§2A6.1 Threatening or Harassing Communications: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2019
In fiscal year 2019, 137 people were sentenced under §2A6.1, and 120 (88%) received a prison term. The median prison term was 17.9 months after a guilty plea and 36.4 months after a trial, and 18 months for everyone sent to prison.
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In brief: In fiscal year 2019, 137 people were sentenced under §2A6.1, and 120 (88%) received a prison term. The median prison term was 17.9 months after a guilty plea and 36.4 months after a trial, and 18 months for everyone sent to prison.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 137 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2019. 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.
Guilty Pleas and Trials in Fiscal Year 2019
123 of the 137 people (90%) pleaded guilty. 14 were convicted after a trial. Among the guilty pleas, 85% had a written plea agreement and 15% were straight pleas.
The median prison term was 17.9 months after a guilty plea and 36.4 months after a trial. The trial figure is based on 14 people. These groups were not chosen at random, so the data cannot say what going to trial changes.
Overall Prison Terms
The median prison term across both groups was 18 months. A quarter of the people sent to prison received 36 months or more, and a quarter received 10 months or less. In fiscal year 2018 the median was 24 months, and in fiscal year 2020 it was 18 months.
12 people (9%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement. A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 0 of the 137 people.
What the Guideline Covers
In the Guidelines Manual, §2A6.1 is "Threatening or Harassing Communications; Hoaxes; False Liens." The Sentencing Commission puts all 137 cases in its Stalking/Harassing offense type.
Fiscal year 2019 ran from October 1, 2018 to September 30, 2019. The count includes only convicted people whose most serious count was sentenced under §2A6.1 as the primary guideline.
Restitution and Other Orders
Restitution was ordered for 20 people (15%), and a fine for 9 (7%). 119 people (87%) were ordered to serve supervised release after prison, with a median term of 36 months.
49% of the group were in the lowest criminal history category and 10% in the highest. The military justice system does not record criminal history in its court-martial files.
Position Against the Guideline Range
73 people (53%) were sentenced within the range. 20 (15%) were below it at the government's request, and 35 (26%) were below it without a request. 9 (7%) were above it.
Across all guidelines in fiscal year 2019, 51% of sentences were within the range. The §2A6.1 share was 53% in fiscal year 2018 and 52% in fiscal year 2020.
Federal Totals
76,538 people were sentenced across all guidelines in fiscal year 2019. The median prison term was 21 months, and 98% pleaded guilty. The §2A6.1 median was lower, and its guilty plea rate was lower.
Across fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 1,558 people were sentenced under §2A6.1. 87% went to prison, the median prison term was 18 months, 92% pleaded guilty, and 49% were within the range. The table gives each year's count, median, and plea rate.
| 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% |
Limits of This Comparison
The approved crosswalk has no close court-martial counterpart for §2A6.1, so only federal numbers are reported. The records do not show what was said or threatened in any case.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2019 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2A6.1 (137), 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 2018 (previous or next fiscal year)
- §2A6.1 Threatening or Harassing Communications: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2020 (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.