§2E1.1 Unlawful Conduct Relating to Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2020
In fiscal year 2020, 25 people were sentenced in federal court with §2E1.1 as the primary guideline. 23 of them (92%) received a prison term, and the median prison term was 30 months. Among the 4 people convicted after a trial, the median prison term was 60 months, compared with 27 months after a gu
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In brief: In fiscal year 2020, 25 people were sentenced in federal court with §2E1.1 as the primary guideline. 23 of them (92%) received a prison term, and the median prison term was 30 months. Among the 4 people convicted after a trial, the median prison term was 60 months, compared with 27 months after a guilty plea.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 25 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2020. 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.
Prison Terms Under §2E1.1 in Fiscal Year 2020
Guideline §2E1.1 is titled "Unlawful Conduct Relating to Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations" in the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines Manual. The U.S. Sentencing Commission counted 25 people whose primary guideline was §2E1.1 in fiscal year 2020. The primary guideline is the one that set the offense level for the most serious count.
Of the 25, 23 (92%) were sentenced to prison. The other 2 (8%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement.
Among the 23 sent to prison, the median prison term was 30 months (2.5 years). A quarter received 40 months or more, and a quarter received 19.5 months or less. These are the terms imposed, not the time actually served.
| 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% |
Guilty Pleas and Trials
21 of the 25 people (84%) pleaded guilty. The other 4 were convicted after a trial. Among those who pleaded guilty, 95% had a written plea agreement, and none were straight pleas with no agreement.
The median prison term after a guilty plea was 27 months. After a trial it was 60 months. The trial figure rests on only 4 people, so it shows what happened in this small group and not a general rule for trials.
The Commission counts only people who were convicted and sentenced. Defendants who were acquitted or whose cases were dismissed are not in these numbers, so the data cannot show how often cases under this guideline ended some other way.
Where Sentences Fell Against the Guideline Range
The Commission recorded this information for all 25 people. Within the guideline range: 9 people (36%). Below the range at the government's request: 7 (28%). Below the range without a government request: 5 (20%). Above the range: 4 (16%).
A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 1 of the 25 people (4%). Supervised release after prison was ordered for 22 (88%), with a median term of 36 months. A fine was ordered for 1 person (4%), and restitution for 4 (16%).
Criminal History
44% of the 25 people were in criminal history category I, the lowest category. 20% were in category VI, the highest. Court-martial records have no criminal history field, so this measure has no military counterpart.
How Fiscal Year 2020 Compares With Other Years and All Cases
Across fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 511 people were sentenced under §2E1.1. 90% were sent to prison, the median prison term was 27 months, 95% pleaded guilty, and 39% were sentenced within the guideline range. In fiscal year 2020, the median prison term of 30 months was higher than that all-years figure, and guilty pleas at 84% were less common.
The previous year, fiscal year 2019, had 62 people under §2E1.1, a median prison term of 33 months, and 48% sentenced within the range. The next year, fiscal year 2021, had 31 people, a median prison term of 24 months, and 42% within the range.
Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2020, under every guideline, totaled 64,565 people. Their median prison term was 18 months, 98% pleaded guilty, and 50% were sentenced within the guideline range. The Commission classed the 25 cases here under the offense type Extortion/Racketeering.
What These Numbers Cannot Show
The fiscal year ran from October 1, 2019 to September 30, 2020. With 25 people, a few cases can move a percentage by several points, and the group is too small to describe a trend. There is no close court-martial counterpart for this guideline in the approved crosswalk, so this post reports the federal numbers on their own.
The records do not describe the facts of any case, and they cannot explain why a sentence was set where it was.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2020 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2E1.1 (25), 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 2019 (previous or next fiscal year)
- §2E1.1 Unlawful Conduct Relating to Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2021 (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.