§2D1.2 Drug Offenses Occurring Near Protected Locations or Involving Underage or Pregnant Individuals: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2022
All 208 people sentenced under §2D1.2 in fiscal year 2022 received a prison term (100%), with a median of 70.2 months. Only 2 were convicted after a trial. A sentence within the guideline range was imposed for 49%, and 34% were below the range at the government's request.
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › §2D1.2 Drug Offenses Occurring Near Protected Locations or I › §2D1.2: FY2022
In brief: All 208 people sentenced under §2D1.2 in fiscal year 2022 received a prison term (100%), with a median of 70.2 months. Only 2 were convicted after a trial. A sentence within the guideline range was imposed for 49%, and 34% were below the range at the government's request.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 208 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2022. 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.
Every Person Received a Prison Term
In fiscal year 2022, 208 of 208 people (100%) sentenced under §2D1.2 received a prison term. No one received probation only.
The median prison term was 70.2 months, or 5.9 years. A quarter received 97 months or more, and a quarter received 48 months or less.
All 208 were also ordered to serve supervised release after prison, with a median term of 72 months. A fine was ordered for 5 people (2%), and restitution for 1 (less than 1%).
Government Requests for Lower Sentences
Of the 208 people, 102 (49%) were sentenced within the guideline range. Below the range at the government's request were 71 (34%), and below the range without a government request were 32 (15%). Above the range were 3 (1%).
The within-range share was 55% in fiscal year 2021 and 42% in 2023, so fiscal year 2022 falls between those years.
For all federal cases in fiscal year 2022, 42% were within the range. For §2D1.2 over 2016 to 2025, the figure was 53%.
Convictions After Trial
A guilty plea was entered by 206 of the 208 people (more than 99%). The other 2 were convicted after a trial.
The median prison term after a guilty plea was 70 months. After a trial it was 390 months, based on only 2 people. A pair of sentences cannot show a pattern, and the figure is reported only because it is in the data.
Of the guilty pleas, 96% had a written plea agreement and 4% were straight pleas.
Mandatory Minimums and Criminal History
A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 206 of the 208 people with that information recorded (more than 99%).
In criminal history, 56% were in category I, the lowest, and 7% were in category VI, the highest.
Guideline, Fiscal Year, and Totals
The Guidelines Manual title of §2D1.2 is "Drug Offenses Occurring Near Protected Locations or Involving Underage or Pregnant Individuals; Attempt or Conspiracy". The Sentencing Commission classifies the 208 cases as Drug Trafficking.
Fiscal year 2022 ran from October 1, 2021 to September 30, 2022. All federal cases that year totaled 64,142 people, with a median prison term of 30 months and 97% guilty pleas.
For §2D1.2 over fiscal years 2016 to 2025, the total was 2,553 people, with 99% sent to prison and a median prison term of 72 months. The table has the yearly figures.
| 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% |
What the Records Do Not Show
The Commission counts only people who were convicted and sentenced. Acquittals and dismissals are absent, and the terms are those imposed rather than served.
This guideline has no close court-martial counterpart in the crosswalk, so the post reports federal numbers on their own. The records do not give reasons for the sentences or the facts of any case.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2022 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2D1.2 (208), 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 2021 (previous or next fiscal year)
- §2D1.2 Drug Offenses Occurring Near Protected Locations or Involving Underage or Pregnant Individuals: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2023 (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.