§2D1.2 Drug Offenses Occurring Near Protected Locations or Involving Underage or Pregnant Individuals: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2023
The median prison term for the 276 people sentenced under §2D1.2 in fiscal year 2023 was 84 months, or 7 years. That is the highest median in the yearly table for 2016 to 2025. A sentence within the guideline range was imposed for 42%, and 39% 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: FY2023
In brief: The median prison term for the 276 people sentenced under §2D1.2 in fiscal year 2023 was 84 months, or 7 years. That is the highest median in the yearly table for 2016 to 2025. A sentence within the guideline range was imposed for 42%, and 39% were below the range at the government's request.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 276 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2023. 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 Median Prison Term in Fiscal Year 2023
Of the 276 people, 274 (more than 99%) received a prison term, and 1 (less than 1%) received probation only. The median prison term was 84 months.
A quarter of those sent to prison received 120 months or more, and a quarter received 60 months or less. The previous year's median was 70.2 months, and the next year's was 78 months.
Terms are those imposed by the court, not the time actually served.
Fewer Sentences Within the Range
A sentence within the guideline range was imposed for 42% of the people (117). A sentence below the range at the government's request was imposed for 39% (107), and below the range without a government request for 16% (43). A sentence above the range was imposed for 3% (9).
The year before had 49% within the range, and the year after had 42%. Across all fiscal years 2016 to 2025, the figure for §2D1.2 was 53%. For all federal cases in fiscal year 2023, it was 42%.
The records for this guideline cannot show why the within-range share was lower in fiscal year 2023 than in earlier years, and a single year is not a trend.
Pleas, Trials, and Plea Agreements
A guilty plea was entered by 271 of 276 people (98%), and 5 were convicted after a trial. The median prison term was 84 months after a guilty plea and 151 months after a trial.
The trial figure rests on 5 people, so it describes a small group. Of the guilty pleas, 97% had a written plea agreement and 3% had none.
Mandatory Minimums, Supervised Release, and Money Orders
A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 269 of the 276 people with that information recorded (97%).
Supervised release was ordered for 274 people (more than 99%), with a median term of 72 months. A fine was ordered for 1 person (less than 1%), and restitution for 1 (less than 1%).
For criminal history, 57% were in category I, the lowest, and 8% were in category VI, the highest.
Guideline Title, Year, and Comparison Totals
The Guidelines Manual calls §2D1.2 "Drug Offenses Occurring Near Protected Locations or Involving Underage or Pregnant Individuals; Attempt or Conspiracy". The Commission records all 276 cases under Drug Trafficking.
The fiscal year ran from October 1, 2022 to September 30, 2023. All federal cases that year totaled 64,124 people, with a median prison term of 30 months and 97% guilty pleas.
Under §2D1.2 from 2016 to 2025, there were 2,553 people, with a median prison term of 72 months. The table lists every year.
| 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 This Data Cannot Say
Only people who were convicted and sentenced are counted. Acquittals and dismissals are not in the Commission's files.
The crosswalk has no close court-martial counterpart for this guideline, so the numbers stand on their own. They do not explain why any sentence was higher, lower, or outside the range.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2023 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2D1.2 (276), 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 2022 (previous or next fiscal year)
- §2D1.2 Drug Offenses Occurring Near Protected Locations or Involving Underage or Pregnant Individuals: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2024 (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.