§2D1.11 Unlawfully Distributing, Importing, Exporting or Possessing a Listed Chemical: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2017
In fiscal year 2017, all 22 people sentenced under §2D1.11 (100%) received a prison term, and the median was 46 months. 21 (95%) pleaded guilty and 1 was convicted after a trial. 12 sentences (55%) were below the range at the government's request.
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In brief: In fiscal year 2017, all 22 people sentenced under §2D1.11 (100%) received a prison term, and the median was 46 months. 21 (95%) pleaded guilty and 1 was convicted after a trial. 12 sentences (55%) were below the range at the government's request.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 22 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2017. 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.
Everyone Sentenced Received Prison
All 22 people sentenced in fiscal year 2017 with §2D1.11 as the primary guideline received a prison term. None (0%) received probation only. Across all fiscal years 2016 to 2025 under the guideline, 95% of people were sent to prison.
The median prison term was 46 months, or 3.8 years. A quarter of the group received 75.5 months or more, and a quarter received 30 months or less. The 2016 median was 41 months, and the 2018 median was 30 months.
One Trial and 21 Guilty Pleas
Of the 22 people, 21 (95%) pleaded guilty. One person was convicted after a trial. The median prison term was 46 months after a guilty plea. The person convicted at trial received 135 months.
That trial figure describes one person, so it cannot be generalized. Of the guilty pleas, 90% had a written plea agreement, and 10% were straight pleas. A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 0 of the 22 people.
Where Sentences Fell Against the Range
7 sentences (32%) were within the guideline range. A total of 12 (55%) were below the range at the government's request, and 3 (14%) were below it without a request. None was above the range.
In fiscal year 2016, 28% were within the range, and in fiscal year 2018 it was 12%. Across all years under this guideline, the share was 18%. For everyone sentenced in 2017 under any guideline, the share was 49%.
What the Guideline Covers
The Guidelines Manual titles §2D1.11 "Unlawfully Distributing, Importing, Exporting or Possessing a Listed Chemical; Attempt or Conspiracy." The Commission files these cases in its Other offense type. Fiscal year 2017 ran from October 1, 2016 to September 30, 2017. For all guidelines, 66,873 people were sentenced, and the median prison term was 24 months.
Release, Payments, and Criminal History
All 22 people (100%) were ordered to serve supervised release, with a median term of 36 months. A fine was ordered for 2 (9%), and restitution for 1 (5%).
In this group, 23% were in the lowest criminal history category I, and 18% were in the highest (category VI). Court-martial records have no criminal history field.
Reading the Series With Care
The table lists each year. The count was 76 in 2016, 22 in 2017, 43 in 2018, and 27 in 2019, and it was 5 or fewer in each later year. The records do not explain the changes, and small counts make medians unstable.
The data includes only people who were convicted and sentenced. Terms are those imposed, not served. The approved crosswalk has no close court-martial counterpart for this guideline, so this post reports the federal numbers on their own.
| 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 |
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2017 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2D1.11 (22), 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.
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 2016 (previous or next fiscal year)
- §2D1.11 Unlawfully Distributing, Importing, Exporting or Possessing a Listed Chemical: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2018 (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.