§2D2.1 Unlawful Possession: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2016
In fiscal year 2016, 131 of the 230 people sentenced under §2D2.1 (57%) received probation only, and 94 (41%) received a prison term. The median prison term was 2 months. Sentences within the guideline range were 95% of the group.
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › §2D2.1 Unlawful Possession › §2D2.1: FY2016
In brief: In fiscal year 2016, 131 of the 230 people sentenced under §2D2.1 (57%) received probation only, and 94 (41%) received a prison term. The median prison term was 2 months. Sentences within the guideline range were 95% of the group.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 230 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 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.
Probation Only Was More Common Than Prison
The U.S. Sentencing Guidelines Manual titles §2D2.1 "Unlawful Possession." In fiscal year 2016, the U.S. Sentencing Commission counted 230 people whose primary guideline was §2D2.1. The fiscal year ran from October 1, 2015 to September 30, 2016.
Probation only, with no prison or other confinement, went to 131 people (57%). A prison term went to 94 (41%). Probation only was more common than prison in this group.
How Short the Prison Terms Were
The median prison term among the 94 people sent to prison was 2 months. A quarter received 4 months or more, and a quarter received 0.1 months or less. Terms this short are measured in months, not years, and they are the terms imposed, not time served.
After prison, 49 people (21%) were ordered to serve supervised release, and the median term was 12 months.
Nearly All Sentences Were Within the Range
Of the 229 people with range information, 218 (95%) were sentenced within the advisory guideline range. Below the range at the government's request were 2 people (less than 1%). Below the range without a government request were 4 (2%), and above the range were 5 (2%).
A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 12 of the 227 people with that information recorded (5%).
Pleas, Trials, Fines, and Restitution
Guilty pleas numbered 227 of 230 (99%), and 3 people were convicted after a trial. The median prison term after a guilty plea was 2 months. After a trial it was 9 months, based on 2 people sent to prison.
Written plea agreements covered 63% of guilty pleas, and 31% were straight pleas with no agreement. A fine was ordered for 74 people (32%). Restitution was ordered for 2 (less than 1%).
Criminal History and the Military Pairing
In category I, the lowest criminal history category, were 70% of the group. In category VI, the highest, were 3%. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.
The approved crosswalk pairs this guideline with Article 112a of the UCMJ. The comparison posts cover that pairing, and this post reports the federal side only.
Fiscal Year 2016 Against All Years and All Guidelines
Over fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 1,393 people were sentenced under §2D2.1. Of those, 42% went to prison, the median prison term was 1.6 months, 98% pleaded guilty, and 88% were within the range. The 2016 median of 2 months is higher than the 1.6 months, and the 95% within the range is higher than the 88%.
All 67,742 people sentenced in federal court in 2016 had a median prison term of 24 months, which is higher than here. Guilty pleas were 97%, and 49% were within the range. In fiscal year 2017, the next year, 213 people were sentenced under §2D2.1, with a median of 2 months and 91% within the range.
The Commission files these cases under its Drug Possession offense type, which had 230 people in 2016.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 230 | 2 months | 99% |
| 2017 | 213 | 2 months | 98% |
| 2018 | 191 | 1 months | more than 99% |
| 2019 | 173 | 2.3 months | 99% |
| 2020 | 140 | 3 months | 97% |
| 2021 | 113 | 0.3 months | 96% |
| 2022 | 129 | 2.7 months | 98% |
| 2023 | 80 | 1.1 months | 96% |
| 2024 | 67 | 0.2 months | 97% |
| 2025 | 57 | 0 months | 100% |
What Is Not in the Records
The data counts only people convicted and sentenced. It does not include acquittals or dismissals, and it does not describe any case.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2016 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2D2.1 (230), 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 (the background article)
- Federal Prosecution Analysis (all federal posts)
- How the Federal Comparison Data Was Built (sources and method)
- §2D2.1 Unlawful Possession: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- §2D2.1 Unlawful Possession: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2017 (previous or next fiscal year)
- How Often Federal Judges Sentence Outside the Guideline Range
- Mandatory Minimums: How Many Federal Sentences Are Set by Congress
- Army Article 112a Cases by the Numbers, 2021–2025 (court-martial data)
- What Sentence Follows an Army Drug Conviction? (court-martial data)
- How Often Are Contested Army Article 112a Cases Acquitted? (court-martial data)
- Guilty Pleas in Army Drug Cases: How Often, and What Came Next (court-martial data)
- Are Air Force Drug Courts-Martial Disappearing? Article 112a, 2016–2025 (court-martial data)
- How Much Confinement for an Article 112a Conviction in the Air Force? (court-martial data)
- Pleading Guilty to Article 112a in the Air Force: What Sentences Followed? (court-martial data)
- Is Navy-Marine Corps Drug Prosecution Rising or Falling? Article 112a, 2017–2025 (court-martial data)
- How Much Confinement for an Article 112a Conviction in the Navy-Marine Corps? (court-martial data)
- Fighting a Navy-Marine Corps Drug Charge: How Contested Cases Ended (court-martial data)
- When Navy-Marine Corps Accused Plead Guilty to Drug (court-martial data)
- Article 112a (Wrongful Use, Possession of Controlled Substances): Court-Martial Data and Trends (court-martial data)
- Article 112a UCMJ Drug Offenses and Positive Urinalysis (law firm reference page)
- 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.