§2A1.5 Conspiracy or Solicitation to Commit Murder: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2020
In fiscal year 2020, 94% of the 34 people sentenced in federal court under §2A1.5, "Conspiracy or Solicitation to Commit Murder," pleaded guilty: 32 people. All 34 went to prison, with a median term of 120 months (10 years), and 1 received a life sentence.
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In brief: In fiscal year 2020, 94% of the 34 people sentenced in federal court under §2A1.5, "Conspiracy or Solicitation to Commit Murder," pleaded guilty: 32 people. All 34 went to prison, with a median term of 120 months (10 years), and 1 received a life sentence.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 34 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.
Guilty Pleas Were More Common Than Usual for This Guideline
The plea rate here is higher than the 83% across all years of this guideline. It is lower than the 98% for every guideline combined in fiscal year 2020. The 94% figure is a share of a small group, so a change of 1 or 2 people would move it.
Only 2 people were convicted at trial. Their median was 216 months, and the figure rests on those 2 people. People who pleaded guilty had a median of 120 months. Among guilty pleas, 88% had a written agreement and 13% were straight pleas.
Sentence Length
Every person received a prison term, and 1 received a life sentence. The median of 120 months matches the median across all years. A quarter of the group received 82.5 months or less, and a quarter received 179 months or more.
For every guideline in fiscal year 2020, the median was 18 months. Mandatory minimums applied to 5 of the 34 people (15%).
The fiscal year ran from October 1, 2019 to September 30, 2020.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 38 | 120 months | 87% |
| 2017 | 49 | 108 months | 80% |
| 2018 | 24 | 120 months | 79% |
| 2019 | 46 | 124.7 months | 74% |
| 2020 | 34 | 120 months | 94% |
| 2021 | 22 | 144 months | 86% |
| 2022 | 27 | 120 months | 89% |
| 2023 | 23 | 78 months | 96% |
| 2024 | 43 | 120 months | 81% |
| 2025 | 33 | 106 months | 76% |
Range Findings
The Guidelines Manual calculates a range for each case. Sentences were within the range for 8 people (24%). Below the range, with the government asking for it, were 11 (32%). Below the range without that request were 13 (38%). Above the range were 2 (6%).
Within-range sentences were 30% over all years of this guideline and 50% across all guidelines in fiscal year 2020. The 24% in this year is lower than both, and the records do not show the reasons for the lower sentences.
After Release
All 34 were ordered to serve supervised release, with a median term of 36 months. Lifetime supervised release went to 2 people (6%). Fines went to 2 people (6%), as did restitution orders.
Criminal history category I, the lowest, covered 44% of the group, and category VI, the highest, covered 18%. Court-martial files carry no such field. Supervised release is the period of court supervision that follows prison, and a fine and restitution are separate money orders.
Years Around 2020
In fiscal year 2019 there were 46 people under this guideline, a median of 124.7 months, and 43% within the range. In fiscal year 2021 there were 22 people, a median of 144 months, and 27% within the range.
The Commission's category for these 34 cases was Murder. The crosswalk pairs this guideline with no court-martial offense, so only federal figures appear here, and nothing compares them with military cases.
Reading the Numbers Carefully
A group of 34 is small, and the records cannot show a trend from one year. They also omit acquittals and dismissals, and prison terms are terms imposed, not time served.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2020 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2A1.5 (34), 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)
- §2A1.5 Conspiracy or Solicitation to Commit Murder: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- §2A1.5 Conspiracy or Solicitation to Commit Murder: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2019 (previous or next fiscal year)
- §2A1.5 Conspiracy or Solicitation to Commit 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
- 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.