§2E4.1 Unlawful Conduct Relating to Contraband Cigarettes and Smokeless Tobacco: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2023
None of the 11 people sentenced under guideline §2E4.1 in fiscal year 2023 received a sentence within the guideline range (0%). 10 sentences (91%) were below the range at the government's request. 6 people (55%) were sent to prison, with a median prison term of 31 months (2.6 years).
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › §2E4.1 Unlawful Conduct Relating to Contraband Cigarettes an › §2E4.1: FY2023
In brief: None of the 11 people sentenced under guideline §2E4.1 in fiscal year 2023 received a sentence within the guideline range (0%). 10 sentences (91%) were below the range at the government's request. 6 people (55%) were sent to prison, with a median prison term of 31 months (2.6 years).
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 11 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2023. 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.
No Sentences Within the Range
The guideline range is the range the Guidelines Manual calculates for each case. Of the 11 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2023 with §2E4.1 as the primary guideline, 0 were sentenced within it. 10 (91%) were sentenced below it at the government's request, and 1 (9%) was below it without a government request. 0 were above the range.
For all fiscal years 2016 to 2025 under this guideline, 25% of sentences were within the range. For all federal cases in fiscal year 2023, the share was 42%.
The records do not show why the government asked for lower sentences in so many of these cases.
Prison Terms in a Small Group
6 of the 11 people (55%) received a prison term, and 5 (45%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement.
The median prison term among the 6 was 31 months, or 2.6 years. A quarter received 47.5 months or more, and a quarter received 13 months or less. The all-years median for this guideline was 12 months, so the 2023 median was higher. The all-years prison rate was 48%.
6 people (55%) were ordered to serve supervised release, with a median term of 30 months. A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 0 of the 11.
Pleas
All 11 people (100%) pleaded guilty, and 0 were convicted after a trial. Every guilty plea (100%) had a written plea agreement.
For all years under this guideline, guilty pleas were more than 99%. Without trial cases, there is no trial sentence to compare.
Restitution, Fines, and Prior Record
A restitution order requires payment toward a loss. It was made for 7 of the 11 people (64%). A fine was ordered for 3 (27%).
By criminal history, 82% of the group were in the lowest category I, and 0% were in the highest category VI. Military records have no criminal history field.
The Neighboring Years
The Manual's title for §2E4.1 is "Unlawful Conduct Relating to Contraband Cigarettes and Smokeless Tobacco." The Commission files these cases under "Extortion/Racketeering." Fiscal year 2023 ran from October 1, 2022 to September 30, 2023.
In fiscal year 2022, 12 people were sentenced under this guideline, with a median prison term of 0.3 months and 8% within the range. In fiscal year 2024, 22 people were sentenced, with a median of 6 months and 32% within the range.
All federal sentences in fiscal year 2023 cover 64,124 people, with a median prison term of 30 months and 97% guilty pleas. The all-years count for §2E4.1 is 224 people. The table lists 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 Cannot Be Concluded
A year of 11 cases, with 6 prison terms,, are too few to call anything a trend. The median and the range figures could change a great deal if a few cases were different.
The data leaves out acquittals and dismissals, and prison terms are those imposed, not time served. The approved crosswalk has no close court-martial counterpart, so this post uses federal numbers only.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2023 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2E4.1 (11), 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 (the background article)
- Federal Prosecution Analysis (all federal posts)
- How the Federal Comparison Data Was Built (sources and method)
- §2E4.1 Unlawful Conduct Relating to Contraband Cigarettes and Smokeless Tobacco: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- §2E4.1 Unlawful Conduct Relating to Contraband Cigarettes and Smokeless Tobacco: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2022 (previous or next fiscal year)
- §2E4.1 Unlawful Conduct Relating to Contraband Cigarettes and Smokeless Tobacco: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2024 (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.