§2D1.2 Drug Offenses Occurring Near Protected Locations or Involving Underage or Pregnant Individuals: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2021
In fiscal year 2021, 249 of the 252 people sentenced under §2D1.2 (99%) pleaded guilty, and 3 were convicted after a trial. The median prison term was 75.4 months, which is 6.3 years. That is higher than the 66.5 months in fiscal year 2020.
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › §2D1.2 Drug Offenses Occurring Near Protected Locations or I › §2D1.2: FY2021
In brief: In fiscal year 2021, 249 of the 252 people sentenced under §2D1.2 (99%) pleaded guilty, and 3 were convicted after a trial. The median prison term was 75.4 months, which is 6.3 years. That is higher than the 66.5 months in fiscal year 2020.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 252 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 All Cases Ended in a Guilty Plea
The Sentencing Commission counted 252 people in fiscal year 2021 whose primary guideline was §2D1.2. Of these, 249 pleaded guilty and 3 went to trial and were convicted.
Written plea agreements were part of 97% of the guilty pleas. The remaining 3% were pleas with no agreement.
The median prison term after a guilty plea was 72 months. For the 3 people convicted at trial, it was 234 months. A group of 3 is too small to support any broader statement.
How Long the Prison Terms Were
Prison was imposed on 250 of the 252 people (more than 99%), and 2 (less than 1%) received probation only.
The median was 75.4 months. A quarter of those sentenced to prison received 107.5 months or more, and a quarter received 48 months or less.
The previous year's median was 66.5 months, and the next year's was 70.2 months. The yearly table at the end of this post lists the medians for every year from 2016 to 2025.
Supervised release was ordered for 250 people (more than 99%), with a median term of 72 months. A fine was ordered for 2 people (less than 1%), and restitution for 3 (1%).
Sentences Compared With the Guideline Range
A sentence within the range was imposed for 55% (139). A sentence below the range at the government's request was imposed for 26% (65), and one below the range without a request for 14% (35). A sentence above the range was imposed for 5% (13).
In 2020 the within-range figure was 56%, and in 2022 it was 49%. For all federal cases in 2021, it was 43%, and for §2D1.2 across 2016 to 2025 it was 53%.
A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 247 of the 252 people with that information recorded (98%).
Criminal History
In criminal history, 58% of the people were in category I, the lowest, and 4% were in category VI, the highest. Court-martial records do not have a criminal history field, so this measure cannot be matched to a military figure.
What the Guideline Covers
The Guidelines Manual title of §2D1.2 is "Drug Offenses Occurring Near Protected Locations or Involving Underage or Pregnant Individuals; Attempt or Conspiracy". The Commission placed all 252 cases in its Drug Trafficking offense type.
The fiscal year ran from October 1, 2020 to September 30, 2021. In that year, all federal cases under every guideline totaled 57,287 people, with a median prison term of 29 months and 98% guilty pleas.
Over fiscal years 2016 to 2025, §2D1.2 covered 2,553 people with a median prison term of 72 months.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 328 | 70 months | 97% |
| 2017 | 287 | 70 months | 97% |
| 2018 | 218 | 70 months | 97% |
| 2019 | 281 | 70 months | 95% |
| 2020 | 297 | 66.5 months | 98% |
| 2021 | 252 | 75.4 months | 99% |
| 2022 | 208 | 70.2 months | more than 99% |
| 2023 | 276 | 84 months | 98% |
| 2024 | 229 | 78 months | 97% |
| 2025 | 177 | 72 months | 100% |
Limits of This Data
Only convicted and sentenced people are in the data, so acquittals and dismissals do not appear. The prison terms shown are the ones imposed, not the time served.
The crosswalk contains no close court-martial counterpart for this guideline, so only federal numbers are reported here. The records do not explain the reasons for any individual sentence.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2021 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2D1.2 (252), 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)
- §2D1.2 Drug Offenses Occurring Near Protected Locations or Involving Underage or Pregnant Individuals: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- §2D1.2 Drug Offenses Occurring Near Protected Locations or Involving Underage or Pregnant Individuals: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2020 (previous or next fiscal year)
- §2D1.2 Drug Offenses Occurring Near Protected Locations or Involving Underage or Pregnant Individuals: 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
- 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.