§2A2.1 Assault with Intent to Commit Murder: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2022
In fiscal year 2022, 182 people were sentenced in federal court under §2A2.1, "Assault with Intent to Commit Murder," and 35% were sentenced within the guideline range. That share is lower than in 2021 and 2023. The median prison term was 120 months.
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In brief: In fiscal year 2022, 182 people were sentenced in federal court under §2A2.1, "Assault with Intent to Commit Murder," and 35% were sentenced within the guideline range. That share is lower than in 2021 and 2023. The median prison term was 120 months.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 182 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2022. 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.
Only 35% Were Within the Guideline Range
Range information was available for all 182 people. 63 (35%) were sentenced within the range. 62 (34%) were below it at the government's request, and 48 (26%) were below it without a government request. 9 (5%) were above it.
The within-range share was 42% in fiscal year 2021 and 39% in fiscal year 2023. For all fiscal years 2016 to 2025 under §2A2.1 it was 41%. Across every guideline in 2022, it was 42%.
How Long the Prison Terms Were
All 182 people (100%) received prison, and 0 (0%) received probation only. The median prison term was 120 months, or 10 years. A quarter received 195 months or more, and a quarter received 89 months or less.
These are the terms imposed, not the time served. The measure is the term in months, and it is not a prediction of release dates.
24 Trial Convictions
158 people (87%) pleaded guilty, and 24 were convicted after a trial. The median prison term after a guilty plea was 120 months. After a trial it was 227.5 months.
Among the guilty pleas, 83% had a written plea agreement and 17% were straight pleas. A mandatory minimum applied to 47 of the 182 people (26%).
After Prison and Financial Orders
Supervised release was ordered for 181 people (more than 99%), with a median term of 36 months. Only a small number of the 182 people were not ordered to serve it. No fine was ordered for anyone (0%), and restitution was ordered for 18 people (10%).
Criminal History
18% were in criminal history category I, the lowest, and 20% were in category VI, the highest. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.
Fiscal Year 2022 in the Table of Years
Fiscal year 2022 ran from October 1, 2021 to September 30, 2022. The Commission counts each person under the primary guideline, which is the one that set the offense level for the most serious count, and all 182 cases were in its Assault category. Only convicted and sentenced people are included.
In 2021 there were 115 people under this guideline, and in 2023 there were 201. Both years had a median of 120 months. Over fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 1,534 people were sentenced, 88% pleaded guilty, and the median was 120 months.
For all guidelines in 2022, 64,142 people were sentenced and the median prison term was 30 months. The table lists each 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 Learned Here
The records do not show why fewer sentences fell within the range in 2022, and they do not describe the facts of any case. The approved crosswalk has no close court-martial counterpart, so only federal numbers are reported.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2022 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2A2.1 (182), 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)
- §2A2.1 Assault with Intent to Commit Murder: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- §2A2.1 Assault with Intent to Commit Murder: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2021 (previous or next fiscal year)
- §2A2.1 Assault with Intent to Commit Murder: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2023 (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.