§2J1.3 Perjury or Subornation of Perjury: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025
The median prison term was 12 months for people sentenced under §2J1.3 in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. The group totals 225 people, and 135 of them (60%) were sent to prison. Sentences were below the guideline range more often than within it.
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In brief: The median prison term was 12 months for people sentenced under §2J1.3 in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. The group totals 225 people, and 135 of them (60%) were sent to prison. Sentences were below the guideline range more often than within it.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 225 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 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.
Which Conduct Does §2J1.3 Address?
The Sentencing Guidelines Manual titles this section "Perjury or Subornation of Perjury; Bribery of Witness." From the title alone, it covers false testimony, getting another person to give false testimony, and bribing a witness.
The data below counts people whose primary guideline was §2J1.3, meaning it set the offense level for the most serious count. The Commission classifies all 225 of these cases as Administration of Justice. No close court-martial counterpart appears in the approved crosswalk, so only federal numbers are given.
Prison, Probation, and Prison Length
Of 225 people, 135 (60%) received a prison term and 55 (24%) received probation only. Probation only means no prison or other confinement.
For those who went to prison, the median term was 12 months. A quarter received 18 months or more, and a quarter received 4.5 months or less. The Commission records the term imposed, not the time a person actually served.
Pleas and Trials
206 of the 225 people (92%) pleaded guilty. 19 were convicted after a trial.
The median prison term after a guilty plea was 10 months. After a trial it was 24 months, based on 13 people who were convicted at trial and sent to prison. These numbers describe different groups of cases, and the records do not show whether the trial cases differed in ways other than the plea.
Among those who pleaded guilty, 91% had a written plea agreement and 9% had no agreement.
Sentences Compared With the Guideline Range
The sentence fell within the guideline range for 32% of the 225 people (73). Sentences below the range were more common. 21% (48) were below the range at the government's request, and 42% (94) were below it without such a request. Another 4% (10) were above the range.
A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 2 people, which is less than 1%.
Supervised Release, Fines, and Restitution
129 people (57%) were ordered to serve supervised release after prison. The median term was 36 months.
A fine was ordered for 51 people (23%), and restitution for 26 (12%). Criminal history was mostly minimal: 75% were in the lowest category, and 3% were in the highest.
Changes Across the Years
In fiscal years 2016 to 2019, 126 people were sentenced and the median prison term was 12 months. In fiscal years 2020 to 2025, 99 people were sentenced and the median was 11 months.
The yearly table shows the number sentenced falling from 40 in fiscal year 2016 to 13 in fiscal year 2025. The median in fiscal year 2025 was 4 months, the lowest in the table. With 13 people in that year, a single year is a thin basis for any trend.
| 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 the Records
Only people who were convicted and sentenced appear in this data. People who were acquitted or whose cases were dismissed are not counted. The records also say nothing about the circumstances of any one case.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2J1.3 (225), 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 (the background article)
- Federal Prosecution Analysis (all federal posts)
- How the Federal Comparison Data Was Built (sources and method)
- §2J1.6 Failure to Appear by Defendant: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025 (same guideline chapter part)
- §2J1.4 Impersonation: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025 (same guideline chapter part)
- 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.