> ## 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. # §2D1.8 Renting or Managing a Drug Establishment: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2019 - URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2d1-8-renting-or-managing-a-drug-establishment-fy2019/ - Published: 2026-11-04T10:57:27.000Z - Updated: 2026-11-04T10:57:27.000Z - Description: In fiscal year 2019, 12 people were sentenced in federal court under §2D1.8, a small group. Of the 12, 11 (92%) received prison, the median prison term was 24 months, and all 12 (100%) pleaded guilty. Because the group is small, the year should not be read as a trend. - Author: Jocelyn C. Stewart - Tags: Understanding Trends, Federal [Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/) › [Federal Prosecution Analysis](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal/) › [§2D1.8 Renting or Managing a Drug Establishment](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2d1-8-renting-or-managing-a-drug-establishment/) › §2D1.8: FY2019 **In brief:** In fiscal year 2019, 12 people were sentenced in federal court under §2D1.8, a small group. Of the 12, 11 (92%) received prison, the median prison term was 24 months, and all 12 (100%) pleaded guilty. Because the group is small, the year should not be read as a trend. 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 2019\. 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/). ## A Small Group of 12 People In fiscal year 2019, 12 people were sentenced with §2D1.8 as the primary guideline. The year before, 21 people were sentenced, and the year after, 17\. With 12 people, one case changes a percentage by a large amount. The Guidelines Manual titles the guideline "Renting or Managing a Drug Establishment; Attempt or Conspiracy." The Commission files these cases in its drug trafficking offense type. The fiscal year ran from October 1, 2018 to September 30, 2019. ## Nearly Everyone Went to Prison Of the 12 people, 11 (92%) received a prison term. None (0%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement. The median prison term was 24 months, or 2 years. A quarter received 43.5 months or more, and a quarter received 3 months or less. The 2018 median was 24 months, and the 2020 median was 16.5 months. Across all years under the guideline, it was 16.2 months. For all guidelines in 2019, 76,538 people were sentenced, with a median of 21 months. ## Guideline Range and Mandatory Minimums 4 sentences (33%) were within the guideline range. 5 people (42%) were below the range at the government's request, and 3 (25%) were below it without a request. None was above the range. Across all years, 26% of sentences under §2D1.8 were within the range. For all guidelines in 2019, the share was 51%. A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 1 of the 12 people (8%). ## Pleas All 12 people pleaded guilty, and none was convicted after a trial. Of the guilty pleas, 83% had a written plea agreement, and 17% were straight pleas with no agreement. A straight plea is a guilty plea without a written agreement with the government. A mandatory minimum is a term that a statute sets as the lowest a court may impose, and the data shows it applied to 1 person in this group. ## Release, Payments, and Criminal History Supervised release was ordered for 11 people (92%), and the median term was 24 months. No fine was ordered (0%), and no restitution was ordered (0%). In this group, 75% were in the lowest criminal history category I, and 0% were in the highest (category VI). Court-martial records have no criminal history field. | Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty | | ----------- | ---------------- | ------------- | -------------- | | 2016 | 19 | 12 months | 95% | | 2017 | 24 | 15 months | 100% | | 2018 | 21 | 24 months | 100% | | 2019 | 12 | 24 months | 100% | | 2020 | 17 | 16.5 months | 100% | | 2021 | 22 | 21 months | 100% | | 2022 | 22 | 12 months | 100% | | 2023 | 15 | 30 months | 100% | | 2024 | 13 | 15.7 months | 100% | | 2025 | 8 | 2.5 months | 8 of 8 | ## What the Series Shows and Does Not Show Across fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 173 people were sentenced under this guideline, 74% went to prison, and guilty pleas were more than 99%. The table lists each year. The records give no reason for the changes in count or median. They include only people who were convicted and sentenced, and prison terms are those imposed, not served. The approved crosswalk lists no close court-martial counterpart, so this post reports the federal numbers on their own. ### How We Counted Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2019 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2D1.8 (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) - [§2D1.8 Renting or Managing a Drug Establishment: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2d1-8-renting-or-managing-a-drug-establishment/) (overview) - [§2D1.8 Renting or Managing a Drug Establishment: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2018](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2d1-8-renting-or-managing-a-drug-establishment-fy2018/) (previous or next fiscal year) - [§2D1.8 Renting or Managing a Drug Establishment: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2020](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2d1-8-renting-or-managing-a-drug-establishment-fy2020/) (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.