§2B3.2 Extortion by Force or Threat of Injury or Serious Damage: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2024
In fiscal year 2024, 28 people were sentenced in federal court with §2B3.2, "Extortion by Force or Threat of Injury or Serious Damage," as the primary guideline. The median prison term was 30 months (2.5 years), and 61% were ordered to pay restitution. The 2 people convicted after a trial had a medi
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › §2B3.2 Extortion by Force or Threat of Injury or Serious Dam › §2B3.2: FY2024
In brief: In fiscal year 2024, 28 people were sentenced in federal court with §2B3.2, "Extortion by Force or Threat of Injury or Serious Damage," as the primary guideline. The median prison term was 30 months (2.5 years), and 61% were ordered to pay restitution. The 2 people convicted after a trial had a median prison term of 114 months.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 28 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2024. 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.
Trial and Plea Sentences in a Small Group
Of the 28 people, 26 (93%) pleaded guilty and 2 were convicted after a trial. The median prison term after a guilty plea was 30 months. After a trial it was 114 months. The trial figure is based on only 2 people, so it shows little beyond those 2 cases.
Among the guilty pleas, 69% had a written plea agreement and 31% were straight pleas with no agreement. A straight plea means the person pleaded guilty without a written agreement with the government.
Overall Prison Terms
In this group, 27 of 28 people (96%) received a prison term, and 1 (4%) received probation only. The median prison term was 30 months. A quarter received 60 months or more, and a quarter received 6 months or less.
For all fiscal years 2016 to 2025 under §2B3.2, the median was 37 months and 94% were sent to prison. For everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2024, the median was 30 months. No mandatory minimum applied to any of the 28 people (0%).
Restitution, Fines, and Supervised Release
Restitution was ordered for 17 people (61%), and a fine for 3 (11%). Restitution is money ordered to be paid to a victim. The Commission's data lists it separately from any prison term.
After prison, 26 people (93%) were ordered to serve supervised release. The median term was 36 months.
| 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% |
Position Against the Guideline Range
Within the guideline range: 8 sentences (29%). Below the range at the government's request: 11 (39%). Below the range without a government request: 9 (32%). Above the range: 0.
For all years under this guideline, 33% were within the range, and for everyone sentenced in fiscal year 2024 under every guideline, 46% were. The previous fiscal year had 19% within the range, and the next had 43%.
In criminal history, 61% were in the lowest category, category I, and 0% were in the highest, category VI. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.
Neighboring Fiscal Years
The fiscal year ran from October 1, 2023 to September 30, 2024. Fiscal year 2023 had 31 people and a median prison term of 34 months. Fiscal year 2025 had 21 people and a median of 62.6 months.
The 30-month median in 2024 is lower than 2023 and lower than 2025. With groups of this size, a single year is not a trend.
What the Records Cannot Show
The Commission counts only people who were convicted and sentenced, so acquittals and dismissals are missing. Prison terms are those imposed, not time served. The cases were classed as Extortion/Racketeering, 28 in all.
There is no close court-martial counterpart for this guideline in the approved crosswalk, so this post reports the federal numbers on their own.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2024 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2B3.2 (28), 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.
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 2023 (previous or next fiscal year)
- §2B3.2 Extortion by Force or Threat of Injury or Serious Damage: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2025 (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.