§2A6.2 Stalking or Domestic Violence: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2024
In fiscal year 2024, 72 of the 73 people sentenced under §2A6.2 (99%) received a prison term, and the median was 38 months (3.2 years). 19 sentences (26%) were above the guideline range, and only 8 (11%) were below it at the government's request.
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › §2A6.2 Stalking or Domestic Violence › §2A6.2: FY2024
In brief: In fiscal year 2024, 72 of the 73 people sentenced under §2A6.2 (99%) received a prison term, and the median was 38 months (3.2 years). 19 sentences (26%) were above the guideline range, and only 8 (11%) were below it at the government's request.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 73 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2024. 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.
Nearly All Went to Prison
72 of the 73 people (99%) were sentenced to prison. None received probation only. Across fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 94% of people sentenced under this guideline went to prison.
The median prison term was 38 months. A quarter received 60 months or more, and a quarter received 24 months or less. For all guidelines in fiscal year 2024, the median was 30 months.
Sentences Above and Below the Range
28 sentences (38%) were within the guideline range. 19 (26%) were above the range. 18 (25%) were below the range without a government request, and 8 (11%) were below it at the government's request.
In fiscal year 2023, 31% of sentences under this guideline were within the range. For all guidelines in fiscal year 2024, 46% were within the range.
Pleas and Trials
67 people (92%) pleaded guilty, and 6 were convicted after a trial. 84% of the guilty pleas had a written plea agreement, and 16% were straight pleas.
The median prison term was 36.5 months after a guilty plea and 76.5 months after a trial. The trial group has 6 people, so it is small.
Mandatory Minimums and Supervised Release
A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 7 of the 73 people with that information recorded (10%).
71 people (97%) were ordered to serve supervised release after prison, with a median term of 36 months.
Fines, Restitution, and Criminal History
A fine was ordered for 6 people (8%), and restitution for 23 (32%).
60% of the people were in criminal history category I, the lowest, and 10% were in category VI, the highest.
How the Cases Are Labeled
The Sentencing Guidelines Manual titles §2A6.2 "Stalking or Domestic Violence." The Commission lists these 73 cases as the offense type Stalking/Harassing. Fiscal year 2024 ran from October 1, 2023 to September 30, 2024.
The next year, fiscal year 2025, had 90 people and a median of 35.5 months. 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 of the Records
The guideline range is the span of prison terms the Sentencing Guidelines recommend. A sentence above the range is one longer than that span. The records show how many sentences were above it, but they do not show the reasons the court gave.
A median is the middle value when prison terms are listed from shortest to longest. Prison terms are those imposed, not the time served. A year with 73 people is a modest count and should not be read as a trend.
The data counts only people who were convicted and sentenced. It has no acquittals or dismissals, and no reason for any sentence.
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 2024 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2A6.2 (73), 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 2023 (previous or next fiscal year)
- §2A6.2 Stalking or Domestic Violence: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2025 (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.