§2E1.1 Unlawful Conduct Relating to Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2019
In fiscal year 2019, 62 people were sentenced under §2E1.1, "Unlawful Conduct Relating to Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations." The median prison term was 33 months (2.8 years), the highest median among fiscal years 2016 to 2025. A prison term went to 59 people (95%).
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › §2E1.1 Unlawful Conduct Relating to Racketeer Influenced and › §2E1.1: FY2019
In brief: In fiscal year 2019, 62 people were sentenced under §2E1.1, "Unlawful Conduct Relating to Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations." The median prison term was 33 months (2.8 years), the highest median among fiscal years 2016 to 2025. A prison term went to 59 people (95%).
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 62 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2019. 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 33-Month Median
Of the 62 people sentenced in fiscal year 2019, 59 (95%) received a prison term. The median prison term was 33 months. A quarter received 41.5 months or more, and a quarter received 19.5 months or less.
Across fiscal years 2016 to 2025, the median under this guideline was 27 months. The terms are those imposed, not time served.
Criminal History Category VI Was Common
In this year, 34% of these people were in the lowest criminal history category (category I), and 21% were in the highest (category VI). The records do not say how many people in each category received which sentence.
Court-martial records have no criminal history field. The records cannot show how criminal history related to the length of any sentence.
Guilty Pleas and Trials
A total of 60 of the 62 people (97%) pleaded guilty, and 2 were convicted after a trial. The median prison term after a guilty plea was 33 months. After a trial it was 90.5 months, based on 2 people, so the figure cannot support a comparison.
Among the guilty pleas, 92% had a written plea agreement and 8% were straight pleas with no agreement.
The Guideline Range and Mandatory Minimums
The guideline range is the range the Guidelines Manual calculates for a case. In fiscal year 2019, 48% of sentences (30 people) were within it. Below the range at the government's request were 27% (17), and below it without a government request were 15% (9). A sentence above the range went to 10% (6).
A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 4 of the 62 people with that information recorded (6%). For all federal cases that year, 51% of sentences were within the range.
Probation, Supervised Release, and Payments
Probation only, with no prison or other confinement, went to 2 people (3%). Supervised release after prison was ordered for 58 people (94%), with a median term of 36 months.
A fine was ordered for 2 people (3%), and restitution for 4 (6%).
Neighboring Years and the Federal System
Fiscal year 2018 had 142 people under §2E1.1 and a median of 28 months. Fiscal year 2020 had 25 people and a median of 30 months. The table lists each year.
For every guideline in fiscal year 2019, 76,538 people were sentenced, the median prison term was 21 months, and 98% pleaded guilty. Across all years, §2E1.1 covered 511 people, and 90% went to prison.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 56 | 24 months | 100% |
| 2017 | 68 | 24 months | 90% |
| 2018 | 142 | 28 months | 97% |
| 2019 | 62 | 33 months | 97% |
| 2020 | 25 | 30 months | 84% |
| 2021 | 31 | 24 months | 100% |
| 2022 | 48 | 24 months | 100% |
| 2023 | 47 | 24 months | 89% |
| 2024 | 22 | 24 months | 95% |
| 2025 | 10 | 25.5 months | 90% |
Limits of the Records
The Sentencing Commission counts only people who were convicted and sentenced. Acquittals and dismissals are not in the data. The fiscal year ran from October 1, 2018 to September 30, 2019.
The approved crosswalk has no close court-martial counterpart for this guideline, so this post reports federal numbers on their own. The records cannot show why the median was higher in 2019 than in other years.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2019 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2E1.1 (62), 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)
- §2E1.1 Unlawful Conduct Relating to Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- §2E1.1 Unlawful Conduct Relating to Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2018 (previous or next fiscal year)
- §2E1.1 Unlawful Conduct Relating to Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2020 (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.