§2B3.2 Extortion by Force or Threat of Injury or Serious Damage: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2018
In fiscal year 2018, 7 of the 41 people sentenced under guideline §2B3.2 were convicted after a trial, and 34 (83%) pleaded guilty. The guilty plea share was the lowest of any fiscal year in the table below. The median prison term was 37.5 months after a guilty plea and 36 months after a trial.
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › §2B3.2 Extortion by Force or Threat of Injury or Serious Dam › §2B3.2: FY2018
In brief: In fiscal year 2018, 7 of the 41 people sentenced under guideline §2B3.2 were convicted after a trial, and 34 (83%) pleaded guilty. The guilty plea share was the lowest of any fiscal year in the table below. The median prison term was 37.5 months after a guilty plea and 36 months after a trial.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 41 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.
More Trial Convictions Than in Other Years
The U.S. Sentencing Commission counted 41 people in fiscal year 2018 whose primary guideline was §2B3.2, "Extortion by Force or Threat of Injury or Serious Damage." Of these, 34 (83%) pleaded guilty and 7 were convicted after a trial.
Among the guilty pleas, 91% had a written plea agreement and 9% were straight pleas. For all federal cases in fiscal year 2018, 97% of people pleaded guilty.
Because the data includes only people who were convicted and sentenced, it cannot show how many people went to trial and were acquitted.
Trial and Plea Sentences Were Close
The median prison term after a guilty plea was 37.5 months. After a trial, it was 36 months, based on 7 people sent to prison.
These figures are close. The trial group is small, so the comparison does not show that trials and pleas lead to similar sentences in general.
A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 2 of the 41 people (5%).
Every Person Received Prison
All 41 people (100%) received a prison term, and none received probation only. The overall median was 37 months (3.1 years).
A quarter received 63 months or more, and a quarter received 24 months or less. For all federal cases in fiscal year 2018, the median prison term was 24 months.
Range Results
Within the guideline range: 18 people (44%). Below the range at the government's request: 5 people (12%). Below the range without that request: 17 people (41%). Above the range: 1 person (2%).
The guideline range is the sentencing range the court calculates before sentencing. In fiscal year 2017, 34% of sentences under this guideline were within it, and in fiscal year 2019, 49% were. For all federal cases in 2018, the share was 51%.
Supervised Release, Fines, and Restitution
Supervised release was ordered for 40 people (98%), with a median term of 36 months. A fine was ordered for 1 person (2%), and restitution for 15 (37%).
Criminal History and the Court-Martial Crosswalk
Criminal history category I, the lowest, applied to 46% of the group, and category VI, the highest, applied to 5%. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.
The approved crosswalk has no close court-martial counterpart for this guideline, so this post reports the federal numbers on their own.
Fiscal Years Around 2018
Fiscal year 2018 ran from October 1, 2017 to September 30, 2018. The Commission's offense type for these cases was Extortion/Racketeering.
In fiscal year 2017, 41 people were sentenced under §2B3.2 with a median of 38.5 months. In fiscal year 2019, 45 were sentenced with a median of 41 months.
Across fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 344 people were sentenced under this guideline. Of these, 94% went to prison, the median prison term was 37 months, and 92% pleaded guilty. The table lists each fiscal year. For every guideline in fiscal year 2018, 69,425 people were sentenced.
| 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 Data Cannot Show
The records do not explain why a person went to trial or why a court chose a sentence. They also do not give the facts of any case.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2018 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2B3.2 (41), 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)
- §2B3.2 Extortion by Force or Threat of Injury or Serious Damage: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2019 (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.