§2C1.1 Offering, Giving, Soliciting, or Receiving a Bribe: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2019
In fiscal year 2019, 39 of the 245 people sentenced under §2C1.1, "Offering, Giving, Soliciting, or Receiving a Bribe," (16%) received probation only. 188 (77%) received a prison term, with a median of 21 months. 40 people (16%) were sentenced within the guideline range.
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › §2C1.1 Offering, Giving, Soliciting, or Receiving a Bribe › §2C1.1: FY2019
In brief: In fiscal year 2019, 39 of the 245 people sentenced under §2C1.1, "Offering, Giving, Soliciting, or Receiving a Bribe," (16%) received probation only. 188 (77%) received a prison term, with a median of 21 months. 40 people (16%) were sentenced within the guideline range.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 245 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.
Probation Only and Prison in Fiscal Year 2019
The U.S. Sentencing Commission counted 245 people sentenced in fiscal year 2019 with §2C1.1 as the primary guideline. Probation only, meaning no prison or other confinement, was given to 39 (16%).
A prison term was given to 188 (77%). The median prison term was 21 months, a quarter received 36 months or more, and a quarter received 12 months or less.
Sentences Within the Guideline Range
The Commission has range information for all 245 people. A sentence within the guideline range was given to 40 (16%).
A sentence below the range at the government's request was given to 120 (49%). A sentence below the range without a government request was given to 83 (34%). A sentence above the range was given to 2 people (less than 1%).
The within-range share was lower than the 20% for fiscal years 2016 to 2025 together and the 51% for all guidelines in fiscal year 2019.
Guilty Pleas and Trial Convictions
Of the 245 people, 221 (90%) pleaded guilty and 24 were convicted after a trial. Among guilty pleas, 92% had a written plea agreement and 8% were straight pleas.
The median prison term after a guilty plea was 18 months. After a trial, it was 49 months, based on 24 people who were convicted at trial and sent to prison.
A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 1 of the 245 people with that information recorded, which is less than 1%.
Fines, Restitution, and Supervised Release
A fine was ordered for 74 people (30%), and restitution was also ordered for 74 (30%). The data does not say whether these were the same people.
Supervised release after prison was ordered for 184 people (75%), with a median term of 36 months.
In criminal history, 88% were in the lowest category (category I) and 2% were in the highest (category VI). Court-martial records have no criminal history field.
Fiscal Year 2019 Among Other Years
The previous year, 2018, had 204 people, a median prison term of 18.9 months, and 25% of sentences within the range. The next year, 2020, had 139 people, a median of 14 months, and 9% within the range.
From fiscal year 2016 through 2025, 2,058 people were sentenced under §2C1.1. Of those, 79% went to prison, the median prison term was 19 months, and 91% pleaded guilty.
For all guidelines in fiscal year 2019, 76,538 people were sentenced. Their median prison term was 21 months, the same as for §2C1.1, and 98% 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 These Records
Only convicted and sentenced people appear in the Commission files. Acquittals and dismissals do not, and prison terms are terms imposed, not time served.
Fiscal year 2019 ran from October 1, 2018 to September 30, 2019. The approved 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 §2C1.1 (245), 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 2018 (previous or next fiscal year)
- §2C1.1 Offering, Giving, Soliciting, or Receiving a Bribe: 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.