§2D1.11 Unlawfully Distributing, Importing, Exporting or Possessing a Listed Chemical: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2016
Fiscal year 2016 was the largest year for §2D1.11 in the 10-year table, with 76 people sentenced in federal court. Of the 76, 69 (91%) received prison, with a median term of 41 months, and all 76 (100%) pleaded guilty. Only 21 sentences (28%) were within the guideline range.
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In brief: Fiscal year 2016 was the largest year for §2D1.11 in the 10-year table, with 76 people sentenced in federal court. Of the 76, 69 (91%) received prison, with a median term of 41 months, and all 76 (100%) pleaded guilty. Only 21 sentences (28%) were within the guideline range.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 76 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 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.
The Largest Group Under This Guideline
In fiscal year 2016, 76 people were sentenced with §2D1.11 as the primary guideline. The primary guideline is the one that set the offense level for the most serious count. The next year, fiscal year 2017, had 22 people, and fiscal year 2018 had 43.
The Guidelines Manual titles the guideline "Unlawfully Distributing, Importing, Exporting or Possessing a Listed Chemical; Attempt or Conspiracy." The Commission files these cases in its Other offense type, not in drug trafficking.
The fiscal year ran from October 1, 2015 to September 30, 2016.
Prison Terms
Of the 76 people, 69 (91%) received a prison term. Another 6 (8%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement.
The median prison term was 41 months, or 3.4 years. A quarter of those sent to prison received 66 months or more, and a quarter received 30 months or less. The median for all fiscal years 2016 to 2025 under this guideline was 36 months, so 2016 was higher. For all guidelines in 2016, 67,742 people were sentenced, with a median of 24 months.
Supervised release followed prison for 69 people (91%), and the median term was 36 months. A fine was ordered for 17 people (22%), and restitution for 4 (5%).
Sentences Against the Guideline Range
Of the 76 sentences, 21 (28%) were within the range. A total of 36 (47%) were below the range at the government's request, and 19 (25%) were below it without a request. None was above the range.
Across all years under §2D1.11, 18% were within the range. For all guidelines in 2016, the share was 49%. The 2016 share under this guideline was higher than the first figure and lower than the second.
Pleas and Mandatory Minimums
All 76 people pleaded guilty, and none was convicted after a trial. Federal court overall had a guilty plea rate of 97% in 2016. Of the guilty pleas, 92% had a written plea agreement, and 8% were straight pleas with no agreement.
A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 2 of the 76 people (3%). A mandatory minimum is a term that a statute sets as the lowest a court may impose.
Criminal History and the Counts Over Time
In this group, 28% were in the lowest criminal history category I, and 11% were in the highest (category VI). Court-martial records have no criminal history field.
Across all fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 180 people were sentenced under this guideline. Of those, 95% went to prison, and 99% pleaded guilty. The table shows the count falling to between 1 and 5 people a year from fiscal year 2020 on. The records do not give a reason.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 76 | 41 months | 100% |
| 2017 | 22 | 46 months | 95% |
| 2018 | 43 | 30 months | 100% |
| 2019 | 27 | 24 months | 100% |
| 2020 | 5 | 0 months | 4 of 5 |
| 2021 | 2 | 44 months | 2 of 2 |
| 2022 | 1 | 24 months | 1 of 1 |
| 2023 | 2 | 54.3 months | 2 of 2 |
| 2024 | 1 | 24 months | 1 of 1 |
| 2025 | 1 | 51 months | 1 of 1 |
What Cannot Be Read From This Data
The data covers only people who were convicted and sentenced. Acquittals and dismissals are not included, and prison terms are those imposed, not served.
The approved crosswalk lists no close court-martial counterpart for this guideline, so this post reports the federal numbers on their own.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2016 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2D1.11 (76), 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)
- §2D1.11 Unlawfully Distributing, Importing, Exporting or Possessing a Listed Chemical: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- §2D1.11 Unlawfully Distributing, Importing, Exporting or Possessing a Listed Chemical: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2017 (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.