§2H1.1 Offenses Involving Individual Rights: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2022
In fiscal year 2022, 63 people were sentenced under §2H1.1, "Offenses Involving Individual Rights." Of the 63, 49 (78%) were sent to prison, 14 (22%) received probation only, and 1 received a life sentence. The median prison term was 33 months (2.8 years).
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In brief: In fiscal year 2022, 63 people were sentenced under §2H1.1, "Offenses Involving Individual Rights." Of the 63, 49 (78%) were sent to prison, 14 (22%) received probation only, and 1 received a life sentence. The median prison term was 33 months (2.8 years).
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 63 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2022. 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 for 14 People
Of the 63 people sentenced in fiscal year 2022, 14 (22%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement. Another 49 (78%) received a prison term.
Among those sent to prison, the median prison term was 33 months. A quarter received 48 months or more, and a quarter received 21 months or less. One person received a life sentence. The median is the middle value, so one life sentence counts as one person at the top of the list.
Guilty Pleas and Trial Convictions
A total of 45 of the 63 people (71%) pleaded guilty, and 18 were convicted after a trial. The median prison term after a guilty plea was 24 months. After a trial it was 46 months, based on 17 people convicted at trial and sent to prison.
Among the guilty pleas, 98% had a written plea agreement, and 0% were straight pleas with no agreement. The 71% guilty plea rate is lower than the 97% across all federal cases in the same year.
How Sentences Related to the Guideline Range
The guideline range is the range the Guidelines Manual calculates for a case. In fiscal year 2022, 32% of sentences (20 people) were within it. The most common result was a sentence below the range at the government's request, at 41% (26). Another 25% (16) were below the range without a government request, and 2% (1) were above it.
A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 2 of the 62 people with that information recorded (3%).
Supervised Release, Fines, and Restitution
Supervised release after prison was ordered for 49 people (78%), with a median term of 36 months. A fine was ordered for 9 people (14%). Restitution was ordered for 17 (27%).
Place Among Fiscal Years 2016 to 2025
Across fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 544 people were sentenced under §2H1.1. Of those, 79% went to prison, the median prison term was 27 months, 76% pleaded guilty, and 24% of sentences were within the range. The 33-month median for fiscal year 2022 was higher than the 27-month figure for all years.
For every guideline in fiscal year 2022, 64,142 people were sentenced. The median prison term was 30 months, 97% pleaded guilty, and 42% of sentences were within the range. Fiscal year 2021 had 30 people under §2H1.1, and fiscal year 2023 had 69. The table lists each year.
| 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% |
Scope of the Records
These numbers cover people who were convicted and sentenced. Acquittals and dismissals are not in the Commission's data. Prison terms are those imposed, not time served. The fiscal year ran from October 1, 2021 to September 30, 2022.
Of these 63 people, 95% were in criminal history category I and 2% were in category VI. The approved crosswalk lists no close court-martial counterpart for this guideline, so only federal numbers are reported.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2022 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2H1.1 (63), 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)
- §2H1.1 Offenses Involving Individual Rights: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- §2H1.1 Offenses Involving Individual Rights: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2021 (previous or next fiscal year)
- §2H1.1 Offenses Involving Individual Rights: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2023 (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.