§2D1.8 Renting or Managing a Drug Establishment: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025
173 people were sentenced under §2D1.8 in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. 128 (74%) received prison, with a median term of 16.2 months, and 41 (24%) received probation only. Almost all pleaded guilty.
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In brief: 173 people were sentenced under §2D1.8 in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. 128 (74%) received prison, with a median term of 16.2 months, and 41 (24%) received probation only. Almost all pleaded guilty.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 173 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 Guideline and the Group Counted
The Manual title of §2D1.8 is "Renting or Managing a Drug Establishment; Attempt or Conspiracy." The title points to renting or managing a place used for drugs, and to attempts and conspiracies to do so.
The group is made up of people for whom this was the primary guideline. The Commission's offense type for all 173 is Drug Trafficking. The approved crosswalk lists no close court-martial counterpart, so this post stays with the federal records. The data is drawn from the Commission's individual data files, which count each person once under the guideline for the most serious count.
Prison Length
The median prison term among the 128 people sent to prison was 16.2 months. The spread was large, so the median alone does not describe the typical case. A quarter received 36 months or more, and a quarter received 0.4 months or less.
Terms here are those imposed by the court, not time served.
One Trial, 172 Guilty Pleas
172 of 173 people (more than 99%) pleaded guilty. 1 person was convicted after a trial and was sentenced to 12 months. The median after a guilty plea was 16.5 months.
94% of the guilty pleas included a written plea agreement, and 6% were straight pleas.
Range, Minimums, and Supervised Release
45 sentences (26%) were within the guideline range. 77 (45%) were below the range at the government's request, and 50 (29%) were below it without a request. 1 sentence was above the range.
A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 2 people (1%). 126 people (73%) were ordered to serve supervised release, and the median term was 36 months.
Fines, Restitution, and Criminal History
A fine was ordered for 11 people (6%), and restitution for 2 (1%). Both were uncommon, and restitution applied to only 2 people.
68% of the group was in the lowest criminal history category, and 3% was in the highest.
Trends by Fiscal Year
In fiscal years 2016 to 2019, 76 people were sentenced and the median prison term was 15.5 months. In fiscal years 2020 to 2025, 97 people were sentenced and the median was 17.2 months.
These period medians are close, but the yearly medians in the table are not. They run from 2.5 months in fiscal year 2025 to 30 months in fiscal year 2023. Fiscal year 2025 had 8 people. The records cannot say what drove the differences.
Every year had 100% guilty pleas except fiscal year 2016, at 95%. The most people were sentenced in fiscal years 2021 and 2022, at 22 each, and the fewest in fiscal year 2025.
| 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 Records Do Not Show
Only convicted and sentenced people are counted. Acquittals and dismissals are not in the data, and neither are the facts of any case.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2D1.8 (173), 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.