§2E4.1 Unlawful Conduct Relating to Contraband Cigarettes and Smokeless Tobacco: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025
Under guideline §2E4.1, 224 people were sentenced in federal court from fiscal year 2016 to fiscal year 2025. 108 (48%) received a prison term with a median of 12 months, and 102 (46%) received probation only. Nearly all pleaded guilty.
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In brief: Under guideline §2E4.1, 224 people were sentenced in federal court from fiscal year 2016 to fiscal year 2025. 108 (48%) received a prison term with a median of 12 months, and 102 (46%) received probation only. Nearly all pleaded guilty.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 224 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. 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.
Nearly Everyone Pleaded Guilty
222 of the 224 people (more than 99%) pleaded guilty, and 2 were convicted after a trial. The median prison term was 12 months for both groups, though the trial figure rests on just 2 people.
Among the guilty pleas, 95% came with a written plea agreement and 5% were straight pleas with no agreement. That leaves almost no trial cases to compare.
What Is §2E4.1?
The Guidelines Manual titles §2E4.1 "Unlawful Conduct Relating to Contraband Cigarettes and Smokeless Tobacco." By its title, it applies to unlawful dealings in cigarettes and smokeless tobacco.
The Sentencing Commission counted a person here only when this was the primary guideline, which is the one that set the offense level for the most serious count. Its offense type for all 224 cases is Extortion/Racketeering. The approved crosswalk lists no close court-martial counterpart.
Prison and Probation
The group was split almost evenly between prison and probation only. 108 people (48%) were sent to prison, and 102 (46%) received probation only.
Among those sent to prison, the median term was 12 months. A quarter received 18 months or more. A quarter received 2.5 months or less, so the range of terms was wide.
Departures From the Guideline Range
Only 25% of the sentences (56 people) were within the guideline range. 41% (92) were below the range at the government's request, and 34% (76) were below it without that request. No sentence was above the range.
A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 2 people, which is less than 1%.
Supervised Release and Money Orders
108 people (48%) were ordered to serve supervised release after prison, with a median term of 36 months.
Restitution was ordered for 169 people (75%), which is a much larger share than the 22 fines (10%). Most people, 85%, were in the lowest criminal history category, and less than 1% were in the highest.
Year-by-Year Pattern
In fiscal years 2016 to 2019, 127 people were sentenced and the median prison term was 12 months. In fiscal years 2020 to 2025, 97 people were sentenced and the median was 7 months.
The table shows how unstable the yearly medians are. They run from 0 months in fiscal year 2025 to 31 months in fiscal year 2023, and fiscal year 2025 has only 3 people. The records cannot show whether these swings reflect any change in practice.
The number sentenced was largest in fiscal year 2018, at 45 people, and smallest in fiscal year 2025. Guilty pleas were 100% in most years, and the lowest yearly share was 92% in fiscal year 2022.
| 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 Is Not in the Data
Acquittals and dismissals are not part of the Commission's files, so this describes only people who were convicted and sentenced.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2E4.1 (224), from the U.S. Sentencing Commission's 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)
- §2E3.1 Gambling Offenses: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025 (same guideline chapter part)
- §2E1.1 Unlawful Conduct Relating to Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025 (same guideline chapter part)
- §2E2.1 Making or Financing an Extortionate Extension of Credit: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025 (same guideline chapter part)
- §2E1.4 Use of Interstate Commerce Facilities in the Commission of Murder-For-Hire: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025 (same guideline chapter part)
- 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.