§2B1.4 Insider Trading: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2018
31 people were sentenced under guideline §2B1.4, Insider Trading, in fiscal year 2018. 21 of them (68%) received a prison term, and the median prison term was 12 months. Only 1 sentence (3%) was within the guideline range.
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In brief: 31 people were sentenced under guideline §2B1.4, Insider Trading, in fiscal year 2018. 21 of them (68%) received a prison term, and the median prison term was 12 months. Only 1 sentence (3%) was within the guideline range.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 31 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.
How Large the 2018 Group Was
The yearly table for §2B1.4 shows 31 people sentenced in fiscal year 2018. The table lists larger groups in fiscal year 2019, with 35 people, and fiscal year 2024, with 36 people. It lists 11 people for 2017.
The Guidelines Manual titles §2B1.4 "Insider Trading." The fiscal year ran from October 1, 2017 to September 30, 2018.
Prison Terms and Probation
21 of the 31 people (68%) were sentenced to prison, and 3 (10%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement. For all fiscal years 2016 to 2025 under this guideline, 75% were sent to prison, so the 2018 share was lower.
The median prison term was 12 months, the same as the all-years median. A quarter of those sent to prison received 24 months or more, and a quarter received 6 months or less.
19 people (61%) were ordered to serve supervised release after prison, with a median term of 24 months. A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 0 of the 31.
Trial Sentences Were Longer, in a Small Group
25 of the 31 people (81%) pleaded guilty, and 6 were convicted after a trial. Among the guilty pleas, 88% had a written plea agreement and 12% were straight pleas.
The median prison term after a guilty plea was 6 months. After a trial it was 19 months, based on 6 people convicted at trial and sent to prison. The trial median was higher in this year, but 6 people is a small group and the records do not show the facts of each case.
One Sentence Within the Range
The guideline range is the range the Manual calculates for a case. 1 of the 31 sentences (3%) was within it. 16 (52%) were below it at the government's request, and 14 (45%) were below it without a government request. 0 were above the range.
For all years under this guideline, the share within the range was 7%. For all federal cases in fiscal year 2018, under every guideline, it was 51%.
Fines, Restitution, and Prior Record
A fine was ordered for 16 people (52%), and restitution for 11 (35%). Restitution is payment ordered toward a loss, and the records give no amounts.
In criminal history, 100% of the group were in the lowest category I, and 0% were in the highest category VI. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.
Years Around 2018
The Commission files these cases under the "Fraud/Theft/Embezzlement" offense type. In fiscal year 2017, 11 people were sentenced under §2B1.4, the median prison term was 13 months, and 0% were within the range. In fiscal year 2019, 35 people were sentenced, the median was 6 months, and 0% were within the range.
Federal court overall sentenced 69,425 people in fiscal year 2018, with a median prison term of 24 months and 97% guilty pleas. The all-years count for §2B1.4 is 206 people. The table lists every year.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 18 | 6 months | 94% |
| 2017 | 11 | 13 months | 55% |
| 2018 | 31 | 12 months | 81% |
| 2019 | 35 | 6 months | 71% |
| 2020 | 10 | 13.5 months | 80% |
| 2021 | 7 | 6 months | 7 of 7 |
| 2022 | 17 | 16 months | 88% |
| 2023 | 13 | 22 months | 85% |
| 2024 | 36 | 5 months | 92% |
| 2025 | 28 | 14 months | 82% |
What the Data Cannot Tell
The records do not describe the conduct behind each case, and one year is not a trend. People who were acquitted or whose cases were dismissed are not in the data. Prison terms are those imposed, not time served.
The approved crosswalk has no close court-martial counterpart, so this post reports federal numbers only.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2018 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2B1.4 (31), 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)
- §2B1.4 Insider Trading: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- §2B1.4 Insider Trading: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2017 (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.