§2D2.1 Unlawful Possession: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2025
All 57 people sentenced under §2D2.1 in fiscal year 2025 pleaded guilty (100%), and none was convicted after a trial. Of the 57, 37 (65%) went to prison, and the median prison term was 0 months. Within the guideline range were 86%.
· Understanding Trends in Military Practice · 7 min read
Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › §2D2.1 Unlawful Possession › §2D2.1: FY2025
In brief: All 57 people sentenced under §2D2.1 in fiscal year 2025 pleaded guilty (100%), and none was convicted after a trial. Of the 57, 37 (65%) went to prison, and the median prison term was 0 months. Within the guideline range were 86%.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 57 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 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.
Every Sentenced Person Pleaded Guilty
In fiscal year 2025, 57 of 57 people sentenced under §2D2.1 (100%) pleaded guilty, and 0 were convicted after a trial. The sheet therefore has no trial median to report. Written plea agreements covered 93% of the guilty pleas, and 2% were straight pleas with no agreement.
The guideline is titled "Unlawful Possession." The U.S. Sentencing Commission counted 57 people for whom it was the primary guideline in the fiscal year from October 1, 2024 to September 30, 2025. It is the smallest group in the yearly table.
A Median Prison Term of 0 Months
A prison term went to 37 people (65%), and probation only, with no prison or other confinement, went to 20 (35%). The median prison term among those sent to prison was 0 months. A quarter received 2.5 months or more, and a quarter received 0 months or less.
A median of 0 months means that the middle sentence in the group was recorded as zero months of prison. These are terms imposed, not time served. After prison, 31 people (54%) were ordered to serve supervised release, with a median term of 12 months.
Mandatory Minimums, Fines, and Restitution
A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 3 of the 55 people with that information recorded (5%). A fine was ordered for 13 people (23%). Restitution was ordered for 0 (0%).
Range Positions and Criminal History
Within the advisory range were 49 people (86%). Below the range at the government's request was 1 person (2%), and below the range without a government request were 5 (9%). Above the range were 2 (4%).
In criminal history category I, the lowest, were 61% of the group, and in category VI, the highest, were 4%. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.
Longer Record and All Guidelines in 2025
Across fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 1,393 people were sentenced under this guideline. Of those, 42% went to prison, the median prison term was 1.6 months, 98% pleaded guilty, and 88% were within the range. The 2025 median of 0 months is lower than 1.6 months, and the 65% sent to prison is higher than 42%.
In fiscal year 2024, 67 people were sentenced, the median prison term was 0.2 months, and 84% were within the range.
For all 66,662 people sentenced in federal court in 2025, the median prison term was 24 months, 98% pleaded guilty, and 51% were within the range. The Commission files these cases under Drug Possession, with 57 people in 2025.
| 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% |
Limits and the Military Pairing
The approved crosswalk pairs this guideline with Article 112a of the UCMJ, and the comparison posts address it. The data counts only people convicted and sentenced, so acquittals and dismissals are not included. A single year of 57 people is not a trend.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2025 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2D2.1 (57), 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 2024 (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.