§2B3.3 Blackmail and Similar Forms of Extortion: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2019
In fiscal year 2019, 8 of the 11 people sentenced under §2B3.3 (73%) received a prison term, a higher share than in the all-years figures for this guideline. The median prison term was 15 months. All 11 pleaded guilty, and 7 sentences (64%) were within the guideline range.
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › §2B3.3 Blackmail and Similar Forms of Extortion › §2B3.3: FY2019
In brief: In fiscal year 2019, 8 of the 11 people sentenced under §2B3.3 (73%) received a prison term, a higher share than in the all-years figures for this guideline. The median prison term was 15 months. All 11 pleaded guilty, and 7 sentences (64%) were within the guideline range.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 11 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 Higher Share Went to Prison
In fiscal year 2019, 8 of the 11 people (73%) sentenced under §2B3.3 received a prison term. One person (9%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement.
The all-years figure for fiscal years 2016 to 2025 is 61% sent to prison. The share in fiscal year 2019 was higher than that.
The median prison term was 15 months. A quarter of those sent to prison received 24 months or more, and a quarter received 13 months or less. That is a narrower range than in some other years of this guideline.
No Trials in This Year
All 11 people (100%) pleaded guilty, and no one was convicted after a trial. Among the guilty pleas, 91% had a written plea agreement and 9% were straight pleas with no agreement.
No mandatory minimum prison term applied to any of the 11 people with that information recorded. Because there were no trials, the records have no plea-and-trial comparison for this year.
Sentences Against the Guideline Range
Within the range were 7 sentences (64%). Below the range without a government request were 2 (18%). Below the range at the government's request was 1 (9%), and above the range was 1 (9%).
The within-range share was higher than the 46% for all years of §2B3.3 and higher than the 51% for all guidelines in fiscal year 2019. In fiscal year 2018 the share under §2B3.3 was 50%, and in fiscal year 2020 it was 54%.
Supervised Release, Fines, and Restitution
Supervised release after prison was ordered for 8 people (73%), with a median term of 24 months. A fine was ordered for 0 people (0%). Restitution was ordered for 6 (55%).
Criminal History of the Group
In the lowest criminal history category I were 64% of the group, and 0% were in the highest category VI. Court-martial records have no criminal history field, so this measure has no military counterpart.
What the Guideline Covers and How the Year Is Defined
The Guidelines Manual titles §2B3.3 "Blackmail and Similar Forms of Extortion". The Commission lists these 11 cases under Extortion/Racketeering. A case counts under this guideline when it set the offense level for the most serious count.
Fiscal year 2019 ran from October 1, 2018 to September 30, 2019. Only people convicted and sentenced are counted. The count of 11 is small, so the year should not be treated as a trend.
Neighboring Years and the Federal Total
In fiscal year 2018, 16 people were sentenced under §2B3.3, with a median prison term of 12 months. In fiscal year 2020, 13 people were sentenced, with a median of 12 months.
Across all guidelines in fiscal year 2019, 76,538 people were sentenced. The median prison term was 21 months, and 98% pleaded guilty. Over fiscal years 2016 to 2025, the median prison term under §2B3.3 was 13.9 months and 94% pleaded guilty. The table gives each year.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 18 | 12 months | 89% |
| 2017 | 6 | 10 months | 6 of 6 |
| 2018 | 16 | 12 months | 94% |
| 2019 | 11 | 15 months | 100% |
| 2020 | 13 | 12 months | 100% |
| 2021 | 10 | 13.7 months | 90% |
| 2022 | 5 | 24 months | 5 of 5 |
| 2023 | 10 | 4.5 months | 90% |
| 2024 | 6 | 17.7 months | 6 of 6 |
| 2025 | 5 | 21.4 months | 4 of 5 |
Limits
The records show no case facts. The crosswalk has no close court-martial counterpart for this guideline, so only federal numbers are reported.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2019 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2B3.3 (11), 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)
- §2B3.3 Blackmail and Similar Forms of Extortion: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- §2B3.3 Blackmail and Similar Forms of Extortion: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2018 (previous or next fiscal year)
- §2B3.3 Blackmail and Similar Forms of Extortion: 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.