§2B3.1 Robbery: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2019
The median prison term under §2B3.1 in fiscal year 2019 was 95.5 months, or 8 years, for the 1,782 people sent to prison. In the table below, only fiscal year 2022, at 97 months, has a higher median. A mandatory minimum applied to 42% of the 1,805 people sentenced.
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › §2B3.1 Robbery › §2B3.1: FY2019
In brief: The median prison term under §2B3.1 in fiscal year 2019 was 95.5 months, or 8 years, for the 1,782 people sent to prison. In the table below, only fiscal year 2022, at 97 months, has a higher median. A mandatory minimum applied to 42% of the 1,805 people sentenced.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 1,805 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2019. 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 of 95.5 Months
Prison went to 1,782 of the 1,805 people sentenced (99%). Their median term was 95.5 months. A quarter received 144 months or more, and a quarter received 52 months or less.
The year before, 2018, had a median of 90 months. The year after, 2020, had a median of 87 months. The records show these medians but cannot show the reasons for the changes.
All terms are as imposed. Time served is not in the data. The Commission counted these cases under its Robbery offense type, which also had 1,805 people in this fiscal year.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 1,582 | 87 months | 94% |
| 2017 | 1,544 | 84 months | 94% |
| 2018 | 1,691 | 90 months | 95% |
| 2019 | 1,805 | 95.5 months | 95% |
| 2020 | 1,297 | 87 months | 95% |
| 2021 | 1,290 | 93 months | 96% |
| 2022 | 1,424 | 97 months | 95% |
| 2023 | 1,490 | 96 months | 95% |
| 2024 | 1,305 | 96 months | 94% |
| 2025 | 1,233 | 92 months | 95% |
Mandatory Minimums Were Frequent
A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 751 of the 1,805 people, which is 42%. A mandatory minimum is a prison term set by statute. The data does not show how often the required term decided the final sentence.
Pleas and Trials in Fiscal Year 2019
A guilty plea was entered by 1,708 people (95%), and 97 people were convicted after a trial. After a plea, the median prison term was 90 months. After a trial it was 221 months, based on 96 people sent to prison.
Written plea agreements were part of 86% of the guilty pleas, and 14% were straight pleas. Facts that differ between cases are not in the records, so the plea and trial medians do not isolate the effect of a trial.
Range Position and Release Terms
A sentence within the guideline range went to 39% (707). Below the range at the government's request: 26% (468). Below the range with no such request: 28% (502). Above the range: 7% (128).
Supervised release was ordered for 1,773 people (98%), with a median term of 36 months. Restitution was ordered for 1,254 people (69%), and a fine for 37 (2%). Probation only, with no prison or other confinement, was given to 16 people (less than 1%). A life sentence went to 2 people.
Criminal History
Category I, the lowest criminal history category, held 25% of the people. Category VI, the highest, held 20%. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.
Place in the Wider Data
The fiscal year ran from October 1, 2018 to September 30, 2019. The Manual title for §2B3.1 is "Robbery," and the Commission uses it for the offense type too. The approved crosswalk has no close court-martial counterpart, so only federal numbers appear.
Fiscal years 2016 to 2025 together cover 14,661 people under the guideline, with a median of 92 months, 95% guilty pleas, and 40% within the range.
For all guidelines in fiscal year 2019, 76,538 people were sentenced, with a median of 21 months. The data covers only people who were convicted and sentenced.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2019 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2B3.1 (1,805), 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)
- §2B3.1 Robbery: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- §2B3.1 Robbery: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2018 (previous or next fiscal year)
- §2B3.1 Robbery: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2020 (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.