§2D1.1 Unlawful Manufacturing, Importing, Exporting, or Trafficking (Including Possession with Intent to Commit These Offenses): Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2021
In fiscal year 2021, 16,995 of the 17,241 people sentenced under §2D1.1 pleaded guilty (99%), and 246 were convicted after a trial. The median prison term was 60 months (5 years). Of the people with the information, 28% were sentenced within the guideline range and 44% below it at the government's r
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › §2D1.1 Unlawful Manufacturing, Importing, Exporting, or Traf › §2D1.1: FY2021
In brief: In fiscal year 2021, 16,995 of the 17,241 people sentenced under §2D1.1 pleaded guilty (99%), and 246 were convicted after a trial. The median prison term was 60 months (5 years). Of the people with the information, 28% were sentenced within the guideline range and 44% below it at the government's request.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 17,241 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2021. 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.
Almost Everyone Pleaded Guilty
Of the 17,241 people sentenced under §2D1.1 in fiscal year 2021, 16,995 (99%) pleaded guilty. Only 246 were convicted after a trial. The plea share of 99% is the highest in the yearly table, which runs from fiscal year 2016 to fiscal year 2025.
Among the guilty pleas, 92% had a written plea agreement and 8% were straight pleas with no agreement.
The median prison term after a guilty plea was 60 months. After a trial it was 180 months, based on 244 people convicted at trial and sent to prison. The trial group is small, so its median rests on far fewer cases than the plea median.
Sentences Below the Range at the Government's Request
The Commission lists sentence position for 17,237 people. A sentence below the guideline range at the government's request applied to 44% (7,511), which was the most common result. Within the range: 28% (4,824). Below the range without a government request: 27% (4,620). Above the range: 2% (282).
The share within the range was 32% in fiscal year 2020 and 27% in fiscal year 2022. The 2021 share was lower than 2020 and about the same as 2022.
The guideline range is a calculation that includes the offense level and criminal history. The records do not say why a court chose a sentence inside or outside it.
Overall Prison Terms
A prison term went to 16,646 people (97%), and 445 (3%) received probation only. The median prison term was 60 months (5 years), a quarter received 120 months or more, and a quarter received 30 months or less.
10 people received a life sentence, a very small count.
Mandatory Minimums
A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 12,179 of the 17,224 people with that information recorded (71%).
The Sentencing Guidelines Manual titles §2D1.1 "Unlawful Manufacturing, Importing, Exporting, or Trafficking (Including Possession with Intent to Commit These Offenses); Attempt or Conspiracy". The Commission files all 17,241 cases under its Drug Trafficking offense type.
Fiscal Year 2021 Against the Full Period and All Guidelines
From fiscal year 2016 to fiscal year 2025, §2D1.1 covered 181,468 people. Of these, 96% were sent to prison, the median prison term was 60 months, 98% pleaded guilty, and 31% were within the range.
In fiscal year 2021, all guidelines combined covered 57,287 people. The median prison term was 29 months, 98% pleaded guilty, and 43% were within the guideline range. The table lists the §2D1.1 figures for each year.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 19,199 | 55 months | 98% |
| 2017 | 19,223 | 60 months | 98% |
| 2018 | 18,404 | 60 months | 97% |
| 2019 | 19,463 | 60 months | 98% |
| 2020 | 15,965 | 60 months | 98% |
| 2021 | 17,241 | 60 months | 99% |
| 2022 | 19,612 | 60 months | 98% |
| 2023 | 18,640 | 65 months | 98% |
| 2024 | 17,771 | 70 months | 98% |
| 2025 | 15,950 | 72 months | 98% |
Supervised Release, Fines, and Criminal History
Supervised release after prison was ordered for 16,381 people (95%), with a median term of 48 months. 5 people (less than 1%) received it for life. A fine was ordered for 806 (5%) and restitution for 226 (1%).
In fiscal year 2021, 43% of people were in the lowest criminal history category (category I) and 14% in the highest (category VI).
Limits of This Count
The data counts only convicted and sentenced people, so acquittals and dismissals are absent. Prison terms are imposed terms, not time served. The federal fiscal year runs from October 1 to September 30, which means fiscal year 2021 began on October 1, 2020.
The approved crosswalk pairs §2D1.1 with Article 112a of the UCMJ. The comparison posts cover that article, and this post reports the federal numbers by themselves.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2021 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2D1.1 (17,241), 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)
- §2D1.1 Unlawful Manufacturing, Importing, Exporting, or Trafficking (Including Possession with Intent to Commit These Offenses): Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- §2D1.1 Unlawful Manufacturing, Importing, Exporting, or Trafficking (Including Possession with Intent to Commit These Offenses): Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2020 (previous or next fiscal year)
- §2D1.1 Unlawful Manufacturing, Importing, Exporting, or Trafficking (Including Possession with Intent to Commit These Offenses): Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2022 (previous or next fiscal year)
- How Often Federal Judges Sentence Outside the Guideline Range
- Mandatory Minimums: How Many Federal Sentences Are Set by Congress
- Army Article 112a Cases by the Numbers, 2021–2025 (court-martial data)
- What Sentence Follows an Army Drug Conviction? (court-martial data)
- How Often Are Contested Army Article 112a Cases Acquitted? (court-martial data)
- Guilty Pleas in Army Drug Cases: How Often, and What Came Next (court-martial data)
- Are Air Force Drug Courts-Martial Disappearing? Article 112a, 2016–2025 (court-martial data)
- How Much Confinement for an Article 112a Conviction in the Air Force? (court-martial data)
- Pleading Guilty to Article 112a in the Air Force: What Sentences Followed? (court-martial data)
- Is Navy-Marine Corps Drug Prosecution Rising or Falling? Article 112a, 2017–2025 (court-martial data)
- How Much Confinement for an Article 112a Conviction in the Navy-Marine Corps? (court-martial data)
- Fighting a Navy-Marine Corps Drug Charge: How Contested Cases Ended (court-martial data)
- When Navy-Marine Corps Accused Plead Guilty to Drug (court-martial data)
- Article 112a (Wrongful Use, Possession of Controlled Substances): Court-Martial Data and Trends (court-martial data)
- Article 112a UCMJ Drug Offenses and Positive Urinalysis (law firm reference page)
- 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.