§2G3.1 Importing, Mailing, or Transporting Obscene Matter: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2017
Under guideline §2G3.1 in fiscal year 2017, 20 of the 26 people sentenced (77%) received a prison term and 5 (19%) received probation only. Only 7 sentences (27%) were within the guideline range, and 8 (31%) were above it.
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In brief: Under guideline §2G3.1 in fiscal year 2017, 20 of the 26 people sentenced (77%) received a prison term and 5 (19%) received probation only. Only 7 sentences (27%) were within the guideline range, and 8 (31%) were above it.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 26 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2017. 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.
Few Sentences Were Within the Range
The U.S. Sentencing Commission counted 26 people in fiscal year 2017 whose primary guideline was §2G3.1, "Importing, Mailing, or Transporting Obscene Matter." The sentence was within the guideline range for 7 of them (27%). It was above the range for 8 (31%), and below the range without a government request for 9 (35%). It was below the range at the government's request for 2 (8%).
That within-range share was lower than the 68% in 2016 and the 55% in 2018. It was also lower than the 38% across all years for this guideline and the 49% for all federal cases in 2017.
Prison and Probation
A prison term was imposed on 20 people (77%). Probation only, with no prison or other confinement, was imposed on 5 (19%).
The median prison term among those sent to prison was 25.5 months, or 2.1 years. A quarter received 60 months or more, and a quarter received 14.8 months or less. That is a wide spread, so the median describes only the middle of the group.
The medians were 26 months in 2016 and 27 months in 2018. The table lists every year.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 25 | 26 months | 96% |
| 2017 | 26 | 25.5 months | 100% |
| 2018 | 22 | 27 months | 100% |
| 2019 | 25 | 25.5 months | 100% |
| 2020 | 21 | 24 months | 100% |
| 2021 | 37 | 33 months | 100% |
| 2022 | 33 | 46 months | 100% |
| 2023 | 41 | 26.5 months | 98% |
| 2024 | 26 | 46 months | 100% |
| 2025 | 28 | 27 months | 100% |
All 26 Pleaded Guilty
Every person (100%) pleaded guilty, and no one was convicted after a trial. Among them, 92% had a written plea agreement, and 8% pleaded guilty with no agreement. No mandatory minimum prison term applied to anyone.
Supervised Release and Payments
Supervised release after prison was ordered for 20 people (77%), with a median term of 36 months. A fine was ordered for 7 (27%), and restitution for 1 (4%).
Criminal History
Category I, the lowest criminal history category, covered 77% of the group. Category VI, the highest, covered 0%. Court-martial records do not have this field.
Place in the Federal Caseload
The Commission recorded 66,873 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2017 across every guideline. The median prison term for that whole group was 24 months, and 97% pleaded guilty.
The Commission classes the 26 cases under §2G3.1 as Obscenity/Other Sex Offenses. Over fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 284 people were sentenced under this guideline, 89% were sent to prison, and the median prison term was 28.9 months.
What the Records Leave Out
Federal fiscal year 2017 ran from October 1, 2016 to September 30, 2017. People who were acquitted or whose cases were dismissed are not counted. Prison terms are those imposed, not time served.
The approved crosswalk has no close court-martial counterpart for this guideline, so the federal numbers stand alone. A group of 26 is small, and the records do not show why sentences were less often within the range in this year.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2017 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2G3.1 (26), 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)
- §2G3.1 Importing, Mailing, or Transporting Obscene Matter: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- §2G3.1 Importing, Mailing, or Transporting Obscene Matter: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2016 (previous or next fiscal year)
- §2G3.1 Importing, Mailing, or Transporting Obscene Matter: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2018 (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.