§2J1.6 Failure to Appear by Defendant: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2019
Under guideline §2J1.6 in fiscal year 2019, 34 people were sentenced and all 34 received a prison term. The median prison term was 13.7 months, and 2 people were convicted after a trial.
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In brief: Under guideline §2J1.6 in fiscal year 2019, 34 people were sentenced and all 34 received a prison term. The median prison term was 13.7 months, and 2 people were convicted after a trial.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 34 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2019. 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.
Median Prison Term of 13.7 Months
The U.S. Sentencing Commission counted 34 people in fiscal year 2019 whose primary guideline was §2J1.6, "Failure to Appear by Defendant." Each one (100%) received a prison term, and none received probation only.
The median prison term was 13.7 months. A quarter received 19.5 months or more, and a quarter received 8 months or less. That median was higher than the 12 months in 2018 and the 12 months for all years under this guideline. It was lower than the 15 months in 2020.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 41 | 12 months | 83% |
| 2017 | 40 | 13.5 months | 98% |
| 2018 | 30 | 12 months | 100% |
| 2019 | 34 | 13.7 months | 94% |
| 2020 | 24 | 15 months | 92% |
| 2021 | 24 | 13.5 months | 100% |
| 2022 | 27 | 10 months | 96% |
| 2023 | 31 | 12 months | 97% |
| 2024 | 30 | 12 months | 100% |
| 2025 | 29 | 12 months | 93% |
2 Trials and 32 Guilty Pleas
A total of 32 of the 34 people (94%) pleaded guilty, and 2 were convicted after a trial. The median prison term after a guilty plea was 12.7 months. After a trial it was 30 months, based on 2 people.
A group of 2 is too small to show how pleas and trials compare. Of those who pleaded guilty, 69% had a written plea agreement, and 31% pleaded guilty without one.
Mandatory Minimums
A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 3 of the 34 people (9%). A mandatory minimum is a term set in law that a court generally must impose.
Sentences Within and Outside the Range
For 21 people (62%), the sentence was within the guideline range. For 2 (6%), it was below the range at the government's request. For 9 (26%), it was below the range without a government request. For 2 (6%), it was above the range.
The within-range share was 63% in 2018 and 58% in 2020. For all federal cases in 2019 it was 51%.
Supervised Release, Fines, and Restitution
Supervised release after prison was ordered for 30 people (88%), and the median term was 36 months. No one received a fine (0%). Restitution was ordered for 2 people (6%). A fine is a payment to the government, and restitution is payment to make up for a loss. The records do not show the amounts.
Criminal History
In criminal history category I, the lowest, were 21% of the group, and 12% were in category VI, the highest. Court-martial records have no criminal history field, so this number has no military counterpart.
The Wider Federal Picture in Fiscal Year 2019
Across every guideline, 76,538 people were sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2019. Their median prison term was 21 months, and 98% pleaded guilty.
The Commission classes the 34 cases under this guideline as Administration of Justice offenses. Over fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 310 people were sentenced under §2J1.6.
Limits
Fiscal year 2019 ran from October 1, 2018 to September 30, 2019. Only people who were convicted and sentenced are counted, and prison terms are those imposed, not time served.
There is no close court-martial counterpart for this guideline in the approved crosswalk, so the federal numbers stand alone.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2019 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2J1.6 (34), 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.
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 (overview)
- §2J1.6 Failure to Appear by Defendant: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2018 (previous or next fiscal year)
- §2J1.6 Failure to Appear by Defendant: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2020 (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.