§2D1.5 Continuing Criminal Enterprise: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025
All 72 people sentenced under §2D1.5, continuing criminal enterprise, in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 received prison. The median prison term was 240 months (20 years), and 8 received a life sentence. A mandatory minimum applied to 70 (97%).
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In brief: All 72 people sentenced under §2D1.5, continuing criminal enterprise, in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 received prison. The median prison term was 240 months (20 years), and 8 received a life sentence. A mandatory minimum applied to 70 (97%).
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 72 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. 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 Longest Terms in This Group of Guidelines
Guideline §2D1.5 is titled "Continuing Criminal Enterprise; Attempt or Conspiracy." The Sentencing Commission counted 72 people with it as the primary guideline in fiscal years 2016 to 2025, under the offense type Drug Trafficking.
Every one of the 72 (100%) was sent to prison. None (0%) received probation only.
How Long Were the Terms?
The median prison term was 240 months, or 20 years. A quarter of those sent to prison received 360 months or more, and a quarter received 127.8 months or less. A life sentence was given to 8 people.
These are the terms imposed, not the time served.
The quarter figures show how far apart prison terms were. The lowest quarter of terms ended at 127.8 months, and the highest quarter began at 360 months.
Mandatory Minimums
A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 70 of the 72 people (97%). That is nearly all of the cases.
Even so, 48 sentences (67%) were below the guideline range at the government's request, and 8 (11%) were below it without a government request. The sentence was within the range for 16 (22%), and 0 (0%) were above it.
The Commission's data counts sentences below the range at the government's request separately from other below-range sentences. In this group, the first kind was the most common result, at 48 people (67%).
Pleas and Trials
Guilty pleas numbered 56 of 72 (78%), and 16 people were convicted after a trial. Among guilty pleas, 98% had a written plea agreement and 2% were straight pleas.
The median prison term was 180 months after a guilty plea and 445 months after a trial, based on 16 people at trial. The gap is large. The records show the gap but not whether the trial itself accounts for it.
Supervised Release and Money Orders
Supervised release followed prison for 67 people (93%), and the median term was 60 months. A fine was ordered for 6 (8%), and restitution for 4 (6%).
In criminal history, 47% were in the lowest category I and 13% were in the highest (VI).
Medians by Period and Year
Fiscal years 2016 to 2019 had 24 people and a median prison term of 186 months. Fiscal years 2020 to 2025 had 48 people and a median of 252 months. The later median is higher.
The yearly table swings from 67.2 months in 2017 to 360 months in 2023, with only 2 to 14 people per year. Those swings can come from the small counts.
| 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 Leave Out
Acquittals and dismissals are not in the data. The approved crosswalk has no close court-martial counterpart for this guideline.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2D1.5 (72), from the U.S. Sentencing Commission's 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)
- §2D1.1 Unlawful Manufacturing, Importing, Exporting, or Trafficking (Including Possession with Intent to Commit These Offenses): Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025 (same guideline chapter part)
- §2D1.2 Drug Offenses Occurring Near Protected Locations or Involving Underage or Pregnant Individuals: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025 (same guideline chapter part)
- §2D2.1 Unlawful Possession: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025 (same guideline chapter part)
- §2D2.2 Acquiring a Controlled Substance by Forgery, Fraud, Deception, or Subterfuge: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025 (same guideline chapter part)
- §2D1.11 Unlawfully Distributing, Importing, Exporting or Possessing a Listed Chemical: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025 (same guideline chapter part)
- 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.