> ## 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. # §2H3.1 Interception of Communications: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025 - URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2h3-1-interception-of-communications/ - Published: 2026-11-03T01:40:10.000Z - Updated: 2026-11-03T01:40:10.000Z - Description: Under §2H3.1, 17 of 50 people (34%) sentenced in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 received a prison term, while 30 (60%) received probation only. The median prison term for those sent to prison was 12 months. 49 of the 50 pleaded guilty. - Author: Jocelyn C. Stewart - Tags: Understanding Trends, Federal [Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/) › [Federal Prosecution Analysis](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal/) › §2H3.1 **In brief:** Under §2H3.1, 17 of 50 people (34%) sentenced in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 received a prison term, while 30 (60%) received probation only. The median prison term for those sent to prison was 12 months. 49 of the 50 pleaded guilty. Updated November 2, 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 50 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](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/). ## A Guideline With a Long Title The Guidelines Manual titles §2H3.1 "Interception of Communications; Eavesdropping; Disclosure of Certain Private or Protected Information." The Sentencing Commission files these cases under Individual Rights. In fiscal years 2016 through 2025, 50 people were sentenced in federal court with §2H3.1 as the primary guideline, the one that set the offense level for the most serious count. ## Prison, Probation, and Length of Terms A prison term went to 17 people (34%). Probation only, with no prison or other confinement, went to 30 (60%). Among the 17, the median prison term was 12 months. A quarter received 26 months or more, and a quarter received 6 months or less. These are imposed terms, not time served. ## Pleas and the Single Trial Of the 50 people, 49 (98%) pleaded guilty and 1 was convicted after a trial. Among guilty pleas, 96% had a written plea agreement and 4% were straight pleas. The median prison term after a guilty plea was 13 months. The one person convicted at trial and sent to prison had a term of 0.1 months. One case is not enough to compare trials with pleas. ## Mandatory Minimums and the Guideline Range A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 1 person (2%). Against the guideline range, 62% (31) were sentenced within it. Below the range at the government's request were 16% (8), and below the range without a government request were another 16% (8). Above the range were 6% (3). Sentences below the range were common in this group. They came both with and without a government request, in equal numbers. ## After Prison: Supervised Release, Fines, Restitution Supervised release was ordered for 13 people (26%), with a median term of 36 months. A fine was ordered for 20 (40%), and restitution for 7 (14%). On criminal history, 86% were in the lowest criminal history category I and 0% in the highest, category VI. Court-martial records have no criminal history field. ## Has It Changed Over the Years? Fiscal years 2016 to 2019 had 18 people with a median prison term of 13 months. Fiscal years 2020 to 2025 had 32 people with a median prison term of 12 months. The medians are close. Single years are small, from 1 to 10 people, and the table marks some years "n/a" where no median was available. Year-to-year swings in median prison, such as 25 months in fiscal year 2019 and 6 months in fiscal year 2024, rest on very few sentences. | Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty | | ----------- | ---------------- | ------------- | -------------- | | 2016 | 3 | 0.1 months | 2 of 3 | | 2017 | 7 | n/a | 7 of 7 | | 2018 | 1 | 12 months | 1 of 1 | | 2019 | 7 | 25 months | 7 of 7 | | 2020 | 4 | 20.5 months | 4 of 4 | | 2021 | 6 | n/a | 6 of 6 | | 2022 | 4 | 13.5 months | 4 of 4 | | 2023 | 10 | 12 months | 100% | | 2024 | 5 | 6 months | 5 of 5 | | 2025 | 3 | 1 months | 3 of 3 | ## What Is Missing The approved crosswalk has no close court-martial counterpart for this guideline, so no military comparison is made. The Commission data covers only people who were convicted and sentenced. Acquittals and dismissals are not in it. ### How We Counted Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2H3.1 (50), 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](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) - [§2H1.1 Offenses Involving Individual Rights: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2h1-1-offenses-involving-individual-rights/) (same guideline chapter part) - [§2H4.1 Peonage, Involuntary Servitude, and Slave Trade: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2h4-1-peonage-involuntary-servitude-and-slave-trade/) (same guideline chapter part) - [§2H2.1 Obstructing an Election or Registration: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2h2-1-obstructing-an-election-or-registration/) (same guideline chapter part) - [§2H3.3 Obstructing Correspondence: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2h3-3-obstructing-correspondence/) (same guideline chapter part) - [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.