§2B3.1 Robbery: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2022
The median prison term under §2B3.1 was 97 months in fiscal year 2022, the highest median in the table below. The Commission counted 1,424 people sentenced, and 30% received a sentence below the guideline range at the government's request. Within-range sentences were 38%.
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › §2B3.1 Robbery › §2B3.1: FY2022
In brief: The median prison term under §2B3.1 was 97 months in fiscal year 2022, the highest median in the table below. The Commission counted 1,424 people sentenced, and 30% received a sentence below the guideline range at the government's request. Within-range sentences were 38%.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 1,424 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.
The Highest Median Prison Term in the Table
For the 1,405 people (99%) sent to prison in fiscal year 2022, the median term was 97 months, or 8.1 years. The table lists medians from 84 to 97 months across fiscal years 2016 to 2025, and 97 is the top of that range.
A quarter of the people sent to prison received 142 months or more, and a quarter received 57 months or less. Terms are those imposed, not time served.
The fiscal year ran from October 1, 2021 to September 30, 2022. The year before had a median of 93 months, and the year after had a median of 96 months.
| 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% |
Below the Range at the Government's Request
Of 1,424 people with range information, 429 (30%) were sentenced below the guideline range at the government's request. Another 378 (27%) were below the range without a request. A sentence within the range went to 536 (38%), and 81 (6%) were above it.
Fiscal year 2021 had 39% within the range, and fiscal year 2023 had 40%. Across every guideline in fiscal year 2022, 42% were within the range.
Pleas, Trials, and Mandatory Minimums
A guilty plea was entered by 1,359 people (95%), and 65 were convicted at trial. The median was 96 months after a plea and 180 months after a trial. The trial median is based on 65 people sent to prison.
Written plea agreements covered 88% of the guilty pleas, and 11% were straight pleas. A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 603 of the 1,424 people with that information (42%).
The groups differ in facts that the records leave out, so the medians do not show what a trial changes.
Probation, Life Sentences, and Other Orders
Probation only, with no prison or other confinement, went to 15 people (1%). A life sentence went to 1 person.
Supervised release was ordered for 1,390 people (98%), with a median term of 36 months. Restitution was ordered for 912 (64%), and a fine for 50 (4%).
Criminal History
Criminal history category I, the lowest, held 25% of the people, and category VI, the highest, held 20%. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.
Context and Limits
The Manual title is "Robbery." The Commission lists these cases under its Robbery offense type. For fiscal years 2016 to 2025, the guideline covers 14,661 people with a median of 92 months. For all guidelines in fiscal year 2022, 64,142 people were sentenced, with a median of 30 months.
The approved crosswalk has no close court-martial counterpart, so this post gives federal numbers alone. The data includes only convicted and sentenced people and does not give case facts.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2022 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2B3.1 (1,424), 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 2021 (previous or next fiscal year)
- §2B3.1 Robbery: 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.