> ## 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. # §2E4.1 Unlawful Conduct Relating to Contraband Cigarettes and Smokeless Tobacco: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2018 - URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2e4-1-unlawful-conduct-relating-to-contraband-cigarettes-and-fy2018/ - Published: 2026-11-04T10:30:53.000Z - Updated: 2026-11-04T10:30:53.000Z - Description: 45 people were sentenced under guideline §2E4.1 in fiscal year 2018, the largest group in the 2016 to 2025 table. 36 of them (80%) received a prison term, and the median prison term was 13.5 months. All 45 pleaded guilty. - Author: Jocelyn C. Stewart - Tags: Understanding Trends, Federal [Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/) › [Federal Prosecution Analysis](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal/) › [§2E4.1 Unlawful Conduct Relating to Contraband Cigarettes an](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2e4-1-unlawful-conduct-relating-to-contraband-cigarettes-and/) › §2E4.1: FY2018 **In brief:** 45 people were sentenced under guideline §2E4.1 in fiscal year 2018, the largest group in the 2016 to 2025 table. 36 of them (80%) received a prison term, and the median prison term was 13.5 months. All 45 pleaded guilty. 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 45 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2018\. 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/). ## The Largest Group in the 2016 to 2025 Table The yearly table for this guideline runs from fiscal year 2016 to 2025\. Its largest count of people sentenced is 45, in fiscal year 2018\. The next largest in the table is 29, in 2017. The Guidelines Manual titles §2E4.1 "Unlawful Conduct Relating to Contraband Cigarettes and Smokeless Tobacco." The group here is everyone whose primary guideline, the one that set the offense level for the most serious count, was §2E4.1\. The fiscal year ran from October 1, 2017 to September 30, 2018. ## Prison, Probation, and Release 36 of the 45 people (80%) were sentenced to prison. 8 (18%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement. For all fiscal years 2016 to 2025 under this guideline, 48% were sent to prison, so the 2018 share was higher. The median prison term was 13.5 months. A quarter of those sent to prison received 24 months or more, and a quarter received 6 months or less. The all-years median was 12 months. 36 people (80%) were ordered to serve supervised release after prison, with a median term of 36 months. A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 0 of the 45. ## Every Defendant Pleaded Guilty 45 of 45 people (100%) pleaded guilty, and 0 went to trial. 98% of the guilty pleas had a written plea agreement, and 2% were straight pleas. With no trial convictions, the data offers no comparison between plea and trial sentences for this year. ## Closer to the Guideline Range Than Usual The guideline range is the range the Manual calculates for a case. 19 of the 45 sentences (42%) were within it. 8 (18%) were below it at the government's request, and 18 (40%) were below it without a government request. 0 were above the range. Across all years under this guideline, 25% of sentences were within the range, so 2018 was higher. For all federal cases in fiscal year 2018, under every guideline, 51% were within the range. ## Restitution, Fines, and Criminal History Restitution was ordered for 27 people (60%), and a fine for 3 (7%). Restitution is payment ordered to make up for a loss. 82% of the group were in the lowest criminal history category I, and 2% were in the highest category VI. Court-martial records have no criminal history field. ## Comparison With Other Years In fiscal year 2017, 29 people were sentenced, the median prison term was 12 months, and 28% were within the range. In fiscal year 2019, 25 people were sentenced, the median was 2 months, and 36% were within the range. The Commission places these cases in the "Extortion/Racketeering" offense type. All federal cases in 2018 total 69,425 people, with a median prison term of 24 months and 97% guilty pleas. The all-years total for §2E4.1 is 224 people. The table has the count, median, and plea rate for each year. | Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty | | ----------- | ---------------- | ------------- | -------------- | | 2016 | 28 | 8 months | 96% | | 2017 | 29 | 12 months | 100% | | 2018 | 45 | 13.5 months | 100% | | 2019 | 25 | 2 months | 100% | | 2020 | 28 | 6 months | 100% | | 2021 | 21 | 24 months | 100% | | 2022 | 12 | 0.3 months | 92% | | 2023 | 11 | 31 months | 100% | | 2024 | 22 | 6 months | 100% | | 2025 | 3 | 0 months | 3 of 3 | ## What the Data Does Not Show The records cannot explain why the group was larger in 2018, and they do not show what conduct each case involved. Acquittals and dismissals are not in the data, and prison terms are those imposed, not time served. No close court-martial counterpart appears in the approved crosswalk, so only federal numbers are given. ### How We Counted Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2018 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2E4.1 (45), 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) - [§2E4.1 Unlawful Conduct Relating to Contraband Cigarettes and Smokeless Tobacco: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2e4-1-unlawful-conduct-relating-to-contraband-cigarettes-and/) (overview) - [§2E4.1 Unlawful Conduct Relating to Contraband Cigarettes and Smokeless Tobacco: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2017](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2e4-1-unlawful-conduct-relating-to-contraband-cigarettes-and-fy2017/) (previous or next fiscal year) - [§2E4.1 Unlawful Conduct Relating to Contraband Cigarettes and Smokeless Tobacco: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2019](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2e4-1-unlawful-conduct-relating-to-contraband-cigarettes-and-fy2019/) (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.