> ## 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. # §2J1.3 Perjury or Subornation of Perjury: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2017 - URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2j1-3-perjury-or-subornation-of-perjury-fy2017/ - Published: 2026-11-04T10:30:42.000Z - Updated: 2026-11-04T10:30:42.000Z - Description: The median prison term under guideline §2J1.3 was 12 months in fiscal year 2017, for the 21 of 36 people (58%) who were sent to prison. 33 of the 36 (92%) pleaded guilty. 10 people (28%) received probation only. - Author: Jocelyn C. Stewart - Tags: Understanding Trends, Federal [Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/) › [Federal Prosecution Analysis](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal/) › [§2J1.3 Perjury or Subornation of Perjury](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2j1-3-perjury-or-subornation-of-perjury/) › §2J1.3: FY2017 **In brief:** The median prison term under guideline §2J1.3 was 12 months in fiscal year 2017, for the 21 of 36 people (58%) who were sent to prison. 33 of the 36 (92%) pleaded guilty. 10 people (28%) received probation only. 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 36 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](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/). ## The Median Prison Term and Its Range In fiscal year 2017, the U.S. Sentencing Commission recorded 36 people sentenced in federal court with §2J1.3 as the primary guideline. The Guidelines Manual titles that guideline "Perjury or Subornation of Perjury; Bribery of Witness." 21 of the 36 (58%) received a prison term. The median among them was 12 months. A quarter received 24 months or more, and a quarter received 6 months or less. The 12-month median was the same as the median for all fiscal years 2016 to 2025 under this guideline. The year ran from October 1, 2016 to September 30, 2017\. In the previous year, 2016, the median prison term was 8 months, so the 2017 figure was higher. ## Probation, Fines, and Restitution 10 of the 36 people (28%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement. 21 (58%) were ordered to serve supervised release after prison, and the median term was 36 months. A fine was ordered for 14 people (39%), and restitution for 4 (11%). ## Plea Agreements and the 3 Trials 3 people were convicted after a trial. Among the 33 who pleaded guilty, 88% had a written plea agreement and 9% were straight pleas with no agreement. The median prison term after a guilty plea was 12 months. After a trial it was 24 months, but that number is based on 2 people convicted at trial and sent to prison. It is too small a group to compare with the plea figure. ## The Sentence Against the Guideline Range The guideline range is the range calculated under the Guidelines Manual for each case. 10 of the 36 sentences (28%) were within the range. 12 (33%) were below it at the government's request, and 13 (36%) were below it without a government request. 1 (3%) was above the range. No mandatory minimum prison term applied to any of the 36 people. In fiscal year 2018, the next year, the share within the range was 24%. In fiscal year 2016 it was 25%. Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2017 under any guideline, 66,873 people, had a median prison term of 24 months, and 49% were within the range. ## Criminal History and the Yearly Table 75% of the 36 people were in the lowest criminal history category I, and 3% were in the highest category VI. Court-martial records have no criminal history field. The table lists each fiscal year from 2016 to 2025 with the count of people, the median prison term, and the guilty plea rate. For all 10 years together, 225 people were sentenced under §2J1.3, 60% were sent to prison, and 92% pleaded guilty. | Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty | | ----------- | ---------------- | ------------- | -------------- | | 2016 | 40 | 8 months | 90% | | 2017 | 36 | 12 months | 92% | | 2018 | 29 | 12 months | 93% | | 2019 | 21 | 10 months | 86% | | 2020 | 20 | 11 months | 95% | | 2021 | 18 | 12 months | 94% | | 2022 | 13 | 15 months | 92% | | 2023 | 15 | 14 months | 93% | | 2024 | 20 | 7.1 months | 90% | | 2025 | 13 | 4 months | 92% | ## What Cannot Be Read From These Figures The Commission files group these cases under the offense type "Administration of Justice." Only people who were convicted and sentenced are counted, so acquittals and dismissals are absent. Prison terms are the terms imposed, not time served. A group of 36 is small, and a single year is not a trend. The approved crosswalk has no close court-martial counterpart, so the post reports federal numbers alone. ### How We Counted Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2017 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2J1.3 (36), 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) - [§2J1.3 Perjury or Subornation of Perjury: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2j1-3-perjury-or-subornation-of-perjury/) (overview) - [§2J1.3 Perjury or Subornation of Perjury: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2016](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2j1-3-perjury-or-subornation-of-perjury-fy2016/) (previous or next fiscal year) - [§2J1.3 Perjury or Subornation of Perjury: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2018](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2j1-3-perjury-or-subornation-of-perjury-fy2018/) (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.