§2A6.1 Threatening or Harassing Communications: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2016
135 people were sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2016 with §2A6.1 as the primary guideline, and 114 of them (84%) received a prison term. The median prison term was 18 months.
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In brief: 135 people were sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2016 with §2A6.1 as the primary guideline, and 114 of them (84%) received a prison term. The median prison term was 18 months.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 135 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2016. 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.
Prison Was the Usual Sentence
114 of the 135 people (84%) were sentenced to prison. 13 (10%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement.
The median prison term was 18 months. A quarter of the people sent to prison received 35.2 months or more, and a quarter received 10.9 months or less. These are imposed terms, not time served. A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 0 of the 134 people with that information recorded.
Criminal History Was Mixed
45% of the group were in the lowest criminal history category, and 19% were in the highest. Together, the lowest and highest categories describe a group with very different criminal records. The data summarized here does not break out the categories between them.
Court-martial records have no criminal history field, so the military system offers no matching measure. Category I is the lowest federal category and category VI is the highest.
What §2A6.1 Covers
The Sentencing Guidelines Manual titles §2A6.1 "Threatening or Harassing Communications; Hoaxes; False Liens." The U.S. Sentencing Commission places all 135 cases in its Stalking/Harassing offense type.
Fiscal year 2016 ran from October 1, 2015 to September 30, 2016. The figures cover people who were convicted and sentenced. Cases that ended in an acquittal or a dismissal are not part of them.
Pleas, Trials, and Plea Agreements
126 people (93%) pleaded guilty, and 9 were convicted after a trial. Trial convictions made up a small share of the group, but 9 people is enough to report a trial median.
The median prison term after a guilty plea was 18 months. After a trial it was 27 months, based on 9 people. 78% of the guilty pleas had a written plea agreement, and 22% were straight pleas.
Sentences and the Guideline Range
70 people (52%) were within the guideline range. 18 (13%) were below it at the government's request, and 41 (30%) were below it without a request. 6 (4%) were above it.
For all guidelines in fiscal year 2016, 49% of sentences were within the range. The §2A6.1 share was a little higher.
Supervised Release, Fines, and Restitution
113 people (84%) were ordered to serve supervised release after prison. The median term was 36 months. Courts ordered a fine for 13 (10%) and restitution for 14 (10%).
The Wider Federal Numbers
67,742 people were sentenced under all guidelines in fiscal year 2016. The median prison term was 24 months, and 97% pleaded guilty. The §2A6.1 median was lower, and the plea rate was lower.
From fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 1,558 people were sentenced under §2A6.1. 87% were sent to prison, the median prison term was 18 months, 92% pleaded guilty, and 49% were within the range. In fiscal year 2017, 116 people were sentenced, with a median of 20 months. The table lists each year. The approved crosswalk has no close court-martial counterpart, so only federal numbers appear here.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 135 | 18 months | 93% |
| 2017 | 116 | 20 months | 91% |
| 2018 | 146 | 24 months | 90% |
| 2019 | 137 | 18 months | 90% |
| 2020 | 154 | 18 months | 91% |
| 2021 | 159 | 15 months | 96% |
| 2022 | 184 | 18 months | 91% |
| 2023 | 163 | 18 months | 91% |
| 2024 | 176 | 20 months | 92% |
| 2025 | 188 | 20 months | 93% |
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2016 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2A6.1 (135), 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 (the background article)
- Federal Prosecution Analysis (all federal posts)
- How the Federal Comparison Data Was Built (sources and method)
- §2A6.1 Threatening or Harassing Communications: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- §2A6.1 Threatening or Harassing Communications: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2017 (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.