> ## 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. # §2J1.4 Impersonation: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2016 - URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2j1-4-impersonation-fy2016/ - Published: 2026-11-04T10:58:41.000Z - Updated: 2026-11-04T10:58:41.000Z - Description: In fiscal year 2016, 17 people were sentenced in federal court with §2J1.4 (Impersonation) as the primary guideline. Sentences were within the guideline range for 14 of them (82%), which is higher than the 49% for all guidelines that year. The median prison term was 12 months, and 8 people (47%) rec - Author: Jocelyn C. Stewart - Tags: Understanding Trends, Federal [Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/) › [Federal Prosecution Analysis](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal/) › [§2J1.4 Impersonation](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2j1-4-impersonation/) › §2J1.4: FY2016 **In brief:** In fiscal year 2016, 17 people were sentenced in federal court with §2J1.4 (Impersonation) as the primary guideline. Sentences were within the guideline range for 14 of them (82%), which is higher than the 49% for all guidelines that year. The median prison term was 12 months, and 8 people (47%) received prison terms. 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 17 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2016\. 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/). ## Sentences Within the Guideline Range In all, 14 of the 17 sentences under §2J1.4 in fiscal year 2016 were within the guideline range. That is 82%. Above the range were 2 (12%), and below the range without a government request was 1 (6%). None were below the range at the government's request. For all years of §2J1.4 from fiscal year 2016 to 2025, 79% of sentences were within the range. For all guidelines in fiscal year 2016, the share was 49%. Fiscal year 2016 under this guideline was about the same as the all-years share and higher than the all-guidelines share. ## Prison, Probation, and Supervised Release In all, 8 people (47%) received a prison term, and 7 (41%) received probation only. Probation only means no prison and no other confinement. The median prison term was 12 months. A quarter of those sent to prison received 12 months or more, and a quarter received 11.1 months or less. The top and bottom of that range are close together, so the 8 prison terms were similar in length. Supervised release after prison was ordered for 8 people (47%), with a median term of 12 months. ## Plea and Trial Sentences In all, 16 of the 17 people (94%) pleaded guilty, and 1 was convicted after a trial. The median prison term was 12 months after a guilty plea and 12 months after the trial. The trial figure is based on 1 person, so it shows nothing about trials in general. Among the guilty pleas, 88% had a written plea agreement and 13% were straight pleas with no agreement. No mandatory minimum prison term applied to any of the 17 people with that information recorded. ## Fines, Restitution, and Criminal History A fine was ordered for 2 people (12%), and restitution for 3 (18%). In the lowest criminal history category I were 53% of the group, and 6% were in the highest category VI. Court-martial records have no criminal history field. ## What §2J1.4 Is and What Was Counted The Guidelines Manual titles §2J1.4 "Impersonation". The U.S. Sentencing Commission places these 17 cases in its Administration of Justice offense type. A case counts when §2J1.4 was the primary guideline, meaning the one that set the offense level for the most serious count. Fiscal year 2016 ran from October 1, 2015 to September 30, 2016\. The data counts only people who were convicted and sentenced. Acquittals and dismissals are not in it. ## The Wider Record From fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 110 people were sentenced under §2J1.4\. Of those, 60% went to prison, the median prison term was 6.6 months, and 90% pleaded guilty. The median in fiscal year 2016 was higher than the all-years median. For all guidelines in fiscal year 2016, 67,742 people were sentenced, the median prison term was 24 months, and 97% pleaded guilty. The table lists every year for §2J1.4. | Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty | | ----------- | ---------------- | ------------- | -------------- | | 2016 | 17 | 12 months | 94% | | 2017 | 7 | 3.6 months | 6 of 7 | | 2018 | 14 | 6 months | 93% | | 2019 | 13 | 4 months | 92% | | 2020 | 13 | 5.5 months | 85% | | 2021 | 13 | 18 months | 85% | | 2022 | 8 | 8 months | 7 of 8 | | 2023 | 9 | 1 months | 8 of 9 | | 2024 | 7 | 12 months | 6 of 7 | | 2025 | 9 | 22.5 months | 9 of 9 | ## What the Records Cannot Show The records do not show the facts of any case. The crosswalk has no close court-martial counterpart for this guideline, so the post reports federal numbers on their own. ### How We Counted Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2016 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2J1.4 (17), 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) - [§2J1.4 Impersonation: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2j1-4-impersonation/) (overview) - [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.