> ## 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. # §2A2.4 Obstructing or Impeding Officers: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2017 - URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2a2-4-obstructing-or-impeding-officers-fy2017/ - Published: 2026-11-04T10:24:13.000Z - Updated: 2026-11-04T10:24:13.000Z - Description: The median prison term under §2A2.4 in fiscal year 2017 was 12 months after a guilty plea and 13 months after a trial. The trial figure covers only 4 people sent to prison. Of the 166 people sentenced, 144 (87%) received prison. - Author: Jocelyn C. Stewart - Tags: Understanding Trends, Federal [Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/) › [Federal Prosecution Analysis](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal/) › [§2A2.4 Obstructing or Impeding Officers](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2a2-4-obstructing-or-impeding-officers/) › §2A2.4: FY2017 **In brief:** The median prison term under §2A2.4 in fiscal year 2017 was 12 months after a guilty plea and 13 months after a trial. The trial figure covers only 4 people sent to prison. Of the 166 people sentenced, 144 (87%) received prison. 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 166 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2017\. 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/). ## Plea and Trial Sentences Were Close, but the Trial Group Is Small A guilty plea was entered by 161 of the 166 people (97%), and 5 were convicted after a trial. The median prison term after a guilty plea was 12 months. After a trial it was 13 months, based on 4 people convicted at trial and sent to prison. With 4 people in the trial group, one different sentence could change the median. The medians are close in this year, and the records cannot show whether that holds in other years or for other cases. Of the guilty pleas, 81% had a written plea agreement and 19% were straight pleas with no agreement. ## Prison, Probation, and Supervised Release Prison went to 144 people (87%), and probation only went to 14 (8%). The median prison term was 12 months. A quarter of those sent to prison received 21 months or more, and a quarter received 7.2 months or less. After prison, 122 people (73%) were ordered to serve supervised release, with a median term of 36 months. A fine was ordered for 7 people (4%), and restitution for 17 (10%). ## Within and Outside the Guideline Range Range information was recorded for 164 people. Sentences within the range numbered 87 (53%). Sentences below the range at the government's request numbered 39 (24%), and below the range without a request numbered 29 (18%). Sentences above the range numbered 9 (5%). The previous year, 2016, had 55% within the range, and the next year, 2018, had 54%. For §2A2.4 over 2016 to 2025 the share was 57%. For all federal cases in fiscal year 2017 it was 49%. ## Mandatory Minimums and Criminal History A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 1 of the 162 people with that information recorded (less than 1%). In the criminal history data, 39% of people were in category I, the lowest, and 13% were in category VI, the highest. ## About §2A2.4 and the Fiscal Year The Guidelines Manual title of §2A2.4 is "Obstructing or Impeding Officers". In the Commission's classification, all 166 cases fall under the Administration of Justice offense type. The fiscal year ran from October 1, 2016 to September 30, 2017\. Nationally, 66,873 people were sentenced that year under every guideline, with a median prison term of 24 months and 97% guilty pleas. From 2016 to 2025, §2A2.4 covered 2,105 people, with 86% sent to prison and 92% pleading guilty. The yearly table gives the details. | Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty | | ----------- | ---------------- | ------------- | -------------- | | 2016 | 179 | 12 months | 95% | | 2017 | 166 | 12 months | 97% | | 2018 | 239 | 12 months | 90% | | 2019 | 206 | 12 months | 95% | | 2020 | 185 | 12 months | 96% | | 2021 | 177 | 12 months | 98% | | 2022 | 247 | 12 months | 95% | | 2023 | 246 | 12 months | 87% | | 2024 | 248 | 10 months | 85% | | 2025 | 212 | 12 months | 89% | ## Cautions Only people who were convicted and sentenced are counted, and prison terms are those imposed. The records do not describe the conduct in any case. There is no close court-martial counterpart for this guideline in the crosswalk, so the numbers here are federal only. ### How We Counted Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2017 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2A2.4 (166), 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) - [§2A2.4 Obstructing or Impeding Officers: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2a2-4-obstructing-or-impeding-officers/) (overview) - [§2A2.4 Obstructing or Impeding Officers: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2016](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2a2-4-obstructing-or-impeding-officers-fy2016/) (previous or next fiscal year) - [§2A2.4 Obstructing or Impeding Officers: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2018](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2a2-4-obstructing-or-impeding-officers-fy2018/) (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.