§2K1.1 Failure to Report Theft of Explosive Materials: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025
Of 21 people sentenced in federal court under guideline §2K1.1 in fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 16 (76%) received probation only and 5 (24%) received a prison term. The median prison term among those 5 was 5.7 months. No case carried a mandatory minimum.
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In brief: Of 21 people sentenced in federal court under guideline §2K1.1 in fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 16 (76%) received probation only and 5 (24%) received a prison term. The median prison term among those 5 was 5.7 months. No case carried a mandatory minimum.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 21 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.
Most Sentences Were Probation Only
The U.S. Sentencing Commission counted 21 people whose primary guideline was §2K1.1 in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. Of those, 16 (76%) were sentenced to probation with no prison or other confinement. The other 5 (24%) received a prison term.
Probation, not prison, was the usual result under this guideline in these years. The sections below cover the plea, guideline range, and year-by-year numbers.
What Does §2K1.1 Cover?
The Sentencing Guidelines Manual titles §2K1.1 "Failure to Report Theft of Explosive Materials; Improper Storage of Explosive Materials." The title names more than one kind of conduct: not reporting a theft of explosive materials, and storing such materials improperly.
The Sentencing Commission classes these cases under the offense type Firearms. All 21 cases fall in that group. The sheet does not describe the facts of any single case, and this post does not either.
How Long Were the Prison Terms?
Among the 5 people sent to prison, the median prison term was 5.7 months. A quarter received 8.4 months or more. A quarter received 0 months or less.
The 5 prison terms are too few for a median to be stable. One more or one fewer case could move it. Prison terms here are the terms imposed, not time served.
Guilty Pleas and Trials
A total of 19 of the 21 people (90%) pleaded guilty. The other 2 were convicted after a trial. Among the guilty pleas, 95% had a written plea agreement and 5% were straight pleas with no agreement.
The median prison term after a guilty plea was 2.9 months. After a trial it was 10.9 months, but that figure rests on 1 person convicted at trial and sent to prison. A single case cannot show a pattern.
Guideline Range, Mandatory Minimums, and Supervised Release
A guideline range is the span of sentences the guidelines suggest for a case. The sentence was within the range for 19 people (90%). One sentence (5%) was below the range at the government's request, and 1 (5%) was below the range without such a request. No sentence was above the range.
A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 0 people. Supervised release after prison was ordered for 3 people (14%), with a median term of 12 months. A fine was ordered for 8 people (38%), and restitution for 0.
Has Anything Changed Over the Years?
Fiscal years 2016 to 2019 had 10 people and a median prison term of 5.5 months. Fiscal years 2020 to 2025 had 11 people and a median prison term of 5.7 months. These medians are about the same.
The yearly table shows 1 to 4 people in each year, so a year-to-year comparison would not be reliable.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 4 | 0 months | 4 of 4 |
| 2017 | 1 | n/a | 1 of 1 |
| 2018 | 4 | 10.9 months | 2 of 4 |
| 2019 | 1 | n/a | 1 of 1 |
| 2020 | 4 | 8.4 months | 4 of 4 |
| 2021 | 1 | n/a | 1 of 1 |
| 2022 | 1 | 5.7 months | 1 of 1 |
| 2023 | 1 | n/a | 1 of 1 |
| 2024 | 2 | n/a | 2 of 2 |
| 2025 | 2 | 0 months | 2 of 2 |
What the Records Cannot Show
The Commission data includes only people who were convicted and sentenced. Acquittals and dismissals are not in it. The records also do not show the facts behind each case, why a judge chose probation or prison, or how a prosecutor decided what to charge.
The approved crosswalk lists no close court-martial counterpart for this guideline, so these federal numbers stand on their own. In criminal history, 52% were in the lowest category I and 0% in the highest (VI). Court-martial records have no criminal history field.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2K1.1 (21), 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.
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)
- §2K2.1 Unlawful Receipt, Possession, or Transportation of Firearms or Ammunition: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025 (same guideline chapter part)
- §2K1.4 Arson: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025 (same guideline chapter part)
- §2K1.3 Unlawful Receipt, Possession, or Transportation of Explosive Materials: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025 (same guideline chapter part)
- §2K2.5 Possession of Firearm or Dangerous Weapon in Federal Facility: 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.