§2A6.2 Stalking or Domestic Violence: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2018
63 people were sentenced under §2A6.2 in fiscal year 2018, compared with 43 in fiscal year 2017. 60 of them (95%) went to prison, and the median prison term was 38.5 months (3.2 years), the highest median of any year in the table.
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › §2A6.2 Stalking or Domestic Violence › §2A6.2: FY2018
In brief: 63 people were sentenced under §2A6.2 in fiscal year 2018, compared with 43 in fiscal year 2017. 60 of them (95%) went to prison, and the median prison term was 38.5 months (3.2 years), the highest median of any year in the table.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 63 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2018. 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.
The Number of People Sentenced
The Commission counted 63 people in fiscal year 2018 whose primary guideline was §2A6.2. In fiscal year 2017 the count was 43, and in fiscal year 2019 it was 80.
Across fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 656 people were sentenced under this guideline. For every guideline in fiscal year 2018, the count was 69,425.
Prison Terms of 38.5 Months at the Median
60 of the 63 people (95%) received a prison term, and 3 (5%) received probation only. Among those sent to prison, the median term was 38.5 months. A quarter received 48 months or more, and a quarter received 24 months or less.
The median for all guidelines in fiscal year 2018 was 24 months. The median for §2A6.2 across fiscal years 2016 to 2025 was 35 months. Prison terms are imposed terms, not time served.
Trials Compared With Guilty Pleas
58 people (92%) pleaded guilty, and 5 were convicted after a trial. 91% of the guilty pleas had a written plea agreement, and 9% were straight pleas.
The median prison term after a guilty plea was 37 months. After a trial it was 47 months. The trial figure covers 5 people, which is too few to treat as a pattern.
Range Position and Mandatory Minimums
30 sentences (48%) were within the guideline range. 15 (24%) were below it at the government's request, and 11 (17%) were below it without a government request. 7 sentences (11%) were above the range.
A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 3 of the 63 people with that information recorded (5%). For all guidelines in fiscal year 2018, 51% of sentences were within the range.
Release, Fines, Restitution, and Criminal History
60 people (95%) were ordered to serve supervised release after prison, with a median term of 36 months. A fine was ordered for 5 people (8%), and restitution for 17 (27%).
46% of the people were in criminal history category I, the lowest, and 8% were in category VI, the highest.
Definitions and the Full Table
The Sentencing Guidelines Manual titles §2A6.2 "Stalking or Domestic Violence," and the Commission lists these cases as the offense type Stalking/Harassing. The fiscal year ran from October 1, 2017 to September 30, 2018.
The table gives the count, median prison term, and plea rate for each year from 2016 to 2025.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 36 | 24 months | 92% |
| 2017 | 43 | 37 months | 88% |
| 2018 | 63 | 38.5 months | 92% |
| 2019 | 80 | 33 months | 98% |
| 2020 | 63 | 33 months | 92% |
| 2021 | 55 | 31 months | 96% |
| 2022 | 79 | 33 months | 91% |
| 2023 | 74 | 34 months | 92% |
| 2024 | 73 | 38 months | 92% |
| 2025 | 90 | 35.5 months | 89% |
What Is Not Covered
A written plea agreement is a signed deal with the government, and a straight plea has no such deal. The data records which kind of plea was entered, but it does not show the terms of any agreement. A mandatory minimum is a lowest prison term set by statute, and the data records only whether one applied.
The data has no acquittals or dismissals, because it counts only people who were convicted and sentenced. It also gives no reason for any change between years.
The approved crosswalk has no close court-martial counterpart for this guideline, so no military comparison is made.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2018 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2A6.2 (63), 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)
- §2A6.2 Stalking or Domestic Violence: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- §2A6.2 Stalking or Domestic Violence: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2017 (previous or next fiscal year)
- §2A6.2 Stalking or Domestic Violence: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2019 (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.