> ## 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. # §2D1.10 Endangering Human Life While Illegally Manufacturing a Controlled Substance: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2016 - URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2d1-10-endangering-human-life-while-illegally-manufacturing-a-fy2016/ - Published: 2026-11-04T10:59:18.000Z - Updated: 2026-11-04T10:59:18.000Z - Description: In fiscal year 2016, 12 people were sentenced in federal court under guideline §2D1.10, which the Sentencing Guidelines Manual titles "Endangering Human Life While Illegally Manufacturing a Controlled Substance; Attempt or Conspiracy." 10 of the 12 (83%) were sent to prison, and the median prison te - Author: Jocelyn C. Stewart - Tags: Understanding Trends, Federal [Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/) › [Federal Prosecution Analysis](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal/) › [§2D1.10 Endangering Human Life While Illegally Manufacturing](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2d1-10-endangering-human-life-while-illegally-manufacturing-a/) › §2D1.10: FY2016 **In brief:** In fiscal year 2016, 12 people were sentenced in federal court under guideline §2D1.10, which the Sentencing Guidelines Manual titles "Endangering Human Life While Illegally Manufacturing a Controlled Substance; Attempt or Conspiracy." 10 of the 12 (83%) were sent to prison, and the median prison term was 33 months. Only 2 sentences (17%) were within the guideline range. Updated November 4, 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 12 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2016\. 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/). ## Prison Terms in Fiscal Year 2016 In fiscal year 2016, the Commission's data include 12 people with §2D1.10 as the primary guideline. Of those, 10 (83%) were sentenced to prison. The other 2 (17%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement. Among those sent to prison, the median term was 33 months, or 2.8 years. The top quarter of terms began at 64 months, and the bottom quarter ended at 3 months. Terms in this group varied widely. The Commission files these cases under the offense type Drug Trafficking. Fiscal year 2016 ran from October 1, 2015 to September 30, 2016. ## Sentences Mostly Below the Guideline Range 2 sentences (17%) were within the guideline range. 5 (42%) were below the range at the government's request, and 5 (42%) were below it without a government request. None were above the range. The all-years figure under this guideline is 8% within the range, for 39 people. Fiscal year 2016 was higher than that. The figure for everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2016 under any guideline was 49%. ## Pleas and Mandatory Minimums Every one of the 12 people (100%) pleaded guilty. No one was convicted after a trial. 92% of the pleas came with a written plea agreement, and 8% did not. A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 1 of the 12 people (8%). The all-years guilty plea rate under this guideline is 100%, and the rate for all guidelines in fiscal year 2016 was 97%. ## Supervised Release, Money Penalties, and Criminal History 10 people (83%) were ordered to serve supervised release after prison, with a median term of 36 months. A fine was ordered for 1 person (8%), and restitution for 4 people (33%). On criminal history, 33% were in Category I, the lowest, and 0% were in Category VI, the highest. Military records contain no criminal history field. ## How Fiscal Year 2016 Fits the Yearly Table Fiscal year 2016 has the largest group in the table, at 12 people. The table runs through fiscal year 2024, and from fiscal year 2021 on, it shows 1 person per year. The all-years median prison term under this guideline is 29 months, and 77% were sent to prison. For all guidelines in fiscal year 2016, 67,742 people were sentenced, with a median of 24 months. The §2D1.10 median was higher. | Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty | | ----------- | ---------------- | ------------- | -------------- | | 2016 | 12 | 33 months | 100% | | 2017 | 5 | 6 months | 5 of 5 | | 2018 | 9 | 36 months | 9 of 9 | | 2019 | 7 | 9 months | 7 of 7 | | 2020 | 2 | 14 months | 2 of 2 | | 2021 | 1 | n/a | 1 of 1 | | 2022 | 1 | 84 months | 1 of 1 | | 2023 | 1 | 48 months | 1 of 1 | | 2024 | 1 | 36 months | 1 of 1 | ## What the Records Cannot Show The crosswalk has no close court-martial equivalent for §2D1.10, so the numbers here are federal alone. Only people who were convicted and sentenced are included, so acquittals and dismissals are missing. Individual case facts are absent, and the terms are imposed terms rather than time served. A single year of 12 people is not a trend. ### How We Counted Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2016 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2D1.10 (12), 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](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) - [§2D1.10 Endangering Human Life While Illegally Manufacturing a Controlled Substance: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2d1-10-endangering-human-life-while-illegally-manufacturing-a/) (overview) - [How Often Federal Judges Sentence Outside the Guideline Range](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-sentences-outside-guideline-range/) - [Mandatory Minimums: How Many Federal Sentences Are Set by Congress](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-mandatory-minimum-sentences/) - [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.