> ## 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. # §2D1.5 Continuing Criminal Enterprise: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2016 - URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2d1-5-continuing-criminal-enterprise-fy2016/ - Published: 2026-11-04T10:59:09.000Z - Updated: 2026-11-04T10:59:09.000Z - Description: In fiscal year 2016, 12 people were sentenced under guideline §2D1.5, titled "Continuing Criminal Enterprise; Attempt or Conspiracy." All 12 received a prison term, and a mandatory minimum applied to all 12. The median prison term was 204 months, which is 17 years. - Author: Jocelyn C. Stewart - Tags: Understanding Trends, Federal [Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/) › [Federal Prosecution Analysis](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal/) › [§2D1.5 Continuing Criminal Enterprise](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2d1-5-continuing-criminal-enterprise/) › §2D1.5: FY2016 **In brief:** In fiscal year 2016, 12 people were sentenced under guideline §2D1.5, titled "Continuing Criminal Enterprise; Attempt or Conspiracy." All 12 received a prison term, and a mandatory minimum applied to all 12\. The median prison term was 204 months, which is 17 years. 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 12 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2016\. 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/). ## Trial Convictions Carried Much Longer Terms 9 of the 12 people (75%) pleaded guilty, and 3 were convicted after a trial. The median prison term after a guilty plea was 144 months. After a trial, it was 470 months. The trial group has only 3 people, so the comparison describes this small year and not trials in general. 2 people in the year received a life sentence. ## Prison Terms in Fiscal Year 2016 The U.S. Sentencing Commission counted 12 people whose primary guideline was §2D1.5 in fiscal year 2016\. 12 of the 12 (100%) were sent to prison. None received probation only. The median prison term was 204 months. A quarter received 282 months or more, and a quarter received 127.5 months or less. The median for all fiscal years 2016 to 2025 under this guideline is 240 months, so fiscal year 2016 is lower. The Commission files these cases under the offense type Drug Trafficking. Fiscal year 2016 ran from October 1, 2015 to September 30, 2016. ## Sentences Against the Guideline Range 3 sentences (25%) were within the guideline range. 7 (58%) were below the range at the government's request, and 2 (17%) were below it without a government request. None were above the range. The within-range share was higher than the 22% for all years under this guideline and lower than the 49% for everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2016. ## Plea Agreements, Supervised Release, and Criminal History All 9 people who pleaded guilty had a written plea agreement. All 12 people were ordered to serve supervised release after prison, with a median term of 60 months. No fine and no restitution were ordered. On criminal history, 33% were in the lowest category, Category I, and 8% were in the highest, Category VI. Court-martial records have no criminal history field. ## The Year Beside Every Other Year The yearly table covers 2016 to 2025\. Counts under this guideline range from 2 to 14 people, and fiscal year 2016 has the second-largest group after fiscal year 2024\. Medians range from 67.2 months to 360 months. For all guidelines in fiscal year 2016, 67,742 people were sentenced, and the median prison term was 24 months. The 97% guilty plea rate for all guidelines was higher than the 75% under §2D1.5. | Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty | | ----------- | ---------------- | ------------- | -------------- | | 2016 | 12 | 204 months | 75% | | 2017 | 3 | 67.2 months | 2 of 3 | | 2018 | 7 | 252 months | 5 of 7 | | 2019 | 2 | 136.6 months | 2 of 2 | | 2020 | 6 | 270 months | 6 of 6 | | 2021 | 4 | 210 months | 4 of 4 | | 2022 | 8 | 279.5 months | 6 of 8 | | 2023 | 7 | 360 months | 3 of 7 | | 2024 | 14 | 180 months | 86% | | 2025 | 9 | 300 months | 7 of 9 | ## What the Records Cannot Show There is no close court-martial counterpart for this guideline in the approved crosswalk, so this post reports the federal numbers on their own. The data counts only people who were convicted and sentenced, and prison terms are imposed terms, not time served. It does not describe any individual case, and 12 people in one year do not show a trend. ### How We Counted Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2016 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2D1.5 (12), 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) - [§2D1.5 Continuing Criminal Enterprise: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2d1-5-continuing-criminal-enterprise/) (overview) - [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.