§2D2.2 Acquiring a Controlled Substance by Forgery, Fraud, Deception, or Subterfuge: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2021
In fiscal year 2021, 48 people were sentenced under §2D2.2, "Acquiring a Controlled Substance by Forgery, Fraud, Deception, or Subterfuge; Attempt or Conspiracy." Only 9 (19%) received a prison term, and 35 (73%) received probation only. The median prison term was 7 months.
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › §2D2.2 Acquiring a Controlled Substance by Forgery, Fraud, D › §2D2.2: FY2021
In brief: In fiscal year 2021, 48 people were sentenced under §2D2.2, "Acquiring a Controlled Substance by Forgery, Fraud, Deception, or Subterfuge; Attempt or Conspiracy." Only 9 (19%) received a prison term, and 35 (73%) received probation only. The median prison term was 7 months.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 48 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.
Probation Only for 35 of 48 People
Probation only, with no prison or other confinement, went to 35 of the 48 people sentenced in fiscal year 2021 (73%). A prison term went to 9 (19%).
Across fiscal years 2016 to 2025 under this guideline, 29% went to prison, so the share in 2021 was lower. A group of 9 people is small, and one year says little about direction.
Length of Prison Terms
The median prison term among the 9 was 7 months. A quarter received 24.2 months or more, and a quarter received 3 months or less. That is a wide spread for so few people.
After prison, 9 people (19%) were ordered to serve supervised release, with a median term of 12 months. A fine was ordered for 14 people (29%), and restitution for 9 (19%). Prison terms are the terms imposed, not time served.
Pleas and a Single Trial
A guilty plea was entered by 47 of the 48 people (98%). One person was convicted after a trial. The median prison term after a guilty plea was 6.5 months. The one trial conviction carried 36 months, and a single case is not a basis for comparison.
Written plea agreements covered 85% of the guilty pleas. The other 15% were straight pleas.
The Guideline Range
The guideline range is the range the Guidelines Manual calculates for a case. In fiscal year 2021, 79% of sentences (38 people) were within it. The range was undercut without a government request for 13% (6) and at the government's request for 6% (3). A sentence above the range was given to 2% (1).
A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 2 of the 48 people with that information recorded (4%). For all federal cases that year, 43% of sentences were within the range.
Context From Other Years
Looking back, fiscal year 2020 had 63 people under §2D2.2 and a median prison term of 3 months. Looking ahead, fiscal year 2022 had 51 people and a median of 6 months. Sentences within the range were 86% in 2020 and 80% in 2022.
For every guideline in fiscal year 2021, 57,287 people were sentenced, the median prison term was 29 months, and 98% pleaded guilty. Across fiscal years 2016 to 2025, §2D2.2 covered 539 people. 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 the Records Leave Out
Sentenced people are the only ones the Commission counts here, which leaves out acquittals and dismissals. The fiscal year ran from October 1, 2020 to September 30, 2021.
In this year, 83% of these people were in criminal history category I, and 2% were in category VI. The approved crosswalk lists no close court-martial counterpart for this guideline. The records give no reason why most of these cases ended with probation only.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2021 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2D2.2 (48), 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)
- §2D2.2 Acquiring a Controlled Substance by Forgery, Fraud, Deception, or Subterfuge: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- §2D2.2 Acquiring a Controlled Substance by Forgery, Fraud, Deception, or Subterfuge: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2020 (previous or next fiscal year)
- §2D2.2 Acquiring a Controlled Substance by Forgery, Fraud, Deception, or Subterfuge: 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
- 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.