> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.bodiesburied.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # §2A2.1 Assault with Intent to Commit Murder: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2019 - URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2a2-1-assault-with-intent-to-commit-murder-fy2019/ - Published: 2026-11-04T10:25:14.000Z - Updated: 2026-11-04T10:25:14.000Z - Description: In fiscal year 2019, 169 people were sentenced in federal court under §2A2.1, "Assault with Intent to Commit Murder." 19 of them were convicted after a trial, with a median prison term of 240 months. The median after a guilty plea was 120 months. - Author: Jocelyn C. Stewart - Tags: Understanding Trends, Federal [Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/) › [Federal Prosecution Analysis](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal/) › [§2A2.1 Assault with Intent to Commit Murder](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2a2-1-assault-with-intent-to-commit-murder/) › §2A2.1: FY2019 **In brief:** In fiscal year 2019, 169 people were sentenced in federal court under §2A2.1, "Assault with Intent to Commit Murder." 19 of them were convicted after a trial, with a median prison term of 240 months. The median after a guilty plea was 120 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 169 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2019\. 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/). ## 19 Trial Convictions and a Median of 240 Months Of the 169 people, 150 (89%) pleaded guilty and 19 were convicted after a trial. After a trial, the median prison term was 240 months. After a guilty plea, it was 120 months. The records do not say how the trial cases differed from the pleas. The comparison is between separate groups of people, and it does not isolate the effect of going to trial. Among the guilty pleas, 84% had a written plea agreement and 16% were straight pleas. ## A Mandatory Minimum in 60 Cases A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 60 of the 168 people with that information recorded (36%). This post does not claim that it explains any of the prison terms. ## The Overall Prison Terms 168 of 169 (more than 99%) received prison. 1 person (less than 1%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement. The median prison term was 120 months, which is 10 years. A quarter received 240 months or more, and a quarter received 90 months or less. 2 people received life sentences. These are imposed terms, not time served. ## Guideline Range Positions Range information was available for 169 people. 43% (72) were within the guideline range. 30% (50) were below it at the government's request, and 25% (43) were below it without a request. 2% (4) were above it. All guidelines combined in 2019 had 51% within the range. In 2018 the §2A2.1 share was 37%, and in 2020 it was 39%. ## Supervised Release, Fines, Restitution, and History 166 people (98%) were ordered to serve supervised release, with a median term of 36 months. A fine was ordered for 13 (8%), and restitution for 29 (17%). 21% were in criminal history category I, and 21% were in category VI. Category I is the lowest and category VI is the highest. Court-martial records have no criminal history field. ## How This Year Fits the 2016 to 2025 Data Fiscal year 2019 ran from October 1, 2018 to September 30, 2019\. The count is by primary guideline, the one that set the offense level for the most serious count, and includes only people who were convicted and sentenced. All 169 cases were in the Assault category. The previous year had 112 people and a median of 136 months. The next year had 126 people and a median of 120 months. For fiscal years 2016 to 2025 together, 1,534 people were sentenced and 88% pleaded guilty. For all guidelines in 2019, 76,538 people were sentenced, with a median prison term of 21 months. The table covers every year. | Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty | | ----------- | ---------------- | ------------- | -------------- | | 2016 | 80 | 120.5 months | 86% | | 2017 | 130 | 120 months | 91% | | 2018 | 112 | 136 months | 90% | | 2019 | 169 | 120 months | 89% | | 2020 | 126 | 120 months | 85% | | 2021 | 115 | 120 months | 92% | | 2022 | 182 | 120 months | 87% | | 2023 | 201 | 120 months | 87% | | 2024 | 226 | 125 months | 90% | | 2025 | 193 | 137 months | 83% | ## What Cannot Be Read From These Records The data does not show the facts of the cases or the reasons for any sentence. No close court-martial counterpart appears in the approved crosswalk, so only federal figures are reported. ### How We Counted Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2019 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2A2.1 (169), 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) - [§2A2.1 Assault with Intent to Commit Murder: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2a2-1-assault-with-intent-to-commit-murder/) (overview) - [§2A2.1 Assault with Intent to Commit Murder: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2018](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2a2-1-assault-with-intent-to-commit-murder-fy2018/) (previous or next fiscal year) - [§2A2.1 Assault with Intent to Commit Murder: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2020](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2a2-1-assault-with-intent-to-commit-murder-fy2020/) (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/) - [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.