> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.bodiesburied.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # §2C1.8 Making, Receiving, or Failing to Report a Contribution, Donation, or Expenditure in Violation of the Federal Election Campaign Act: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025 - URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2c1-8-making-receiving-or-failing-to-report-a/ - Published: 2026-11-03T01:40:11.000Z - Updated: 2026-11-03T01:40:11.000Z - Description: A total of 43 people were sentenced in federal court under §2C1.8 in fiscal years 2016 to 2024, and 25 of them (58%) received a prison term with a median of 15 months. Another 14 (33%) received probation only. 11 of the 43 were convicted after a trial. - Author: Jocelyn C. Stewart - Tags: Understanding Trends, Federal [Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/) › [Federal Prosecution Analysis](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal/) › §2C1.8 **In brief:** A total of 43 people were sentenced in federal court under §2C1.8 in fiscal years 2016 to 2024, and 25 of them (58%) received a prison term with a median of 15 months. Another 14 (33%) received probation only. 11 of the 43 were convicted after a trial. Updated November 2, 2026 · Sources: U.S. Sentencing Commission and Federal Judicial Center, fiscal years 2016–2025 This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 43 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](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal/) series, which builds on [Military Moves Toward Sentencing Guidelines to Mirror the Federal System](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/military-sentencing-guidelines-federal-system/). How the numbers were built: [How the Federal Comparison Data Was Built](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-data-methodology/). ## What Is This Guideline About? The Guidelines Manual gives §2C1.8 a long title: "Making, Receiving, or Failing to Report a Contribution, Donation, or Expenditure in Violation of the Federal Election Campaign Act; Fraudulently Misrepresenting Campaign Authority; Soliciting or Receiving a Donation in Connection with an Election While on Certain Federal Property." In plain words, the title covers contributions, donations, and expenditures that break the Federal Election Campaign Act, misrepresenting campaign authority, and soliciting or receiving a donation on certain federal property. The Sentencing Commission files these cases under Bribery/Corruption. The count here includes people whose primary guideline was §2C1.8, meaning the one that set the offense level for the most serious count. The data runs through fiscal year 2024. ## Prison and Probation Of the 43 people, 25 (58%) were sentenced to prison and 14 (33%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement. The median prison term was 15 months. A quarter of those sent to prison received 20 months or more, and a quarter received 10 months or less. The terms are those imposed by the court, not time served. ## Trials Were Not Unusual Here Guilty pleas accounted for 32 of 43 (74%), and 11 people were convicted after a trial. The median prison term after a guilty plea was 11 months. After a trial it was 18 months, based on 10 people who were convicted at trial and sent to prison. Among guilty pleas, 97% had a written plea agreement and 3% were straight pleas with no agreement. ## Most Sentences Were Below the Range Only 16% (7) of the 43 sentences were within the guideline range. Sentences below the range at the government's request were 37% (16), and sentences below the range without a government request were 47% (20). No sentence was above the range. No mandatory minimum prison term applied to anyone in this group. ## Supervised Release, Fines, and Restitution Supervised release after prison was ordered for 24 people (56%), with a median term of 30 months. A fine was ordered for 27 (63%). Restitution was ordered for 3 (7%). On criminal history, 91% were in the lowest category, category I, and 0% were in the highest, category VI. Court-martial records have no criminal history field. ## Changes Across Fiscal Years Fiscal years 2016 to 2019 had 17 people with a median prison term of 13.5 months. Fiscal years 2020 to 2025 had 26 people with a median prison term of 15 months. The data for this guideline stops at fiscal year 2024. Each year is small. Fiscal year 2021 had 1 person, and fiscal year 2020 had 9\. The 55.5-month median for fiscal year 2024 rests on 2 people. | Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty | | ----------- | ---------------- | ------------- | -------------- | | 2016 | 4 | 6 months | 4 of 4 | | 2017 | 6 | 15 months | 4 of 6 | | 2018 | 5 | 20 months | 4 of 5 | | 2019 | 2 | 11 months | 1 of 2 | | 2020 | 9 | 15 months | 6 of 9 | | 2021 | 1 | 6 months | 1 of 1 | | 2022 | 7 | 12 months | 5 of 7 | | 2023 | 7 | 20 months | 6 of 7 | | 2024 | 2 | 55.5 months | 1 of 2 | ## What the Data Cannot Tell The approved crosswalk has no close court-martial counterpart for this guideline, so only federal numbers are given. The data counts only people who were convicted and sentenced. It does not include acquittals or dismissals, and it cannot show how many cases were investigated. ### How We Counted Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2C1.8 (43), 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](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/military-sentencing-guidelines-federal-system/) (the background article) - [Federal Prosecution Analysis](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal/) (all federal posts) - [How the Federal Comparison Data Was Built](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-data-methodology/) (sources and method) - [§2C1.1 Offering, Giving, Soliciting, or Receiving a Bribe: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2c1-1-offering-giving-soliciting-or-receiving-a-bribe/) (same guideline chapter part) - [§2C1.2 Offering, Giving, Soliciting, or Receiving a Gratuity: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2c1-2-offering-giving-soliciting-or-receiving-a-gratuity/) (same guideline chapter part) - [§2C1.3 Conflict of Interest: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2c1-3-conflict-of-interest/) (same guideline chapter part) - [U.S. Sentencing Commission, Individual Offender Datafiles](https://www.ussc.gov/research/datafiles/commission-datafiles?ref=bodiesburied.com) (source) - [Federal Judicial Center, Integrated Database (criminal defendants)](https://www.fjc.gov/research/idb?ref=bodiesburied.com) (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](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/?ref=bodiesburied.com). This analysis is for education and information only. It is not legal advice, and every case is different.