§2J1.6 Failure to Appear by Defendant: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025
Of 310 people sentenced under §2J1.6 in fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 304 (98%) received prison. The median prison term was 12 months, and it stayed at or near 12 months in most years. A mandatory minimum applied to 16 people (5%).
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In brief: Of 310 people sentenced under §2J1.6 in fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 304 (98%) received prison. The median prison term was 12 months, and it stayed at or near 12 months in most years. A mandatory minimum applied to 16 people (5%).
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 310 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.
A Steady Median of 12 Months
The median prison term was 12 months for the 304 people sent to prison. A quarter received 18.2 months or more, and a quarter received 8 months or less. Only 6 people (2%) received probation only.
The yearly table shows the median at 12 months in 2016, 2018, 2023, 2024, and 2025. The highest yearly median was 15 months in 2020, and the lowest was 10 months in 2022.
| 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% |
What the Guideline Is About
The Sentencing Guidelines Manual titles §2J1.6 "Failure to Appear by Defendant." The Sentencing Commission files these cases under Administration of Justice.
A person is counted here when §2J1.6 was the primary guideline, meaning the one that set the offense level for the most serious count. The data covers only people who were convicted and sentenced.
Plea Agreements Were Less Common
Guilty pleas were entered by 294 people (95%), and 16 were convicted after a trial. Among guilty pleas, 71% had a written plea agreement and 28% were straight pleas with no agreement.
Straight pleas, which have no written agreement, were 28% of guilty pleas. The median prison term was 12 months after a guilty plea and 16 months after a trial, based on 15 people sent to prison after trial.
Within the Range More Often Than Not
A sentence within the guideline range was given to 190 people (61%). Below the range without a government request were 68 (22%), and below the range at the government's request were 33 (11%). Above the range were 19 people (6%).
Criminal history was spread widely. Only 22% were in the lowest criminal history category I, and 15% were in the highest, VI.
Supervised Release, Fines, and Restitution
Supervised release after prison was ordered for 254 people (82%), with a median term of 36 months. A fine was ordered for 14 people (5%). Restitution was ordered for 11 (4%).
A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 16 people (5%). Prison terms here are those imposed, not time served. The sheet gives restitution for only 11 people, a small group compared with the 254 who were ordered to serve supervised release.
Changes Over the Decade
In fiscal years 2016 to 2019, 145 people were sentenced and the median was 13 months. In fiscal years 2020 to 2025, 165 people were sentenced and the median was 12 months.
The change is small and the records do not explain it. Yearly counts ranged from 24 in 2020 and 2021 to 41 in 2016, so no single year has many people. The share who pleaded guilty was 83% in 2016 and 100% in 2018, 2021, and 2024, and the table does not show a steady direction.
What This Cannot Show
The approved crosswalk has no close court-martial counterpart for this guideline, so only federal numbers appear. Acquittals and dismissals are not in the data, and the records do not describe the underlying case.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2J1.6 (310), 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)
- §2J1.3 Perjury or Subornation of Perjury: 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.