§2A6.2 Stalking or Domestic Violence: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2020
In fiscal year 2020, 63 people were sentenced under §2A6.2, and 61 of them (97%) received a prison term with a median of 33 months (2.8 years). The 5 people convicted after a trial had a median of 66 months, compared with 33 months after a guilty plea.
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › §2A6.2 Stalking or Domestic Violence › §2A6.2: FY2020
In brief: In fiscal year 2020, 63 people were sentenced under §2A6.2, and 61 of them (97%) received a prison term with a median of 33 months (2.8 years). The 5 people convicted after a trial had a median of 66 months, compared with 33 months after a guilty plea.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 63 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2020. 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 Gap Between Trial and Plea Medians
58 of the 63 people (92%) pleaded guilty, and 5 were convicted after a trial. The median prison term was 33 months after a guilty plea and 66 months after a trial.
The trial median rests on 5 people. A group that small can be moved by a single long sentence, and the records do not show the reasons. Across fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 92% of people under this guideline pleaded guilty.
Plea Agreements
Among those who pleaded guilty, 84% had a written plea agreement. 16% entered straight pleas with no agreement.
For all guidelines in fiscal year 2020, the plea rate was 98%.
Prison Terms and Their Range
61 people (97%) were sentenced to prison, and 1 (2%) received probation only. A quarter of those sent to prison received 48 months or more, and a quarter received 24 months or less.
The median across all guidelines in fiscal year 2020 was 18 months. For §2A6.2 across fiscal years 2016 to 2025, it was 35 months. These are imposed terms, not time served.
Sentences Against the Guideline Range
32 sentences (51%) were within the range. 11 (17%) were below it at the government's request, and 15 (24%) were below it without a government request. 5 sentences (8%) were above the range.
For all guidelines in fiscal year 2020, 50% were within the range. For §2A6.2 in fiscal year 2019 the figure was 48%, and in fiscal year 2021 it was 38%.
Mandatory Minimums, Release, and Money Orders
A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 8 of the 63 people with that information recorded (13%).
61 people (97%) were ordered to serve supervised release, with a median term of 36 months. A fine was ordered for 4 people (6%), and restitution for 12 (19%). On criminal history, 44% were in category I, the lowest, and 3% were in category VI, the highest.
Where This Year Sits in the Table
The Commission lists these cases under the offense type Stalking/Harassing, and the guideline is titled "Stalking or Domestic Violence." Fiscal year 2020 ran from October 1, 2019 to September 30, 2020.
The table shows 63 people in fiscal year 2020, the same count as in fiscal year 2018.
| 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 Cannot Be Read From These Numbers
The primary guideline is the one that set the offense level for the most serious count in each case. Other counts are not described, and the numbers say nothing about the facts of any case. The count of 63 is modest, so a single year should not be treated as a trend.
Only convicted and sentenced people are counted. Acquittals and dismissals are missing from the data.
The approved crosswalk has no close court-martial counterpart for this guideline, so the post reports federal numbers only.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2020 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 2019 (previous or next fiscal year)
- §2A6.2 Stalking or Domestic Violence: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2021 (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.