§2A3.5 Failure to Register as a Sex Offender: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2024
In fiscal year 2024, 310 people were sentenced under §2A3.5 as the primary guideline. 296 (95%) received a prison term, 11 (4%) received probation only, and the median prison term was 18 months. A mandatory minimum applied to 1 of the 310 people.
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In brief: In fiscal year 2024, 310 people were sentenced under §2A3.5 as the primary guideline. 296 (95%) received a prison term, 11 (4%) received probation only, and the median prison term was 18 months. A mandatory minimum applied to 1 of the 310 people.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 310 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2024. 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 Single Mandatory Minimum
In fiscal year 2024, a mandatory minimum prison term applied to 1 of the 310 people sentenced under §2A3.5, which is less than 1%.
The guideline is titled "Failure to Register as a Sex Offender." The records do not show which statute set the minimum or whether it set the final sentence.
Prison Terms Across the Group
A prison term went to 296 of the 310 people (95%). Probation only, with no prison or other confinement, went to 11 (4%).
The median prison term was 18 months. A quarter of the terms were 24 months or longer, and a quarter were 12 months or shorter. The figures are imposed terms rather than time served.
Trials, Pleas, and a 60-Month Median
304 people (98%) pleaded guilty, and 6 were convicted after a trial. The median prison term after a guilty plea was 18 months, and after a trial it was 60 months.
The trial median covers 6 people. A group that size could move sharply with one case, so it is not a reliable guide to trials in general.
Written plea agreements covered 75% of guilty pleas, and 24% were straight pleas.
Against the Guideline Range
161 sentences (52%) were within the range, 101 (33%) were below it without a government request, and 31 (10%) were below it at the government's request. 17 (5%) were above it.
The within-range share was 52% in fiscal year 2023 and 53% in fiscal year 2025. All guidelines in fiscal year 2024 had 46%.
After Prison and Financial Orders
296 people (95%) were ordered to serve supervised release. The median term was 60 months, and 6 people (2%) received a term for life.
A fine was ordered for 8 people (3%) and restitution for 2 (less than 1%).
Criminal History Distribution
6% of the group was in category I, the lowest criminal history category, and 14% was in category VI, the highest. Military courts keep no matching field.
Year and Series Context
Fiscal year 2024 ran from October 1, 2023 to September 30, 2024. The table gives each year from 2016 to 2025, including the count of 282 in fiscal year 2023 and 291 in fiscal year 2025.
The series total is 3,269 people, with 96% sent to prison and 99% pleading guilty. For all guidelines in fiscal year 2024, 61,678 people were sentenced, the median prison term was 30 months, and 97% pleaded guilty.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 427 | 18 months | 99% |
| 2017 | 384 | 20.5 months | 99% |
| 2018 | 360 | 18 months | more than 99% |
| 2019 | 360 | 18 months | more than 99% |
| 2020 | 291 | 18 months | 99% |
| 2021 | 257 | 18 months | more than 99% |
| 2022 | 307 | 18 months | 97% |
| 2023 | 282 | 18 months | 98% |
| 2024 | 310 | 18 months | 98% |
| 2025 | 291 | 18 months | more than 99% |
Limits
The Commission places these cases under Obscenity/Other Sex Offenses and counts only convictions. The crosswalk on this site has no close court-martial counterpart, so federal numbers are given on their own.
The records do not show the facts of any case. They also do not explain why 1 year has more or fewer people, or longer or shorter terms, than another year.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2024 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2A3.5 (310), 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)
- §2A3.5 Failure to Register as a Sex Offender: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- §2A3.5 Failure to Register as a Sex Offender: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2023 (previous or next fiscal year)
- §2A3.5 Failure to Register as a Sex Offender: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2025 (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.