> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.bodiesburied.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # §2G3.1 Importing, Mailing, or Transporting Obscene Matter: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2018 - URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2g3-1-importing-mailing-or-transporting-obscene-matter-fy2018/ - Published: 2026-11-04T10:30:12.000Z - Updated: 2026-11-04T10:30:12.000Z - Description: In fiscal year 2018, 22 people were sentenced under guideline §2G3.1, and all 22 pleaded guilty. A prison term went to 20 (91%), and the median was 27 months (2.2 years). - Author: Jocelyn C. Stewart - Tags: Understanding Trends, Federal [Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/) › [Federal Prosecution Analysis](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal/) › [§2G3.1 Importing, Mailing, or Transporting Obscene Matter](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2g3-1-importing-mailing-or-transporting-obscene-matter/) › §2G3.1: FY2018 **In brief:** In fiscal year 2018, 22 people were sentenced under guideline §2G3.1, and all 22 pleaded guilty. A prison term went to 20 (91%), and the median was 27 months (2.2 years). Updated November 4, 2026 · Sources: U.S. Sentencing Commission and Federal Judicial Center, fiscal years 2016–2025 This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 22 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2018\. 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](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal/) series, which builds on [Military Moves Toward Sentencing Guidelines to Mirror the Federal System](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/military-sentencing-guidelines-federal-system/). How the numbers were built: [How the Federal Comparison Data Was Built](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-data-methodology/). ## 22 Guilty Pleas and 20 Prison Terms The U.S. Sentencing Commission counted 22 people in fiscal year 2018 whose primary guideline was §2G3.1, titled "Importing, Mailing, or Transporting Obscene Matter." All 22 (100%) pleaded guilty, and none was convicted after a trial. A prison term was imposed on 20 people (91%), and probation only on 2 (9%). The 22 cases were the fewest of any year from 2016 to 2019 for this guideline. The table shows that later years had larger groups, including 37 in 2021 and 41 in 2023. | 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% | ## The 27-Month Median The median prison term was 27 months. A quarter of those sent to prison received 39.8 months or more, and a quarter received 21 months or less. The median was 25.5 months in 2017 and 25.5 months in 2019\. The all-years median for this guideline is 28.9 months. These numbers are the sentences announced, not time served. ## Plea Agreements and Mandatory Minimums A written plea agreement was recorded for 86% of the guilty pleas. The other 14% were straight pleas, meaning the person pleaded guilty without a negotiated agreement. The Commission found that no mandatory minimum prison term applied to any of the 22 people. ## Position Against the Guideline Range For 12 people (55%), the sentence was within the guideline range. For 6 (27%), it was above the range. Sentences were below the range at the government's request for 2 (9%), and below the range without a government request for 2 (9%). The within-range share was 27% in 2017 and 32% in 2019\. Across all years it was 38%, and across all federal cases in 2018 it was 51%. ## Supervised Release, Fines, and Restitution Supervised release after prison was ordered for 19 people (86%), with a median term of 36 months. A fine was ordered for 2 (9%). Restitution was ordered for 0 (0%). ## Criminal History Criminal history category I, the lowest, applied to 82% of the group. Category VI, the highest, applied to 0%. The court-martial system has no matching field. ## The Federal Total in 2018 Across every guideline, 69,425 people were sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2018\. Their median prison term was 24 months, and 97% pleaded guilty. The median here was higher than that overall median. The Commission classes the 22 cases as Obscenity/Other Sex Offenses. Over fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 284 people were sentenced under §2G3.1, and 89% were sent to prison. ## Boundaries of the Data Fiscal year 2018 began on October 1, 2017 and ended on September 30, 2018\. Only convicted and sentenced people are counted. A group of 22 is small, so one year does not make a trend. 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 2018 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2G3.1 (22), 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](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/military-sentencing-guidelines-federal-system/) (the background article) - [Federal Prosecution Analysis](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal/) (all federal posts) - [How the Federal Comparison Data Was Built](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-data-methodology/) (sources and method) - [§2G3.1 Importing, Mailing, or Transporting Obscene Matter: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2g3-1-importing-mailing-or-transporting-obscene-matter/) (overview) - [§2G3.1 Importing, Mailing, or Transporting Obscene Matter: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2017](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2g3-1-importing-mailing-or-transporting-obscene-matter-fy2017/) (previous or next fiscal year) - [§2G3.1 Importing, Mailing, or Transporting Obscene Matter: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2019](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2g3-1-importing-mailing-or-transporting-obscene-matter-fy2019/) (previous or next fiscal year) - [How Often Federal Judges Sentence Outside the Guideline Range](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-sentences-outside-guideline-range/) - [Mandatory Minimums: How Many Federal Sentences Are Set by Congress](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-mandatory-minimum-sentences/) - [U.S. Sentencing Commission, Individual Offender Datafiles](https://www.ussc.gov/research/datafiles/commission-datafiles?ref=bodiesburied.com) (source) - [Federal Judicial Center, Integrated Database (criminal defendants)](https://www.fjc.gov/research/idb?ref=bodiesburied.com) (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](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/?ref=bodiesburied.com). This analysis is for education and information only. It is not legal advice, and every case is different.