§2G1.1 Promoting a Commercial Sex Act or Prohibited Sexual Conduct with an Individual Other than a Minor: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2024
In fiscal year 2024, 56 people were sentenced under §2G1.1, and 89% pleaded guilty. The median prison term was 60 months (5 years), lower than the 84 months in fiscal year 2023 and higher than the 33 months for all years.
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In brief: In fiscal year 2024, 56 people were sentenced under §2G1.1, and 89% pleaded guilty. The median prison term was 60 months (5 years), lower than the 84 months in fiscal year 2023 and higher than the 33 months for all years.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 56 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2024. 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.
The Median Prison Term in Context
The median prison term in fiscal year 2024 was 60 months (5 years). In fiscal year 2023 it was 84 months, and in fiscal year 2025 it was 75 months. For all fiscal years 2016 to 2025 under this guideline, the median was 33 months.
Among the people sent to prison, a quarter received 148.5 months or more and a quarter received 27.5 months or less. The yearly table shows the medians for every year. These are the terms imposed by the court, not time served.
| 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% |
The Group Sentenced in Fiscal Year 2024
The U.S. Sentencing Commission counted 56 people whose primary guideline was §2G1.1, which the Guidelines Manual calls "Promoting a Commercial Sex Act or Prohibited Sexual Conduct with an Individual Other than a Minor."
Prison terms went to 54 (96%), and probation only went to 2 (4%). By offense type, 31 were Commercialized Vice and 25 were Sexual Abuse.
Supervised release was ordered for 53 people (95%), with a median term of 60 months. 1 person (2%) received supervised release for life.
Guilty Pleas and Trials
A total of 50 of the 56 people (89%) pleaded guilty. The other 6 were convicted after a trial. Of the guilty pleas, 94% had a written plea agreement and 6% were straight pleas.
The median prison term after a guilty plea was 56.4 months. After a trial it was 283.5 months. The trial group is only 6 people, so the comparison involves few cases and cannot show how the facts differed.
Range Placement and Mandatory Minimums
Within the guideline range were 41% (23). Below the range at the government's request were 34% (19), and below it without a request were 9% (5). Above the range were 16% (9).
A mandatory minimum applied to 14 of the 56 people with that information recorded (25%). The within-range share for fiscal year 2023 was 28%, and for fiscal year 2025 it was 36%.
A fine was ordered for 2 people (4%), and restitution for 18 (32%).
Criminal History and Federal Totals
In criminal history, 38% were in the lowest category (Category I) and 9% in the highest (Category VI). Court-martial records have no criminal history field.
Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2024, across all guidelines, totaled 61,678 people. Their median prison term was 30 months, 97% pleaded guilty, and 46% were within the range. The fiscal year ran from October 1, 2023 to September 30, 2024.
What Cannot Be Drawn From This
The Commission data counts only people who were convicted and sentenced. Acquittals and dismissals are missing.
A single year of 56 people does not show a trend. The approved crosswalk has no close court-martial counterpart for this guideline, so this post reports federal numbers alone.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2024 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2G1.1 (56), 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 2023 (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 2025 (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.