§2B3.3 Blackmail and Similar Forms of Extortion: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025
Federal courts sentenced 100 people under §2B3.3, blackmail and similar forms of extortion, in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. Prison was ordered for 61, and the median prison term was 13.9 months. No mandatory minimum applied to anyone.
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In brief: Federal courts sentenced 100 people under §2B3.3, blackmail and similar forms of extortion, in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. Prison was ordered for 61, and the median prison term was 13.9 months. No mandatory minimum applied to anyone.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 100 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. 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.
Reading the Numbers for Blackmail and Extortion
The U.S. Sentencing Guidelines Manual titles §2B3.3 "Blackmail and Similar Forms of Extortion." The Sentencing Commission counted 100 people in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 with §2B3.3 as the primary guideline, listed under Extortion/Racketeering.
Because the total is exactly 100, counts and percentages are the same number for most figures below.
Prison, Probation, and Length
Prison was ordered for 61 people (61%). Probation only, with no prison or other confinement, was ordered for 25 (25%).
The median prison term was 13.9 months. A quarter of those sent to prison received 24 months or more, and a quarter received 5.7 months or less.
A median is the middle value when the prison terms are put in order. For the 61 people sent to prison, the middle term was 13.9 months.
A Gap Between Plea and Trial Sentences
Guilty pleas numbered 94 (94%), and 6 people were convicted after a trial. Among guilty pleas, 91% had a written plea agreement and 9% were straight pleas.
The median prison term after a guilty plea was 12 months. After a trial it was 40.5 months, but that is based on only 4 people convicted at trial and sent to prison.
Sentences and the Guideline Range
The sentence was within the guideline range for 46 people (46%). It was below the range at the government's request for 27 (27%) and below it without a government request for 19 (19%). It was above the range for 8 (8%).
A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 0 people.
The wide gap between the plea median and the trial median should not be treated as a rule, because 4 people is a small base. The records do not show whether the trial cases involved different facts.
After Prison and Money Orders
Supervised release was ordered for 59 people (59%), with a median term of 12 months. Restitution was ordered for 44 (44%), and a fine for 12 (12%).
In criminal history, 71% were in the lowest category I and 1% were in the highest (VI).
Restitution was ordered more often than a fine. The Commission's data does not say how much money was ordered in either case.
Earlier and Later Years
Fiscal years 2016 to 2019 had 51 people and a median prison term of 14 months. Fiscal years 2020 to 2025 had 49 people and a median of 12 months.
In the yearly table, the median was 4.5 months in 2023 and 24 months in 2022. Years with 5 or 6 people give unstable medians.
| 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 |
What the Records Do Not Show
Only convicted and sentenced people are counted, and the terms are as imposed. The approved crosswalk has no close court-martial counterpart for this guideline, so no court-martial comparison is offered.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2B3.3 (100), from the U.S. Sentencing Commission's 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)
- §2B3.1 Robbery: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025 (same guideline chapter part)
- §2B5.1 Offenses Involving Counterfeit Bearer Obligations of the United States: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025 (same guideline chapter part)
- §2B4.1 Bribery in Procurement of Bank Loan and Other Commercial Bribery: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025 (same guideline chapter part)
- §2B5.3 Criminal Infringement of Copyright or Trademark: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025 (same guideline chapter part)
- §2B2.1 Burglary of a Residence or a Structure Other than a Residence: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025 (same guideline chapter part)
- 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.