§2B3.2 Extortion by Force or Threat of Injury or Serious Damage: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2016
In fiscal year 2016, 31 of the 63 people sentenced under guideline §2B3.2 (49%) received a sentence below the guideline range without a request from the government. Only 17 (27%) were sentenced within the range. The median prison term was 36 months (3 years).
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › §2B3.2 Extortion by Force or Threat of Injury or Serious Dam › §2B3.2: FY2016
In brief: In fiscal year 2016, 31 of the 63 people sentenced under guideline §2B3.2 (49%) received a sentence below the guideline range without a request from the government. Only 17 (27%) were sentenced within the range. The median prison term was 36 months (3 years).
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 63 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2016. 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.
Below-Range Sentences Without a Government Request
The guideline range is the sentencing range a court calculates for a case. In fiscal year 2016, 17 of the 63 people (27%) received a sentence within the range under §2B3.2.
A below-range sentence without a government request went to 31 people (49%). A below-range sentence at the government's request went to 13 people (21%), and an above-range sentence went to 2 people (3%).
For all federal cases in fiscal year 2016, 49% were sentenced within the range. For all of fiscal years 2016 to 2025, the §2B3.2 within-range share was 33%. The 2016 share was lower than both.
The Guideline and the Group Counted
The U.S. Sentencing Commission counted 63 people whose primary guideline was §2B3.2, "Extortion by Force or Threat of Injury or Serious Damage." The primary guideline is the one that set the offense level for the most serious count.
The Commission's offense type for these cases was Extortion/Racketeering. Fiscal year 2016 ran from October 1, 2015 to September 30, 2016, and the data covers only people who were convicted and sentenced.
Prison Terms and Probation
A prison term went to 59 of the 63 people (94%). Probation only, with no prison or other confinement, went to 2 people (3%).
The median prison term was 36 months. A quarter of those sent to prison received 48 months or more, and a quarter received 24 months or less. The median for all federal cases that year was 24 months.
A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 2 of the 63 people (3%).
Pleas and Trials Had the Same Median
A total of 58 of 63 people (92%) pleaded guilty, and 5 were convicted after a trial. Written plea agreements covered 93% of the guilty pleas, and 7% were straight pleas.
The median prison term was 36 months after a guilty plea and 36 months after a trial. The trial figure is based on 5 people, so the match is not strong evidence about trials in general.
Supervised Release, Fines, and Restitution
Supervised release was ordered for 51 people (81%), with a median term of 36 months. A fine was ordered for 8 people (13%), and restitution for 23 (37%).
Criminal History
Criminal history category I, the lowest, applied to 54% of the group, and category VI, the highest, applied to 14%. Court-martial records have no criminal history field, and the approved crosswalk has no close court-martial counterpart for this guideline, so this post reports the federal numbers on their own.
Other Years and the Federal Total
For every guideline in fiscal year 2016, 67,742 people were sentenced, 97% pleaded guilty, and the median prison term was 24 months.
Across fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 344 people were sentenced under §2B3.2. Of these, 94% went to prison, the median prison term was 37 months, and 92% pleaded guilty.
Fiscal year 2017 had 41 people under this guideline, a median of 38.5 months, and 34% within the range. The table lists each fiscal year.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 63 | 36 months | 92% |
| 2017 | 41 | 38.5 months | 93% |
| 2018 | 41 | 37 months | 83% |
| 2019 | 45 | 41 months | 93% |
| 2020 | 23 | 40.5 months | 91% |
| 2021 | 28 | 30 months | 93% |
| 2022 | 23 | 57 months | 100% |
| 2023 | 31 | 34 months | 94% |
| 2024 | 28 | 30 months | 93% |
| 2025 | 21 | 62.6 months | 90% |
What the Records Leave Out
The records do not show the facts of any case or why a court went below the range. They also exclude people who were acquitted or whose cases were dismissed.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2016 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2B3.2 (63), 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)
- §2B3.2 Extortion by Force or Threat of Injury or Serious Damage: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- §2B3.2 Extortion by Force or Threat of Injury or Serious Damage: 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.