> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.bodiesburied.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # §2E3.1 Gambling Offenses: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2017 - URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2e3-1-gambling-offenses-fy2017/ - Published: 2026-11-04T10:27:42.000Z - Updated: 2026-11-04T10:27:42.000Z - Description: All 65 people sentenced under §2E3.1 in fiscal year 2017 pleaded guilty, and none went to trial. Prison terms went to 30 (46%), and probation only went to 30 (46%). The median prison term was 5.5 months. - Author: Jocelyn C. Stewart - Tags: Understanding Trends, Federal [Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/) › [Federal Prosecution Analysis](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal/) › [§2E3.1 Gambling Offenses](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2e3-1-gambling-offenses/) › §2E3.1: FY2017 **In brief:** All 65 people sentenced under §2E3.1 in fiscal year 2017 pleaded guilty, and none went to trial. Prison terms went to 30 (46%), and probation only went to 30 (46%). The median prison term was 5.5 months. 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 65 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/). ## No Trials Among the 65 People The U.S. Sentencing Commission counted 65 people in fiscal year 2017 whose primary guideline was §2E3.1, titled "Gambling Offenses; Animal Fighting Offenses" in the Guidelines Manual. Every one of them (100%) pleaded guilty, and 0 were convicted after a trial. Among those who pleaded guilty, 92% had a written plea agreement and 6% were straight pleas with no agreement. The all-years guilty plea share for this guideline, fiscal years 2016 to 2025, was 97%. Because no one in this year was convicted at trial, the records give no trial prison term to compare with the plea figure. ## An Even Split Between Prison and Probation A total of 30 of the 65 people (46%) received a prison term, and 30 (46%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement. The median prison term among those sent to prison was 5.5 months. A quarter received 18 months or more, and a quarter received 0 months or less. The median for all years was 12 months. Across all fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 544 people were sentenced under this guideline, and 57% were sent to prison. The 46% share in fiscal year 2017 was lower than that. The neighboring years had medians of 5.1 months in fiscal year 2016 and 7 months in fiscal year 2018, so the 2017 median was about the same as in those years. Supervised release followed prison for 24 people (37%), with a median term of 36 months. ## Where Sentences Fell Against the Guideline Range Sentences within the range were 37% (24). Below the range at the government's request were 34% (22), and below it without a government request were 22% (14). Above the range were 8% (5). The within-range share was 34% in fiscal year 2016 and 28% in fiscal year 2018\. The share for all years was 38%. A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 0 of the 65 people with that information recorded (0%). | Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty | | ----------- | ---------------- | ------------- | -------------- | | 2016 | 80 | 5.1 months | 93% | | 2017 | 65 | 5.5 months | 100% | | 2018 | 79 | 7 months | 100% | | 2019 | 29 | 24 months | 76% | | 2020 | 22 | 10 months | 95% | | 2021 | 59 | 12 months | 98% | | 2022 | 39 | 18 months | 100% | | 2023 | 64 | 12 months | 100% | | 2024 | 41 | 18 months | 95% | | 2025 | 66 | 9 months | 98% | ## Fines, Restitution, and Criminal History A fine was ordered for 25 people (38%). Restitution was ordered for 0 people (0%). For criminal history, 65% were in the lowest category (Category I) and 3% in the highest (Category VI). Court-martial records have no criminal history field. ## Federal Totals for the Same Year All 65 cases fell in the Commission's Commercialized Vice offense type. Fiscal year 2016 had 80 people under this guideline, and fiscal year 2018 had 79. Across every guideline in fiscal year 2017, 66,873 people were sentenced in federal court. Their median prison term was 24 months, 97% pleaded guilty, and 49% were within the range. The fiscal year ran from October 1, 2016 to September 30, 2017. ## What One Year Cannot Show The data includes only people who were convicted and sentenced, so it cannot show how many gambling charges ended in acquittal or dismissal. The approved crosswalk has no close court-martial counterpart for this guideline, and this post reports federal numbers on their own. ### How We Counted Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2017 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2E3.1 (65), 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. ## 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) - [§2E3.1 Gambling Offenses: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2e3-1-gambling-offenses/) (overview) - [§2E3.1 Gambling Offenses: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2016](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2e3-1-gambling-offenses-fy2016/) (previous or next fiscal year) - [§2E3.1 Gambling Offenses: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2018](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2e3-1-gambling-offenses-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.