§2A2.1 Assault with Intent to Commit Murder: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2025
Of the 193 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2025 under §2A2.1, "Assault with Intent to Commit Murder," 161 (83%) pleaded guilty and 32 were convicted after a trial. The median prison term was 137 months (11.4 years).
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › §2A2.1 Assault with Intent to Commit Murder › §2A2.1: FY2025
In brief: Of the 193 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2025 under §2A2.1, "Assault with Intent to Commit Murder," 161 (83%) pleaded guilty and 32 were convicted after a trial. The median prison term was 137 months (11.4 years).
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 193 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2025. 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.
A Median of 137 Months in 2025
The median prison term was 137 months, which is 11.4 years. That is higher than the 125 months in fiscal year 2024. A quarter of the people received 180 months or more, and a quarter received 97 months or less.
All 193 (100%) received prison, and 0 (0%) received probation only. 1 person received a life sentence. The terms are those imposed, not time served.
Trial Convictions and the Plea Rate
32 people were convicted after a trial, and 161 pleaded guilty. The guilty plea share of 83% is the lowest of any year in the table below.
The median prison term after a guilty plea was 121 months. After a trial it was 219 months. Among guilty pleas, 69% had a written plea agreement and 31% were straight pleas. The records do not show why the mix changed.
Mandatory Minimums
A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 56 of the 193 people (29%). The sheet does not show how those cases compare with the others in prison length.
Where Sentences Fell Against the Range
All 193 people had range information. 45% (86) were within the guideline range. 28% (54) were below it without a government request, and 21% (40) were below it at the government's request. 7% (13) were above it.
In 2024 the within-range share was 46%. For all guidelines in 2025 it was 51%, and for §2A2.1 across fiscal years 2016 to 2025 it was 41%.
Supervised Release, Fines, and Restitution
191 people (99%) were ordered to serve supervised release, with a median term of 36 months. A fine was ordered for 6 (3%), and restitution for 31 (16%).
Criminal History
19% were in criminal history category I, the lowest, and 17% were in category VI, the highest. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.
What Was Counted and the Full Series
Fiscal year 2025 ran from October 1, 2024 to September 30, 2025. The U.S. Sentencing Commission counts people by primary guideline, the one that set the offense level for the most serious count. The 193 cases were in its Assault category. Only convicted and sentenced people are included.
In 2024 there were 226 people. Over fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 1,534 people were sentenced under §2A2.1, the median was 120 months, and 88% pleaded guilty. For all guidelines in 2025, 66,662 people were sentenced, with a median prison term of 24 months. The table lists 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% |
Limits of This Post
A single year is not a trend, and the records do not explain why the median or the trial count differed in 2025. 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 2025 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2A2.1 (193), 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 2024 (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.