> ## 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 2023 - URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2a2-1-assault-with-intent-to-commit-murder-fy2023/ - Published: 2026-11-04T10:25:18.000Z - Updated: 2026-11-04T10:25:18.000Z - Description: In fiscal year 2023, 201 people were sentenced in federal court under §2A2.1, "Assault with Intent to Commit Murder." A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 52 of them (26%). The median prison term was 120 months (10 years), and 174 (87%) pleaded guilty. - 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: FY2023 **In brief:** In fiscal year 2023, 201 people were sentenced in federal court under §2A2.1, "Assault with Intent to Commit Murder." A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 52 of them (26%). The median prison term was 120 months (10 years), and 174 (87%) pleaded guilty. 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 201 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2023\. 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/). ## Mandatory Minimums Applied to 52 People A mandatory minimum applied to 52 of the 201 people (26%). A mandatory minimum is a statutory floor for the prison term. That information was recorded for all 201 people. The records do not show what term the court would have imposed without the minimum. The 26% is therefore a count of cases where a floor applied, not a measure of how often the floor decided the outcome. ## Median and Spread of Prison Terms All 201 people (100%) received prison, and 0 (0%) received probation only. The median was 120 months. A quarter received 200 months or more, and a quarter received 90 months or less. 1 person received a life sentence. The numbers are imposed terms, not time served. ## Trials and Guilty Pleas 27 people were convicted after a trial, and 174 pleaded guilty. Trial convictions had a median prison term of 240 months. Guilty pleas had a median of 120 months. Written plea agreements covered 76% of guilty pleas, and 23% were straight pleas. The trial figure comes from a group of 27 people and does not by itself show how trials end in general. ## Position Against the Range All 201 people had range information. 39% (79) were within the range. 29% (58) were below it at the government's request, and 26% (53) were below it without a request. 5% (11) were above it. The fiscal year 2024 share within the range was 46%. Across all guidelines in 2023, it was 42%. ## Supervised Release, Fines, and Restitution 199 people (more than 99%) were ordered to serve supervised release, with a median term of 36 months. 1 person (less than 1%) received supervised release for life. A fine was ordered for 4 (2%), and restitution for 24 (12%). ## Criminal History 17% were in category I, the lowest criminal history category, and 25% were in category VI, the highest. Court-martial records have no criminal history field. ## How 2023 Compares With Other Years Fiscal year 2023 ran from October 1, 2022 to September 30, 2023\. The U.S. Sentencing Commission counts people by primary guideline, the one that set the offense level for the most serious count. The 201 cases were in its Assault category. In 2022 there were 182 people, and in 2024 there were 226\. Over fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 1,534 people were sentenced under this guideline, the median was 120 months, and 41% were within the range. For all guidelines in 2023, 64,124 people were sentenced and the median prison term was 30 months. The table lists every year. For fiscal year 2023, the data includes only people who were convicted and sentenced. | 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% | ## Limits of the Data These records do not describe the facts behind the cases. The approved crosswalk has no close court-martial counterpart, so only federal numbers appear. ### How We Counted Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2023 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2A2.1 (201), 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 2022](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2a2-1-assault-with-intent-to-commit-murder-fy2022/) (previous or next fiscal year) - [§2A2.1 Assault with Intent to Commit Murder: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2024](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2a2-1-assault-with-intent-to-commit-murder-fy2024/) (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.