§2J1.3 Perjury or Subornation of Perjury: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2021
9 of the 18 people sentenced under guideline §2J1.3 in fiscal year 2021 (50%) received a prison term, and 5 (28%) received probation only. The median prison term was 12 months. 17 of the 18 (94%) pleaded guilty.
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › §2J1.3 Perjury or Subornation of Perjury › §2J1.3: FY2021
In brief: 9 of the 18 people sentenced under guideline §2J1.3 in fiscal year 2021 (50%) received a prison term, and 5 (28%) received probation only. The median prison term was 12 months. 17 of the 18 (94%) pleaded guilty.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 18 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2021. 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.
Prison and Probation in Fiscal Year 2021
In fiscal year 2021, the U.S. Sentencing Commission recorded 18 people sentenced in federal court with §2J1.3 as the primary guideline. 9 (50%) were sentenced to prison, and 5 (28%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement.
The median prison term among those sent to prison was 12 months. A quarter received 15 months or more, and a quarter received 6 months or less. The 12-month median was the same as for all fiscal years 2016 to 2025 under this guideline.
The share sent to prison, 50%, was lower than the 60% for all years together.
Supervised Release and Money Orders
10 people (56%) were ordered to serve supervised release after prison, and the median term was 24 months.
A fine was ordered for 4 people (22%), and restitution for 1 (6%). No mandatory minimum prison term applied to any of the 18.
Pleas, a Single Trial, and Plea Agreements
17 of the 18 people (94%) pleaded guilty, and 1 was convicted after a trial. Among the guilty pleas, 94% had a written plea agreement and 6% were straight pleas with no agreement.
The median prison term after a guilty plea was 9 months. After a trial it was 30 months, based on 1 person convicted at trial and sent to prison. That single case does not show how trial sentences compare with plea sentences.
Against the Guideline Range
The guideline range is the range the Guidelines Manual calculates. 6 of the 18 sentences (33%) were within it. 4 (22%) were below it at the government's request, and 8 (44%) were below it without a government request. 0 were above the range.
The 33% within the range was about the same as the 32% for all years under this guideline. For all federal cases in fiscal year 2021, 43% were within the range.
Criminal History
72% of the 18 people were in the lowest criminal history category I, and 0% were in the highest category VI. Court-martial records have no criminal history field, so the military records have no matching figure.
The Years Before and After
The Manual titles this guideline "Perjury or Subornation of Perjury; Bribery of Witness." The Commission lists these cases under the offense type "Administration of Justice." Fiscal year 2021 ran from October 1, 2020 to September 30, 2021.
In fiscal year 2020, 20 people were sentenced under §2J1.3, the median prison term was 11 months, and 45% were within the range. In fiscal year 2022, 13 people were sentenced, the median was 15 months, and 46% were within the range.
All federal cases that year, under every guideline, totaled 57,287 people, with a median prison term of 29 months and 98% guilty pleas. The table lists each year.
| 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 the Figures Leave Out
Only people who were convicted and sentenced appear. Acquittals and dismissals are not counted, and prison terms are the terms imposed, not time served.
A group of 18 is small, and a single year does not make a trend. The approved crosswalk has no close court-martial counterpart, so only federal numbers are reported.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2021 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2J1.3 (18), 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)
- §2J1.3 Perjury or Subornation of Perjury: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- §2J1.3 Perjury or Subornation of Perjury: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2020 (previous or next fiscal year)
- §2J1.3 Perjury or Subornation of Perjury: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2022 (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.