§2D2.1 Unlawful Possession: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2021
In fiscal year 2021, the median prison term was 0.1 months after a guilty plea and 26.1 months after a trial under §2D2.1. The trial figure is based on 2 people, so it is not a general comparison. Of 113 people sentenced, 44 (39%) went to prison, with a median of 0.3 months.
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › §2D2.1 Unlawful Possession › §2D2.1: FY2021
In brief: In fiscal year 2021, the median prison term was 0.1 months after a guilty plea and 26.1 months after a trial under §2D2.1. The trial figure is based on 2 people, so it is not a general comparison. Of 113 people sentenced, 44 (39%) went to prison, with a median of 0.3 months.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 113 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2021. 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.
Plea and Trial Medians Based on Very Few People
Of the 113 people sentenced under §2D2.1 in fiscal year 2021, 108 (96%) pleaded guilty and 5 were convicted after a trial. The median prison term after a guilty plea was 0.1 months. After a trial it was 26.1 months.
The trial median is based on 2 people who were convicted at trial and sent to prison. A group of 2 sentences cannot show how trial cases are usually sentenced.
The Group Counted in Fiscal Year 2021
The guideline is titled "Unlawful Possession." The Sentencing Commission counted 113 people for whom it was the primary guideline in the fiscal year from October 1, 2020 to September 30, 2021. Its offense type for these cases is Drug Possession.
A prison term went to 44 people (39%), and probation only, with no prison or other confinement, went to 64 (57%). The median prison term was 0.3 months. A quarter received 6 months or more, and a quarter received 0 months or less.
Supervised Release, Mandatory Minimums, Fines, and Restitution
Supervised release was ordered for 36 people (32%), with a median term of 12 months. A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 6 of the 112 people with that information recorded (5%).
A fine was ordered for 49 people (43%), and restitution for 2 (2%).
How the Sentences Compared With the Range
Within the range were 91 people (81%). Below the range at the government's request were 4 (4%), below the range without a government request were 10 (9%), and above the range were 7 (6%).
Among guilty pleas, 71% had a written plea agreement and 27% were straight pleas with no agreement.
Criminal History
In category I, the lowest criminal history category, were 56% of the group. In category VI, the highest, were 8%. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.
Comparison With Other Years and All Guidelines
For 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 2021 median of 0.3 months is lower than 1.6 months, and the 81% within the range is lower than 88%.
In fiscal year 2020, the median was 3 months with 84% within the range. In fiscal year 2022, it was 2.7 months with 81% within the range.
For all 57,287 people sentenced in federal court in 2021, the median prison term was 29 months, 98% pleaded guilty, and 43% were within the range.
| 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% |
The Military Pairing and Limits
The approved crosswalk pairs this guideline with Article 112a of the UCMJ, and the comparison posts address that. This post reports federal numbers only.
The data counts only people convicted and sentenced. It does not include acquittals or dismissals, and prison terms are the terms imposed.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2021 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2D2.1 (113), 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 2020 (previous or next fiscal year)
- §2D2.1 Unlawful Possession: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2022 (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.