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# §2A2.3 Assault: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2020
- URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2a2-3-assault-fy2020/
- Published: 2026-11-04T10:26:54.000Z
- Updated: 2026-11-04T10:26:54.000Z
- Description: In fiscal year 2020, 78% of the 79 people sentenced under §2A2.3, "Assault," received a sentence within the guideline range (61 people). That is higher than the 50% for all federal cases that year. Prison went to 50 (63%), with a median prison term of 7 months.
- Author: Jocelyn C. Stewart
- Tags: Understanding Trends, Federal

[Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/) › [Federal Prosecution Analysis](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal/) › [§2A2.3 Assault](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2a2-3-assault/) › §2A2.3: FY2020

**In brief:** In fiscal year 2020, 78% of the 79 people sentenced under §2A2.3, "Assault," received a sentence within the guideline range (61 people). That is higher than the 50% for all federal cases that year. Prison went to 50 (63%), with a median prison term of 7 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 79 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](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/).

## Sentences Within the Range in 2020

The U.S. Sentencing Commission had the range information for 78 of the 79 people. Within the advisory range: 78% (61). Below the range at the government's request: 1% (1). Below the range without a government request: 15% (12). Above the range: 5% (4).

The share within the range was higher than the 71% in 2019 and the 70% in 2021 for this guideline. Over all fiscal years 2016 to 2025, the share was 72%. Sentences below the range at the government's request were rare in 2020, at 1 person.

## Prison Terms and Probation

Prison was imposed on 50 of the 79 (63%), and 27 (34%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement. The median prison term was 7 months. A quarter received 11.8 months or more, and a quarter received 3.6 months or less.

For everyone sentenced in federal court in 2020 under every guideline, the median prison term was 18 months. After prison, 47 people (59%) were ordered to serve supervised release, with a median term of 24 months.

| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
| ----------- | ---------------- | ------------- | -------------- |
| 2016        | 77               | 5.8 months    | 97%            |
| 2017        | 105              | 6.7 months    | 96%            |
| 2018        | 82               | 7.1 months    | 96%            |
| 2019        | 111              | 7 months      | 95%            |
| 2020        | 79               | 7 months      | 96%            |
| 2021        | 76               | 6.6 months    | 99%            |
| 2022        | 68               | 6 months      | 97%            |
| 2023        | 62               | 6.3 months    | 95%            |
| 2024        | 51               | 6 months      | 92%            |
| 2025        | 47               | 6 months      | 96%            |

## Trials and Their Prison Terms

Of the 79 people, 76 (96%) pleaded guilty, and 3 were convicted after a trial. The median prison term was 7 months after a guilty plea and 0.1 months after a trial.

The trial median is based on 2 people who were convicted at trial and sent to prison. It cannot support a conclusion about trials under this guideline.

Among the guilty pleas, 87% had a written plea agreement, and 9% were straight pleas with no agreement. A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 0 of the 75 people with that information recorded.

## Fines, Restitution, and Criminal History

A fine was ordered for 9 people (11%), and restitution for 12 (15%). In criminal history, 61% were in the lowest category, category I, and 5% were in the highest, category VI. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.

## The Years Before and After

In 2019, the Commission counted 111 people, with a median prison term of 7 months. In 2021, it counted 76 people, with a median of 6.6 months. The median in 2020 was the same as in 2019.

Guilty pleas were 96% in 2020 for this guideline and 98% for all guidelines. The fiscal year ran from October 1, 2019 to September 30, 2020.

## Limits of the Records

The records cannot show why the share within the range differed from year to year. A single year with 79 people is not a trend. Only people who were convicted and sentenced are counted, so acquittals and dismissals do not appear. Prison terms are the terms imposed, not time served.

The Commission lists the offense type for all 79 cases as Assault. There is no close court-martial counterpart for this guideline in the approved crosswalk, so this post reports the federal numbers on their own.

### How We Counted

Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2020 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2A2.3 (79), 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.

## 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)
- [§2A2.3 Assault: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2a2-3-assault/) (overview)
- [§2A2.3 Assault: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2019](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2a2-3-assault-fy2019/) (previous or next fiscal year)
- [§2A2.3 Assault: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2021](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2a2-3-assault-fy2021/) (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.