§2H1.1 Offenses Involving Individual Rights: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2017
In fiscal year 2017, 54 people were sentenced under §2H1.1, "Offenses Involving Individual Rights." Only 33 (61%) received a prison term, and 11 (20%) received probation only. The median prison term was 24 months (2 years).
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In brief: In fiscal year 2017, 54 people were sentenced under §2H1.1, "Offenses Involving Individual Rights." Only 33 (61%) received a prison term, and 11 (20%) received probation only. The median prison term was 24 months (2 years).
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 54 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.
Probation Only Was More Common in Fiscal Year 2017
Of the 54 people sentenced, 33 (61%) were sent to prison. Another 11 (20%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement.
The share sent to prison was lower than the 79% for all fiscal years 2016 to 2025 under this guideline. The count for one year is small, so this difference should not be read as a trend.
Length of Prison Terms
Among those sent to prison, the median prison term was 24 months. A quarter received 40 months or more, and a quarter received 9 months or less.
After a guilty plea the median was 21 months. After a trial it was 25.5 months, based on 10 people convicted at trial and sent to prison. The trial figure rests on a small group. The terms are those imposed, not time served.
Guilty Pleas and Trials
A total of 43 of the 54 people (80%) pleaded guilty, and 11 were convicted after a trial. Every guilty plea (100%) came with a written plea agreement, and 0% were straight pleas.
Across all fiscal years 2016 to 2025 under §2H1.1, 76% of people pleaded guilty, so the 80% in fiscal year 2017 was slightly higher. Across all federal guidelines in this year, 97% pleaded guilty.
Sentences Against the Guideline Range
The guideline range is the range the Guidelines Manual calculates for a case. In fiscal year 2017, 22% of sentences (12 people) were within it.
A larger group, 52% (28 people), received a sentence below the range at the government's request. Another 24% (13) were below the range without a government request, and 2% (1) were above the range. A mandatory minimum applied to 0 of the 54 people with that information recorded (0%).
Supervised Release, Fines, and Restitution
After prison, 32 people (59%) were ordered to serve supervised release, with a median term of 24 months. A fine was ordered for 15 people (28%), and restitution for 13 (24%).
Other Years and All Federal Cases
In fiscal year 2016, 46 people were sentenced under §2H1.1, the median prison term was 30 months, and 24% of sentences were within the range. In fiscal year 2018, 45 people were sentenced, the median was 27 months, and 29% were within the range.
For all guidelines in fiscal year 2017, 66,873 people were sentenced. Their median prison term was 24 months, which is about the same as under §2H1.1. Guilty pleas were 97% overall, and 49% of sentences were within the range. The table shows each year from 2016 to 2025.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 46 | 30 months | 78% |
| 2017 | 54 | 24 months | 80% |
| 2018 | 45 | 27 months | 76% |
| 2019 | 26 | 24.5 months | 88% |
| 2020 | 50 | 36 months | 80% |
| 2021 | 30 | 37.5 months | 73% |
| 2022 | 63 | 33 months | 71% |
| 2023 | 69 | 36 months | 80% |
| 2024 | 97 | 24 months | 67% |
| 2025 | 64 | 21 months | 77% |
Limits of the Data
The Commission's data counts only people who were convicted and sentenced, so acquittals and dismissals are not included. The fiscal year ran from October 1, 2016 to September 30, 2017.
In this year, 89% of these people were in the lowest criminal history category I and 4% in the highest, category VI. The approved crosswalk lists no close court-martial counterpart, so only federal numbers are reported here.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2017 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2H1.1 (54), 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)
- §2H1.1 Offenses Involving Individual Rights: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- §2H1.1 Offenses Involving Individual Rights: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2016 (previous or next fiscal year)
- §2H1.1 Offenses Involving Individual Rights: 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.