> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.bodiesburied.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # §2D1.2 Drug Offenses Occurring Near Protected Locations or Involving Underage or Pregnant Individuals: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2024 - URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2d1-2-drug-offenses-occurring-near-protected-locations-or-fy2024/ - Published: 2026-11-04T10:24:05.000Z - Updated: 2026-11-04T10:24:05.000Z - Description: In fiscal year 2024, 229 people were sentenced under §2D1.2. A sentence above the guideline range was imposed for 8% of them (18). The median prison term was 78 months. - Author: Jocelyn C. Stewart - Tags: Understanding Trends, Federal [Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/) › [Federal Prosecution Analysis](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal/) › [§2D1.2 Drug Offenses Occurring Near Protected Locations or I](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2d1-2-drug-offenses-occurring-near-protected-locations-or/) › §2D1.2: FY2024 **In brief:** In fiscal year 2024, 229 people were sentenced under §2D1.2\. A sentence above the guideline range was imposed for 8% of them (18). The median prison term was 78 months. Updated November 4, 2026 · Sources: U.S. Sentencing Commission and Federal Judicial Center, fiscal years 2016–2025 This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 229 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2024\. 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](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal/) series, which builds on [Military Moves Toward Sentencing Guidelines to Mirror the Federal System](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/military-sentencing-guidelines-federal-system/). How the numbers were built: [How the Federal Comparison Data Was Built](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-data-methodology/). ## Sentences Above, Within, and Below the Range Of the 229 people, 97 (42%) received a sentence within the guideline range. A sentence below the range at the government's request went to 81 (35%), and below the range without a request to 33 (14%). A sentence above the range went to 18 people (8%). This is a small number of people, and one year does not make a trend. The records do not show why a court went above the range in any of these cases. The within-range share was 42% in 2023 and 42% in 2025, about the same as this year. For all federal cases in fiscal year 2024 it was 46%, and for §2D1.2 across 2016 to 2025 it was 53%. ## Prison Terms A prison term was imposed on 224 of the 229 people (98%), and 5 (2%) received probation only. The median prison term was 78 months, or 6.5 years. A quarter received 115.5 months or more, and a quarter received 47.5 months or less. The 2023 median was 84 months, and the 2025 median was 72 months. Supervised release was ordered for 224 people (98%), with a median term of 72 months. ## Guilty Pleas and Trials There were 223 guilty pleas (97%) and 6 convictions after trial. After a guilty plea the median prison term was 75.6 months. After a trial it was 315 months. Because the trial figure is based on 6 people, it should not be read as a typical trial result. Of the guilty pleas, 99% had a written plea agreement and 1% were straight pleas. ## Mandatory Minimums, Money Orders, and Criminal History A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 222 of the 229 people with that information recorded (97%). A fine was ordered for 5 people (2%), and restitution for 5 (2%). In criminal history, 56% were in category I, the lowest, and 8% were in category VI, the highest. ## How the Guideline and Year Are Defined The Guidelines Manual title of §2D1.2 is "Drug Offenses Occurring Near Protected Locations or Involving Underage or Pregnant Individuals; Attempt or Conspiracy". All 229 cases are in the Commission's Drug Trafficking offense type. Fiscal year 2024 ran from October 1, 2023 to September 30, 2024\. In that year, 61,678 people were sentenced across every guideline, with a median prison term of 30 months and 97% guilty pleas. From 2016 to 2025, §2D1.2 covered 2,553 people, and the median prison term was 72 months. The yearly table follows. | 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 the Records Only convicted and sentenced people appear. Acquittals and dismissals do not, and terms are those imposed rather than served. There is no close court-martial counterpart for this guideline in the approved crosswalk, so this post covers federal numbers alone. The records also do not give reasons for sentences above the range. ### How We Counted Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2024 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2D1.2 (229), 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](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/military-sentencing-guidelines-federal-system/) (the background article) - [Federal Prosecution Analysis](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal/) (all federal posts) - [How the Federal Comparison Data Was Built](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-data-methodology/) (sources and method) - [§2D1.2 Drug Offenses Occurring Near Protected Locations or Involving Underage or Pregnant Individuals: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2d1-2-drug-offenses-occurring-near-protected-locations-or/) (overview) - [§2D1.2 Drug Offenses Occurring Near Protected Locations or Involving Underage or Pregnant Individuals: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2023](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2d1-2-drug-offenses-occurring-near-protected-locations-or-fy2023/) (previous or next fiscal year) - [§2D1.2 Drug Offenses Occurring Near Protected Locations or Involving Underage or Pregnant Individuals: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2d1-2-drug-offenses-occurring-near-protected-locations-or-fy2025/) (previous or next fiscal year) - [How Often Federal Judges Sentence Outside the Guideline Range](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-sentences-outside-guideline-range/) - [Mandatory Minimums: How Many Federal Sentences Are Set by Congress](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-mandatory-minimum-sentences/) - [U.S. Sentencing Commission, Individual Offender Datafiles](https://www.ussc.gov/research/datafiles/commission-datafiles?ref=bodiesburied.com) (source) - [Federal Judicial Center, Integrated Database (criminal defendants)](https://www.fjc.gov/research/idb?ref=bodiesburied.com) (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](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/?ref=bodiesburied.com). This analysis is for education and information only. It is not legal advice, and every case is different.