§2J1.3 Perjury or Subornation of Perjury: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2025
The median prison term under guideline §2J1.3 in fiscal year 2025 was 4 months, among the 7 of 13 people (54%) who were sent to prison. 12 of the 13 (92%) pleaded guilty. 5 people (38%) received probation only.
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › §2J1.3 Perjury or Subornation of Perjury › §2J1.3: FY2025
In brief: The median prison term under guideline §2J1.3 in fiscal year 2025 was 4 months, among the 7 of 13 people (54%) who were sent to prison. 12 of the 13 (92%) pleaded guilty. 5 people (38%) received probation only.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 13 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 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.
Fiscal Year 2025 at a Glance
13 people were sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2025 with §2J1.3 as the primary guideline. 7 (54%) received a prison term, and 5 (38%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement.
The median prison term among the 7 was 4 months. A quarter received 12 months or more, and a quarter received 2 months or less. The median for fiscal years 2016 to 2025 together was 12 months, so the 2025 median was lower. In fiscal year 2024, the year before, it was 7.1 months.
The fiscal year ran from October 1, 2024 to September 30, 2025.
What the Guideline Covers
In the Guidelines Manual, §2J1.3 is titled "Perjury or Subornation of Perjury; Bribery of Witness." The U.S. Sentencing Commission places these cases in its "Administration of Justice" offense type.
The primary guideline is the one that set the offense level for the most serious count. A case can involve other counts under other guidelines, and the Commission's data assigns each person to one primary guideline only.
Below the Range More Often Than Within It
The guideline range is the range the Manual calculates for a case. 7 of the 13 sentences (54%) were below the range without a government request, and 1 (8%) was below it at the government's request. 4 (31%) were within the range, and 1 (8%) was above it.
For all years under this guideline, 32% of sentences were within the range. The 2025 share, 31%, was about the same. For all federal cases in fiscal year 2025, the share was 51%.
Pleas and Trials
12 of the 13 people (92%) pleaded guilty, and 1 was convicted after a trial. Among those who pleaded guilty, 83% had a written plea agreement and 17% were straight pleas with no agreement.
The Commission data for this year has no separate medians for plea and trial cases, so it cannot show whether the 1 trial case was sentenced differently.
Release Terms, Money Orders, and Prior Record
5 people (38%) were ordered to serve supervised release after prison, with a median term of 24 months. A fine was ordered for 4 (31%), and restitution for 1 (8%). No mandatory minimum prison term applied to any of the 13.
92% of the group were in criminal history category I, the lowest, and 0% were in category VI, the highest. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.
How 2025 Sits Across 2016 to 2025
Over fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 225 people were sentenced under §2J1.3, 60% went to prison, and 92% pleaded guilty. The 2025 plea rate matched that all-years rate.
All federal sentences in fiscal year 2025 covered 66,662 people, with a median prison term of 24 months and 98% guilty pleas. The table lists the count, median, and plea rate for every 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% |
Limits of This Post
With 13 people, a few cases can change a percentage or a median by a large amount, and this year is not a trend. Only convictions that led to a sentence are counted, so acquittals and dismissals do not appear. Prison terms are those imposed, not time served.
There is no close court-martial counterpart in the approved crosswalk, so the post reports federal numbers alone.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2025 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2J1.3 (13), 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 2024 (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.