§2G1.1 Promoting a Commercial Sex Act or Prohibited Sexual Conduct with an Individual Other than a Minor: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2023
In fiscal year 2023, 46 people were sentenced under §2G1.1, and 45 of them (98%) received a prison term. The median prison term was 84 months (7 years). Only 28% of sentences were within the guideline range, and 41% were below it at the government's request.
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In brief: In fiscal year 2023, 46 people were sentenced under §2G1.1, and 45 of them (98%) received a prison term. The median prison term was 84 months (7 years). Only 28% of sentences were within the guideline range, and 41% were below it at the government's request.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 46 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.
Sentences Below the Range at the Government's Request
In fiscal year 2023, 41% (19) of the 46 people were sentenced below the guideline range at the government's request. Within the range were 28% (13). Below the range without a government request were 15% (7), and above the range were 15% (7).
The within-range share of 28% was lower than the 38% in fiscal year 2022 and the 41% in fiscal year 2024. It was also lower than the 41% for all fiscal years 2016 to 2025 under this guideline.
A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 13 of the 46 people with that information recorded (28%).
How Long Prison Terms Were
The Guidelines Manual titles §2G1.1 "Promoting a Commercial Sex Act or Prohibited Sexual Conduct with an Individual Other than a Minor." The U.S. Sentencing Commission counted 46 people in fiscal year 2023 with that primary guideline.
All but 1 person went to prison, and no one received probation only. The median prison term was 84 months (7 years). A quarter received 216 months or more, and a quarter received 41 months or less.
For comparison, the median was 79 months in fiscal year 2022 and 60 months in fiscal year 2024. The median for all years was 33 months.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 70 | 24 months | 96% |
| 2017 | 72 | 27 months | 93% |
| 2018 | 80 | 27 months | 89% |
| 2019 | 82 | 27 months | 94% |
| 2020 | 38 | 27 months | 89% |
| 2021 | 58 | 30 months | 95% |
| 2022 | 68 | 79 months | 90% |
| 2023 | 46 | 84 months | 93% |
| 2024 | 56 | 60 months | 89% |
| 2025 | 42 | 75 months | 88% |
Pleas, Trials, and Supervised Release
A total of 43 of the 46 people (93%) pleaded guilty, and 3 were convicted after a trial. Of the guilty pleas, 95% had a written plea agreement.
After a guilty plea the median prison term was 72 months. After a trial it was 240 months, from a group of only 3 people.
Supervised release was ordered for 45 people (98%), with a median term of 60 months. 2 people (4%) received it for life.
Fines, Restitution, and Prior Record
A fine was ordered for 4 people (9%). Restitution was ordered for 22 (48%).
In criminal history, 37% were in the lowest category (Category I) and 15% in the highest (Category VI). Court-martial records have no criminal history field.
Offense Types and the Federal Totals
The Commission's offense types for these cases were Sexual Abuse for 27 people and Commercialized Vice for 19.
All fiscal years 2016 to 2025 together include 612 people under this guideline, 94% sent to prison, and 92% guilty pleas. Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2023 totaled 64,124 people, with a median prison term of 30 months and 97% guilty pleas. The year ran from October 1, 2022 to September 30, 2023.
Cautions About One Year
A group of 46 people is small, and one year does not make a trend. The records cannot show why sentences were below the range more often in this year.
The data includes only people convicted and sentenced, with no acquittals or dismissals. The approved crosswalk has no close court-martial counterpart for this guideline, so this post reports the federal numbers on their own.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2023 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2G1.1 (46), 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)
- §2G1.1 Promoting a Commercial Sex Act or Prohibited Sexual Conduct with an Individual Other than a Minor: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- §2G1.1 Promoting a Commercial Sex Act or Prohibited Sexual Conduct with an Individual Other than a Minor: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2022 (previous or next fiscal year)
- §2G1.1 Promoting a Commercial Sex Act or Prohibited Sexual Conduct with an Individual Other than a Minor: 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.