§2G1.3 Promoting a Commercial Sex Act or Prohibited Sexual Conduct with a Minor: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2019
All 375 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2019 with §2G1.3 as the primary guideline received a prison term (100%). The median prison term was 120 months (10 years), and a mandatory minimum applied to 262 of the 375 (70%). Those convicted after a trial had a median prison term of 204 m
· Understanding Trends in Military Practice · 8 min read
Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › §2G1.3 Promoting a Commercial Sex Act or Prohibited Sexual C › §2G1.3: FY2019
In brief: All 375 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2019 with §2G1.3 as the primary guideline received a prison term (100%). The median prison term was 120 months (10 years), and a mandatory minimum applied to 262 of the 375 (70%). Those convicted after a trial had a median prison term of 204 months, compared with 120 months after a guilty plea.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 375 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2019. 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.
Who Received a Prison Term in Fiscal Year 2019?
The U.S. Sentencing Commission counted 375 people sentenced in fiscal year 2019 whose primary guideline was §2G1.3. Every one of them received a prison term, and none received probation only.
The median prison term was 120 months, or 10 years. A quarter of the people received 180 months or more, and a quarter received 96.5 months or less. 5 people received a life sentence.
These are the terms imposed at sentencing. They are not the time served. The fiscal year ran from October 1, 2018 to September 30, 2019.
How Many Faced a Mandatory Minimum?
A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 262 of the 375 people with that information recorded (70%). A mandatory minimum is a floor set by statute, and a judge generally cannot go below it unless an exception applies.
The records do not say which statute produced each minimum. It also does not show how often the minimum, rather than the guideline range, set the final term.
Pleas, Trials, and the Gap in Prison Terms
A total of 330 of the 375 people (88%) pleaded guilty, and 45 were convicted after a trial. Among the guilty pleas, 89% had a written plea agreement, and 11% were straight pleas with no agreement.
After a guilty plea, the median prison term was 120 months. After a trial, it was 204 months, based on 45 people who were convicted at trial and sent to prison.
The trial group is small, and each case has its own facts and charges. The numbers describe each group and do not explain the difference between them.
Where Sentences Fell Against the Guideline Range
Among the 375 people with this information, 46% (174) received a sentence within the guideline range. A sentence below the range at the government's request was given to 24% (91), and a sentence below the range without a government request was given to 22% (83). A sentence above the range was given to 7% (27).
In all federal cases in fiscal year 2019, 51% of sentences were within the range.
Supervised Release, Fines, and Restitution
All 375 people (100%) were ordered to serve supervised release after prison. The median term was 120 months, and 59 people (16%) received supervised release for life.
A fine was ordered for 24 people (6%), and restitution for 84 (22%). In the criminal history data, 59% were in the lowest category (category I) and 5% in the highest (category VI). Court-martial records have no criminal history field.
The Commission's Category and the Year-by-Year Counts
The Commission places all 375 cases in its Sexual Abuse offense type. The data covers only people who were convicted and sentenced, so acquittals and dismissals are not included.
Over fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 3,908 people were sentenced under §2G1.3. More than 99% were sent to prison, the median prison term was 120 months, 88% pleaded guilty, and 46% were within the guideline range.
The previous year, fiscal year 2018, had 408 people, a median of 120 months, and 46% within the range. The next year, fiscal year 2020, had 305 people, a median of 120 months, and 50% within the range. The table lists each year.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 418 | 120 months | 86% |
| 2017 | 403 | 120 months | 90% |
| 2018 | 408 | 120 months | 89% |
| 2019 | 375 | 120 months | 88% |
| 2020 | 305 | 120 months | 88% |
| 2021 | 336 | 120 months | 88% |
| 2022 | 475 | 120 months | 86% |
| 2023 | 415 | 120 months | 84% |
| 2024 | 406 | 121 months | 86% |
| 2025 | 367 | 121 months | 91% |
Comparison With All Federal Sentences in 2019
Across every guideline in fiscal year 2019, 76,538 people were sentenced. Their median prison term was 21 months, and 98% pleaded guilty. The §2G1.3 median prison term was higher than that all-guidelines median.
This guideline is paired with Article 120b of the UCMJ in the comparison posts on this site. This post gives the federal numbers alone, and the records cannot show what any one case involved.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2019 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2G1.3 (375), 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)
- §2G1.3 Promoting a Commercial Sex Act or Prohibited Sexual Conduct with a Minor: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- §2G1.3 Promoting a Commercial Sex Act or Prohibited Sexual Conduct with a Minor: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2018 (previous or next fiscal year)
- §2G1.3 Promoting a Commercial Sex Act or Prohibited Sexual Conduct with a Minor: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2020 (previous or next fiscal year)
- How Often Federal Judges Sentence Outside the Guideline Range
- Mandatory Minimums: How Many Federal Sentences Are Set by Congress
- Fewer or More? Child Sexual Abuse Charges at Army Courts-Martial, 2021–2025 (court-martial data)
- How Much Confinement for an Article 120b Conviction in the Army? (court-martial data)
- How Often Are Contested Army Article 120b Cases Acquitted? (court-martial data)
- Pleading Guilty to Article 120b in the Army: What Sentences Followed? (court-martial data)
- How Has Article 120b Changed in Air Force Courts-Martial Since 2016? (court-martial data)
- How Much Confinement for an Article 120b Conviction in the Air Force? (court-martial data)
- Guilty Pleas in Air Force Child Sexual Abuse Cases: How Often, and What Came Next (court-martial data)
- Fewer or More? Child Sexual Abuse Charges at Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial, 2017–2025 (court-martial data)
- What Sentence Follows a Navy-Marine Corps Child Sexual Abuse Conviction? (court-martial data)
- Fighting a Navy-Marine Corps Child Sexual Abuse Charge: How Contested Cases Ended (court-martial data)
- Guilty Pleas in Navy-Marine Corps Child Sexual Abuse Cases: How Often, and What Came Next (court-martial data)
- Article 120b (Rape and Sexual Assault of a Child): Court-Martial Data and Trends (court-martial data)
- Article 120b UCMJ: Rape and Sexual Assault of a Child (law firm reference page)
- 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.