§2C1.1 Offering, Giving, Soliciting, or Receiving a Bribe: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2025
In fiscal year 2025, 43 of the 203 people sentenced under §2C1.1, "Offering, Giving, Soliciting, or Receiving a Bribe," (21%) received probation only. 146 (72%) received a prison term, with a median of 15.5 months. Restitution was ordered for 92 people (45%).
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › §2C1.1 Offering, Giving, Soliciting, or Receiving a Bribe › §2C1.1: FY2025
In brief: In fiscal year 2025, 43 of the 203 people sentenced under §2C1.1, "Offering, Giving, Soliciting, or Receiving a Bribe," (21%) received probation only. 146 (72%) received a prison term, with a median of 15.5 months. Restitution was ordered for 92 people (45%).
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 203 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 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.
Probation Only and Prison Terms
The U.S. Sentencing Commission counted 203 people sentenced in fiscal year 2025 with §2C1.1 as the primary guideline. Probation only, meaning no prison or other confinement, went to 43 (21%).
A prison term went to 146 (72%). The share sent to prison was lower than the 79% for fiscal years 2016 to 2025 together.
For those sent to prison, the median was 15.5 months. A quarter received 36 months or more, and a quarter received 7 months or less.
Restitution and Fines
Restitution was ordered for 92 of the 203 people (45%). A fine was ordered for 46 (23%).
The data does not show what the restitution orders covered or how they related to the sentences.
Supervised release after prison was ordered for 141 people (69%), with a median term of 36 months.
Pleas and Trials
A total of 184 of 203 people (91%) pleaded guilty, and 19 were convicted after a trial.
The median prison term after a guilty plea was 12 months. After a trial, it was 54 months, based on 19 people who were convicted at trial and sent to prison.
Among guilty pleas, 95% had a written plea agreement and 5% were straight pleas with no agreement.
Guideline Range and Mandatory Minimums
The Commission has range information for all 203 people. A sentence within the range was given to 41 (20%).
A sentence below the range at the government's request was given to 77 (38%), and one below the range without a government request to 83 (41%). A sentence above the range was given to 2 (less than 1%).
A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 3 of the 203 people with that information recorded (1%). In criminal history, 91% were in the lowest category (category I) and 2% were in the highest (category VI).
Comparison With Other Years and All Guidelines
The previous year, fiscal year 2024, had 220 people, a median prison term of 16.5 months, and 22% within the range. The table lists every year, and fiscal year 2025 is the last.
Across 2016 to 2025, the Commission counted 2,058 people under this guideline, with a median prison term of 19 months and 91% guilty pleas.
For everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2025, under every guideline, the count was 66,662 people. Their median prison term was 24 months, 98% pleaded guilty, and 51% were within the range.
| 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 Records
Only convicted and sentenced people are counted, so acquittals and dismissals are not in the data. Prison terms are the terms imposed, not time served.
Fiscal year 2025 ran from October 1, 2024 to September 30, 2025. The approved crosswalk has no close court-martial counterpart for this guideline, so this post gives federal numbers alone. The Commission classifies the cases as Bribery/Corruption.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2025 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2C1.1 (203), 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 2024 (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.