§2H1.1 Offenses Involving Individual Rights: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025
Guideline §2H1.1, Offenses Involving Individual Rights, was the primary guideline for 544 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. Prison was ordered for 429 (79%), and the median term was 27 months (2.2 years). A total of 132 people were convicted after a trial.
Understanding Trends in Military Practice · 6 min read
Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › §2H1.1
In brief: Guideline §2H1.1, Offenses Involving Individual Rights, was the primary guideline for 544 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. Prison was ordered for 429 (79%), and the median term was 27 months (2.2 years). A total of 132 people were convicted after a trial.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 544 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. 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.
A Higher Trial Rate
Guideline §2H1.1 is titled "Offenses Involving Individual Rights" in the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines Manual. The U.S. Sentencing Commission classifies all 544 people as Individual Rights cases.
A guilty plea was entered by 412 people (76%). A total of 132 were convicted after a trial. Among those who pleaded guilty, 98% had a written plea agreement and 2% were straight pleas.
Prison Terms After Pleas and Trials
The median prison term was 24 months after a guilty plea and 38.5 months after a trial. The trial median rests on 124 people who were convicted at trial and sent to prison.
The records do not match the plea and trial groups by facts, so they cannot show whether the trial led to the longer terms. Both medians describe only people who were sent to prison.
All Prison Terms Together
Of the 544 people, 429 (79%) received a prison term and 76 (14%) received probation only. A life sentence went to 3 people.
The median prison term was 27 months. A quarter of those sent to prison received 70 months or more, and a quarter received 12 months or less.
Sentences Compared With the Range
Few sentences were within the guideline range in this group: 128 (24%).
Below the range at the government's request: 211 (39%). Below the range without that request: 192 (35%). Above the range: 13 (2%). Sentences below the range, with or without a government request, were the usual result. The records show only which side of the range a sentence fell on.
Mandatory Minimums, Supervised Release, and Money Orders
A mandatory minimum applied to 12 people (2%). Supervised release followed prison for 423 (78%), with a median term of 36 months, and 2 people received supervised release for life.
A fine was ordered for 85 (16%) and restitution for 123 (23%). In criminal history, 92% were in the lowest category.
How the Years Compare
In fiscal years 2016 to 2019, 171 people were sentenced and the median prison term was 26.7 months. In fiscal years 2020 to 2025, 373 people were sentenced and the median was 28.5 months.
The yearly count rose to 97 in 2024. The share who pleaded guilty was lowest in 2024, at 67%. The yearly median ranged from 21 months in 2025 to 37.5 months in 2021. The records do not show the reasons. The count sentenced each year ranged from 26 in 2019 to 97 in 2024.
| 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
Acquittals and dismissals are not in this data, so the trial figures cover only trials that ended in a conviction.
The crosswalk has no close court-martial counterpart for this guideline, so the post reports federal numbers alone.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2H1.1 (544), from the U.S. Sentencing Commission's 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)
- §2H4.1 Peonage, Involuntary Servitude, and Slave Trade: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025 (same guideline chapter part)
- §2H2.1 Obstructing an Election or Registration: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025 (same guideline chapter part)
- §2H3.3 Obstructing Correspondence: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025 (same guideline chapter part)
- §2H3.1 Interception of Communications: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025 (same guideline chapter part)
- 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.