§2B2.1 Burglary of a Residence or a Structure Other than a Residence: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2023
In fiscal year 2023, the median prison term under §2B2.1 was 26.5 months (2.2 years), the highest median in the table for fiscal years 2016 to 2025. 48 people were sentenced, 44 (92%) received a prison term, and all 48 pleaded guilty.
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In brief: In fiscal year 2023, the median prison term under §2B2.1 was 26.5 months (2.2 years), the highest median in the table for fiscal years 2016 to 2025. 48 people were sentenced, 44 (92%) received a prison term, and all 48 pleaded guilty.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 48 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2023. 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.
A Median Prison Term of 26.5 Months
The U.S. Sentencing Commission counted 48 people in fiscal year 2023 whose primary guideline was §2B2.1. The Guidelines Manual titles it "Burglary of a Residence or a Structure Other than a Residence." The primary guideline is the one that set the offense level for the most serious count.
44 of the 48 people (92%) were sentenced to prison, and 4 (8%) received probation only. Among those sent to prison, the median prison term was 26.5 months. A quarter received 37.1 months or more, and a quarter received 18 months or less.
The median was 24 months in fiscal year 2022 and 25.5 months in fiscal year 2024. Over fiscal years 2016 to 2025, the median for this guideline was 21 months.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 40 | 18 months | 100% |
| 2017 | 60 | 21 months | 98% |
| 2018 | 34 | 24 months | 100% |
| 2019 | 48 | 18 months | 100% |
| 2020 | 36 | 18 months | 94% |
| 2021 | 54 | 22.5 months | 100% |
| 2022 | 69 | 24 months | 100% |
| 2023 | 48 | 26.5 months | 100% |
| 2024 | 52 | 25.5 months | 98% |
| 2025 | 34 | 19 months | 97% |
Criminal History Category VI Was More Common
23% of the group were in criminal history category VI, the highest, and 19% were in category I, the lowest. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.
The Commission's data does not link criminal history to the length of any one sentence in this post, so the figures describe the group only.
Position Against the Guideline Range
25 people (52%) were sentenced within the guideline range. 12 (25%) were below it without a government request, and 5 (10%) were below it at the government's request. 6 (13%) were above the range.
The within-range share was 57% in fiscal year 2022 and 48% in fiscal year 2024. For every guideline in fiscal year 2023, it was 42%.
Pleas, Supervised Release, and Mandatory Minimums
All 48 people (100%) pleaded guilty, and 0 were convicted after a trial. 88% of the guilty pleas had a written plea agreement, and 13% were straight pleas with no agreement.
Supervised release after prison was ordered for 44 people (92%), with a median term of 36 months. A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 1 of the 44 people with that information recorded (2%).
Fines and Restitution
A fine was ordered for 1 person (2%), and restitution for 30 (63%). The records show whether an order was made, not the dollar amount.
All Years and All Guidelines
Across fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 475 people were sentenced under §2B2.1. 92% went to prison, and 99% pleaded guilty. In fiscal year 2022 there were 69 people, and in fiscal year 2024 there were 52.
All guidelines combined in fiscal year 2023 covered 64,124 people, with a median prison term of 30 months and 97% guilty pleas. The Commission classifies the 48 cases here as the offense type Burglary/Trespass.
Limits of the Records
Fiscal year 2023 ran from October 1, 2022 to September 30, 2023. The group is small, so one year does not show a trend. The Commission counts only people who were convicted and sentenced, and prison terms are the terms imposed, not time served. The approved crosswalk has no close court-martial counterpart, so only federal numbers appear here.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2023 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2B2.1 (48), 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)
- §2B2.1 Burglary of a Residence or a Structure Other than a Residence: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- §2B2.1 Burglary of a Residence or a Structure Other than a Residence: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2022 (previous or next fiscal year)
- §2B2.1 Burglary of a Residence or a Structure Other than a Residence: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2024 (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.