§2J1.3 Perjury or Subornation of Perjury: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2024
The median prison term under guideline §2J1.3 in fiscal year 2024 was 7.1 months, for the 13 of 20 people (65%) who were sent to prison. The terms varied widely: a quarter received 24 months or more, and a quarter received 0.1 months or less.
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › §2J1.3 Perjury or Subornation of Perjury › §2J1.3: FY2024
In brief: The median prison term under guideline §2J1.3 in fiscal year 2024 was 7.1 months, for the 13 of 20 people (65%) who were sent to prison. The terms varied widely: a quarter received 24 months or more, and a quarter received 0.1 months or less.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 20 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2024. 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 Wide Spread of Prison Terms
In fiscal year 2024, 20 people were sentenced in federal court with §2J1.3 as the primary guideline. 13 of them (65%) received a prison term, and 2 (10%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement.
The median prison term among the 13 was 7.1 months. At the long end, a quarter received 24 months or more. At the short end, a quarter received 0.1 months or less.
The median for all fiscal years 2016 to 2025 under this guideline was 12 months, so the 2024 median was lower. The share sent to prison, 65%, was higher than the 60% for all years.
Guilty Pleas and Trial Convictions
18 of the 20 people (90%) pleaded guilty, and 2 were convicted after a trial. Among those who pleaded guilty, 89% had a written plea agreement and 11% were straight pleas.
The median prison term after a guilty plea was 7.1 months. After a trial it was 30 months, based on 2 people convicted at trial and sent to prison. A group of 2 is too small to say how trial and plea sentences generally compare.
Where Sentences Fell Against the Range
The guideline range is the range the Guidelines Manual calculates for a case. 7 of the 20 sentences (35%) were within it. 5 (25%) were below it at the government's request, and 6 (30%) were below it without a government request. 2 (10%) were above the range.
The 35% within the range was higher than the 32% for all years under this guideline and lower than the 46% for all federal cases in fiscal year 2024.
Supervised Release, Fines, and Restitution
12 people (60%) were ordered to serve supervised release after prison, with a median term of 36 months. A fine was ordered for 4 (20%), and restitution for 3 (15%). A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 0 of the 20.
Criminal History
70% of the group were in criminal history category I, the lowest, and 10% were in category VI, the highest. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.
Years on Either Side, and All Federal Cases
The Manual titles §2J1.3 "Perjury or Subornation of Perjury; Bribery of Witness." Fiscal year 2024 ran from October 1, 2023 to September 30, 2024. In fiscal year 2023, 15 people were sentenced under it, the median prison term was 14 months, and 27% were within the range. In fiscal year 2025, 13 people were sentenced, the median was 4 months, and 31% were within the range.
Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2024, under every guideline, totals 61,678 people, with a median prison term of 30 months and 97% guilty pleas. The table lists each year of the guideline.
| 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% |
Limits on What This Shows
The medians here come from small groups, and the 2024 median moved a good deal from one neighboring year to the other. The records do not show why, and 1 year is not a trend.
Acquittals and dismissals are outside this data, and prison terms are those imposed, not time served. The Commission files the cases under "Administration of Justice." No close court-martial counterpart appears in the crosswalk, so only federal numbers are given.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2024 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2J1.3 (20), 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 2023 (previous or next fiscal year)
- §2J1.3 Perjury or Subornation of Perjury: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2025 (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.