§2D2.2 Acquiring a Controlled Substance by Forgery, Fraud, Deception, or Subterfuge: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2024
In fiscal year 2024, 34 people were sentenced under §2D2.2, "Acquiring a Controlled Substance by Forgery, Fraud, Deception, or Subterfuge; Attempt or Conspiracy." The median prison term was 1.6 months, the shortest in the table. Prison went to 14 (41%), and 18 (53%) received probation only.
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › §2D2.2 Acquiring a Controlled Substance by Forgery, Fraud, D › §2D2.2: FY2024
In brief: In fiscal year 2024, 34 people were sentenced under §2D2.2, "Acquiring a Controlled Substance by Forgery, Fraud, Deception, or Subterfuge; Attempt or Conspiracy." The median prison term was 1.6 months, the shortest in the table. Prison went to 14 (41%), and 18 (53%) received probation only.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 34 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2024. 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.
A Median of 1.6 Months
Of the 34 people sentenced in fiscal year 2024, 14 (41%) received a prison term. The median among them was 1.6 months. A quarter received 10.8 months or more, and a quarter received 0.1 months or less.
Across fiscal years 2016 to 2025, the median under this guideline was 6 months. The 1.6-month median was lower. It is based on 14 people, so the figure describes this year only.
Prison, Probation, and Supervised Release
Another 18 people (53%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement. The 41% sent to prison was higher than the 29% for all years combined.
After prison, 14 people (41%) were ordered to serve supervised release, with a median term of 12 months. A fine was ordered for 7 people (21%), and restitution for 5 (15%). Terms are those imposed, not time served.
Guilty Pleas With and Without Agreements
All 34 people (100%) pleaded guilty, and none was convicted after a trial. Among the guilty pleas, 82% had a written plea agreement and 18% were straight pleas with no agreement.
A straight plea is a guilty plea with no written agreement. The Commission's records do not show why some pleas had no written agreement.
The Guideline Range and Mandatory Minimums
The guideline range is the range the Guidelines Manual calculates for a case. In fiscal year 2024, 82% of sentences (28 people) were within it. Below the range at the government's request were 9% (3), and below it without a government request were 9% (3). None were above the range (0%).
A mandatory minimum applied to 2 of the 34 people with that information recorded (6%).
How This Year Fits the Series
Fiscal year 2023 had 40 people under §2D2.2 and a median prison term of 6 months. Fiscal year 2025 had 25 people and a median of 3 months. Both neighboring medians were higher than 1.6 months. The table lists every year.
For every guideline in fiscal year 2024, 61,678 people were sentenced, the median prison term was 30 months, 97% pleaded guilty, and 46% of sentences were within the range. Under §2D2.2 across all years, 539 people were sentenced.
| 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% |
Limits on These Numbers
The Commission counts only people who were convicted and sentenced. Acquittals and dismissals are not in the data. The fiscal year ran from October 1, 2023 to September 30, 2024.
In this year, 74% of these people were in criminal history category I, and 6% were in category VI. The approved crosswalk has no close court-martial counterpart for this guideline. The records cannot show why the median was so short, and they do not describe what any individual did. A median of 1.6 months means that a number of the 14 prison terms were very brief.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2024 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2D2.2 (34), 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 2023 (previous or next fiscal year)
- §2D2.2 Acquiring a Controlled Substance by Forgery, Fraud, Deception, or Subterfuge: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2025 (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.