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# §2D2.2 Acquiring a Controlled Substance by Forgery, Fraud, Deception, or Subterfuge: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2017
- URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2d2-2-acquiring-a-controlled-substance-by-forgery-fraud-fy2017/
- Published: 2026-11-04T10:28:02.000Z
- Updated: 2026-11-04T10:28:02.000Z
- Description: In fiscal year 2017, 56 people were sentenced under §2D2.2, "Acquiring a Controlled Substance by Forgery, Fraud, Deception, or Subterfuge; Attempt or Conspiracy." A prison term was imposed on 19 (34%), and the median prison term was 7 months. Probation only went to 34 people (61%).
- Author: Jocelyn C. Stewart
- Tags: Understanding Trends, Federal

[Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/) › [Federal Prosecution Analysis](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal/) › [§2D2.2 Acquiring a Controlled Substance by Forgery, Fraud, D](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2d2-2-acquiring-a-controlled-substance-by-forgery-fraud/) › §2D2.2: FY2017

**In brief:** In fiscal year 2017, 56 people were sentenced under §2D2.2, "Acquiring a Controlled Substance by Forgery, Fraud, Deception, or Subterfuge; Attempt or Conspiracy." A prison term was imposed on 19 (34%), and the median prison term was 7 months. Probation only went to 34 people (61%).

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 56 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2017\. 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/).

## Prison Terms and Probation in Fiscal Year 2017

Of the 56 people sentenced, 19 (34%) received a prison term, and 34 (61%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement. The share sent to prison was higher than the 29% for all years from 2016 to 2025.

The median prison term among those sent to prison was 7 months. A quarter received 17 months or more, and a quarter received 1.9 months or less. These are the terms imposed, not time served.

## No Trials Among the 56

All 56 people (100%) pleaded guilty, and 0 were convicted after a trial. The records therefore have no trial sentences to compare with plea sentences.

Of the guilty pleas, 91% had a written plea agreement and 9% were straight pleas with no agreement.

## Mandatory Minimums and the Guideline Range

A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 1 of the 56 people with that information recorded (2%).

The guideline range is the range the Guidelines Manual calculates for a case. A sentence within the range was given to 80% of the people (45). Another 5% (3) were below the range at the government's request, 9% (5) were below it without a government request, and 5% (3) were above the range. In all federal cases that year, 49% of sentences were within the range.

## Supervised Release, Fines, and Restitution

After prison, 19 people (34%) were ordered to serve supervised release, with a median term of 12 months. A fine was ordered for 9 people (16%). Restitution was ordered for 5 (9%).

## The Neighboring Years

In fiscal year 2016, 53 people were sentenced under this guideline, with a median prison term of 6 months and 75% of sentences within the range. In fiscal year 2018, 58 people were sentenced, with a median of 12 months and 83% within the range.

Across fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 539 people were sentenced under §2D2.2, with 99% pleading guilty and 82% of sentences within the range. For every guideline in fiscal year 2017, 66,873 people were sentenced, with a median prison term of 24 months. The table lists each year.

| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
| ----------- | ---------------- | ------------- | -------------- |
| 2016        | 53               | 6 months      | 100%           |
| 2017        | 56               | 7 months      | 100%           |
| 2018        | 58               | 12 months     | 98%            |
| 2019        | 111              | 6 months      | 98%            |
| 2020        | 63               | 3 months      | 98%            |
| 2021        | 48               | 7 months      | 98%            |
| 2022        | 51               | 6 months      | 100%           |
| 2023        | 40               | 6 months      | 100%           |
| 2024        | 34               | 1.6 months    | 100%           |
| 2025        | 25               | 3 months      | 96%            |

## What Is Missing From the Data

The Commission's files cover only people who were convicted and sentenced. Acquittals and dismissals are not counted. The fiscal year ran from October 1, 2016 to September 30, 2017.

In this year, 66% of these people were in criminal history category I and 5% were in category VI. The approved crosswalk has no close court-martial counterpart, so the federal numbers are reported on their own. The records cannot show why the share sent to prison changed from year to year.

### How We Counted

Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2017 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2D2.2 (56), 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)
- [§2D2.2 Acquiring a Controlled Substance by Forgery, Fraud, Deception, or Subterfuge: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2d2-2-acquiring-a-controlled-substance-by-forgery-fraud/) (overview)
- [§2D2.2 Acquiring a Controlled Substance by Forgery, Fraud, Deception, or Subterfuge: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2016](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2d2-2-acquiring-a-controlled-substance-by-forgery-fraud-fy2016/) (previous or next fiscal year)
- [§2D2.2 Acquiring a Controlled Substance by Forgery, Fraud, Deception, or Subterfuge: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2018](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2d2-2-acquiring-a-controlled-substance-by-forgery-fraud-fy2018/) (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.