§2A6.2 Stalking or Domestic Violence: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2022
Of the 79 people sentenced under §2A6.2 in fiscal year 2022, 6 (8%) received probation only, and 72 (91%) were sentenced to prison with a median term of 33 months (2.8 years). 7 people were convicted after a trial, and their median prison term was 60 months.
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › §2A6.2 Stalking or Domestic Violence › §2A6.2: FY2022
In brief: Of the 79 people sentenced under §2A6.2 in fiscal year 2022, 6 (8%) received probation only, and 72 (91%) were sentenced to prison with a median term of 33 months (2.8 years). 7 people were convicted after a trial, and their median prison term was 60 months.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 79 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2022. 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.
Probation Only for 6 People
72 of the 79 people (91%) were sentenced to prison. 6 (8%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement. Across fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 94% of people under this guideline were sent to prison.
The median prison term for those sent to prison was 33 months. A quarter received 51.2 months or more, and a quarter received 18.1 months or less.
Trial Convictions and Guilty Pleas
72 people (91%) pleaded guilty, and 7 were convicted after a trial. Of the guilty pleas, 88% had a written plea agreement and 13% were straight pleas.
The median prison term was 30 months after a guilty plea and 60 months after a trial. The trial group has 7 people, which is small. For all guidelines in fiscal year 2022, 97% pleaded guilty.
Comparison With Neighboring Years
In fiscal year 2021, 55 people were sentenced under §2A6.2 with a median of 31 months. In fiscal year 2023, 74 people were sentenced with a median of 34 months.
The median across all guidelines in fiscal year 2022 was 30 months. For this guideline over fiscal years 2016 to 2025, it was 35 months.
The Guideline Range
Position against the range was recorded for 78 people. 31 sentences (40%) were within the range. 22 (28%) were below it at the government's request, and 19 (24%) were below it without a government request. 6 sentences (8%) were above the range.
For all guidelines in fiscal year 2022, 42% of sentences were within the range.
Other Orders and Criminal History
A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 6 of the 79 people with that information recorded (8%). 72 people (91%) were ordered to serve supervised release, with a median term of 36 months.
A fine was ordered for 8 people (10%), and restitution for 17 (22%). 61% were in criminal history category I, the lowest, and 5% were in category VI, the highest.
Definitions and the Table
The guideline is titled "Stalking or Domestic Violence" in the Sentencing Guidelines Manual, and the Commission places these cases under the offense type Stalking/Harassing. Fiscal year 2022 ran from October 1, 2021 to September 30, 2022.
The table lists every 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% |
Limits on These Records
A mandatory minimum is a lowest prison term set by statute. The data records only whether one applied to a person, not which count carried it. The 7 people convicted after a trial are too few to show how trial sentences compare in general.
Acquittals and dismissals are not in the Commission's data. The records also do not say why a person received probation instead of prison.
No close court-martial counterpart for this guideline appears in the approved crosswalk, so this post reports federal numbers alone.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2022 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2A6.2 (79), 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 2021 (previous or next fiscal year)
- §2A6.2 Stalking or Domestic Violence: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2023 (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.