months, and fiscal year 2022 had a median of 41 months.

With only 28 people, a few sentences can move the median a long way. The year should not be read as a trend.

| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
| ----------- | ---------------- | ------------- | -------------- |
| 2016        | 41               | 36 months     | 95%            |
| 2017        | 43               | 37 months     | 98%            |
| 2018        | 38               | 37 months     | 97%            |
| 2019        | 47               | 37 months     | 94%            |
| 2020        | 26               | 38 months     | 88%            |
| 2021        | 28               | 18 months     | 96%            |
| 2022        | 39               | 41 months     | 97%            |
| 2023        | 42               | 37 months     | 90%            |
| 2024        | 60               | 32 months     | 87%            |
| 2025        | 48               | 46 months     | 96%            |

## Plea and Trial Sentences

27 of the 28 people (96%) pleaded guilty, and 1 was convicted after a trial. The median prison term was 21 months after a guilty plea and 18 months after the trial. The trial figure is one person's sentence.

85% of the guilty pleas had a written plea agreement, and 15% were straight pleas. Acquittals and dismissals are not part of the Commission's data.

## Mandatory Minimums and Supervised Release

A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 1 of the 27 people with that information recorded (4%). Supervised release followed for 27 people (96%), with a median term of 36 months.

## Sentences and the Guideline Range

12 people (43%) were within the range. 10 (36%) were below it without a government request, and 3 (11%) were below it at the government's request. 3 (11%) were above it.

For this guideline across all years, 45% were within the range. For all guidelines in fiscal year 2021, 43% were. Fiscal year 2020 had 54% and fiscal year 2022 had 41%.

## Criminal History and Payment Orders

64% of the group were in criminal history category I, the lowest, and 0% were in category VI, the highest. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.

Restitution was ordered for 15 people (54%). No fine was ordered for any of the 28.

## Federal Totals and the Article 119 Pairing

Across fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 412 people were sentenced under this guideline. 93% went to prison, and 94% pleaded guilty. All guidelines combined in fiscal year 2021 covered 57,287 people, with a median prison term of 29 months.

The approved crosswalk pairs this guideline with Article 119 of the UCMJ. This post reports the federal numbers only.

## Limits

Fiscal year 2021 ran from October 1, 2020 to September 30, 2021\. The Commission files the 28 cases under the offense type Manslaughter. Prison terms are the terms imposed, not time served. The records do not describe individual cases or explain why any sentence was chosen.

### How We Counted

Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2021 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2A1.4 (28), 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](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/military-sentencing-guidelines-federal-system/) (the background article)
- [Federal Prosecution Analysis](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal/) (all federal posts)
- [How the Federal Comparison Data Was Built](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-data-methodology/) (sources and method)
- [§2A1.4 Involuntary Manslaughter: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2a1-4-involuntary-manslaughter/) (overview)
- [§2A1.4 Involuntary Manslaughter: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2020](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2a1-4-involuntary-manslaughter-fy2020/) (previous or next fiscal year)
- [§2A1.4 Involuntary Manslaughter: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2022](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2a1-4-involuntary-manslaughter-fy2022/) (previous or next fiscal year)
- [How Often Federal Judges Sentence Outside the Guideline Range](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-sentences-outside-guideline-range/)
- [Mandatory Minimums: How Many Federal Sentences Are Set by Congress](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-mandatory-minimum-sentences/)
- [Guilty Pleas in Army Manslaughter Cases: How Often, and What Came Next](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/army-article-119-plea-2021-2025/) (court-martial data)
- [Navy-Marine Corps Article 119 Cases by the Numbers, 2017–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/navy-marine-corps-article-119-trend-2017-2025/) (court-martial data)
- [What Sentence Follows a Navy-Marine Corps Manslaughter Conviction?](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/navy-marine-corps-article-119-sent-2017-2025/) (court-martial data)
- [Article 119 (Manslaughter): Court-Martial Data and Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/article-119-courts-martial/) (court-martial data)
- [Article 119 UCMJ: Voluntary and Involuntary Manslaughter](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/practice-areas/court-martial/article-119/?ref=bodiesburied.com) (law firm reference page)
- [U.S. Sentencing Commission, Individual Offender Datafiles](https://www.ussc.gov/research/datafiles/commission-datafiles?ref=bodiesburied.com) (source)
- [Federal Judicial Center, Integrated Database (criminal defendants)](https://www.fjc.gov/research/idb?ref=bodiesburied.com) (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](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/?ref=bodiesburied.com). This analysis is for education and information only. It is not legal advice, and every case is different.