§2C1.1 Offering, Giving, Soliciting, or Receiving a Bribe: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2017
In fiscal year 2017, the median prison term under §2C1.1, "Offering, Giving, Soliciting, or Receiving a Bribe," was 18 months after a guilty plea and 54 months after a trial. 205 people were sentenced, 189 (92%) pleaded guilty, and 16 were convicted after a trial. Overall, 155 people (76%) received
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › §2C1.1 Offering, Giving, Soliciting, or Receiving a Bribe › §2C1.1: FY2017
In brief: In fiscal year 2017, the median prison term under §2C1.1, "Offering, Giving, Soliciting, or Receiving a Bribe," was 18 months after a guilty plea and 54 months after a trial. 205 people were sentenced, 189 (92%) pleaded guilty, and 16 were convicted after a trial. Overall, 155 people (76%) received a prison term.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 205 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2017. 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.
Prison Terms After a Plea and After a Trial
The U.S. Sentencing Commission recorded 205 people sentenced in fiscal year 2017 with §2C1.1 as the primary guideline. Of these, 189 (92%) pleaded guilty and 16 were convicted after a trial.
The median prison term after a guilty plea was 18 months. After a trial, the median was 54 months, based on all 16 people who were convicted at trial and sent to prison.
The trial group is small, so the figure is a description of those 16 people and not a general rule. The data also does not say whether the cases differed in ways that affect sentences.
All Prison Terms and Probation
A prison term went to 155 of the 205 people (76%). Probation only, with no prison or other confinement, went to 27 (13%).
For everyone sent to prison, the median was 21 months. A quarter received 44 months or more, and a quarter received 12 months or less.
Plea Agreements and Mandatory Minimums
Among those who pleaded guilty, 96% had a written plea agreement and 4% were straight pleas with no agreement.
A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 6 of the 205 people with that information recorded (3%).
Sentences Against the Guideline Range
The Commission has range information for 204 people. A sentence within the range was given to 45 (22%).
A sentence below the range at the government's request was given to 94 (46%), and one below the range without a government request to 64 (31%). A sentence above the range was given to 1 person (less than 1%).
Across fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 20% of §2C1.1 sentences were within the range. The fiscal year 2017 share was a little higher, and the share for all guidelines that year was 49%.
Supervised Release, Fines, and Restitution
Supervised release after prison was ordered for 148 people (72%), with a median term of 36 months. A fine was ordered for 67 (33%), and restitution for 79 (39%).
In criminal history, 94% were in the lowest category (category I) and 0% were in the highest (category VI). Court-martial records have no criminal history field.
Neighboring Years and the Whole System
The previous year, fiscal year 2016, had 260 people, a median prison term of 24 months, and 20% within the range. The next year, fiscal year 2018, had 204 people, a median of 18.9 months, and 25% within the range. The table covers every year.
For the full period from 2016 to 2025, the Commission counted 2,058 people under this guideline. In that period, 79% went to prison, the median was 19 months, and 91% pleaded guilty.
Across every guideline in fiscal year 2017, 66,873 people were sentenced. Their median prison term was 24 months and 97% pleaded guilty.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 260 | 24 months | 89% |
| 2017 | 205 | 21 months | 92% |
| 2018 | 204 | 18.9 months | 93% |
| 2019 | 245 | 21 months | 90% |
| 2020 | 139 | 14 months | 88% |
| 2021 | 143 | 24 months | 91% |
| 2022 | 213 | 22 months | 93% |
| 2023 | 226 | 22.1 months | 91% |
| 2024 | 220 | 16.5 months | 87% |
| 2025 | 203 | 15.5 months | 91% |
Limits of the Data
Only convicted and sentenced people are counted. Acquittals and dismissals do not appear. Fiscal year 2017 ran from October 1, 2016 to September 30, 2017.
The approved crosswalk has no close court-martial counterpart for this guideline, so the post reports federal numbers on their own.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2017 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2C1.1 (205), 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)
- §2C1.1 Offering, Giving, Soliciting, or Receiving a Bribe: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- §2C1.1 Offering, Giving, Soliciting, or Receiving a Bribe: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2016 (previous or next fiscal year)
- §2C1.1 Offering, Giving, Soliciting, or Receiving a Bribe: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2018 (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.