> ## 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. # §2K1.3 Unlawful Receipt, Possession, or Transportation of Explosive Materials: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2021 - URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2k1-3-unlawful-receipt-possession-or-transportation-of-explosive-fy2021/ - Published: 2026-11-04T10:57:16.000Z - Updated: 2026-11-04T10:57:16.000Z - Description: In fiscal year 2021, 17 people were sentenced under §2K1.3. The median prison term was 20.5 months, and a quarter of those sent to prison received 2.2 months or less. All 17 (100%) pleaded guilty, and no one was ordered to pay restitution. - Author: Jocelyn C. Stewart - Tags: Understanding Trends, Federal [Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/) › [Federal Prosecution Analysis](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal/) › [§2K1.3 Unlawful Receipt, Possession, or Transportation of Ex](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2k1-3-unlawful-receipt-possession-or-transportation-of-explosive/) › §2K1.3: FY2021 **In brief:** In fiscal year 2021, 17 people were sentenced under §2K1.3\. The median prison term was 20.5 months, and a quarter of those sent to prison received 2.2 months or less. All 17 (100%) pleaded guilty, and no one was ordered to pay restitution. 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 2021\. 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/). ## A Wide Spread of Prison Terms Of the 17 people, 13 (76%) received a prison term, and 4 (24%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement. The median prison term was 20.5 months. The spread was wide. A quarter of those sent to prison received 46 months or more, and a quarter received 2.2 months or less. The median alone does not show that range. The year before, fiscal year 2020, had a median of 18 months. For all fiscal years 2016 to 2025 under this guideline, the median was 18 months. The 2021 median is higher than both. ## Sentences Against the Guideline Range 8 sentences (47%) were within the guideline range. 4 people (24%) were below the range at the government's request, and 4 (24%) were below it without a request. One sentence (6%) was above the range. The share within the range was 26% in fiscal year 2020 and 34% across all years under this guideline. For all guidelines in fiscal year 2021, it was 43%. ## The Guideline and Its Offense Type The Guidelines Manual titles §2K1.3 "Unlawful Receipt, Possession, or Transportation of Explosive Materials; Prohibited Transactions Involving Explosive Materials." The Commission counts these 17 cases as firearms offenses. Fiscal year 2021 ran from October 1, 2020 to September 30, 2021\. For everyone sentenced that year under all guidelines, 57,287 people were counted, with a median prison term of 29 months and a guilty plea rate of 98%. ## Pleas, Agreements, and Mandatory Minimums Every person pleaded guilty, and none was convicted after a trial. With no trials, the data has no trial sentences to set beside the plea sentences. All the guilty pleas (100%) had a written plea agreement. A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 0 of the 17 people. ## Payments and Supervision Restitution was ordered for 0 people (0%). A fine was ordered for 2 (12%). Supervised release followed prison for 13 people (76%), and the median term was 36 months. In criminal history, 53% were in the lowest category (category I), and 0% were in the highest (category VI). Court-martial records have no criminal history field. | Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty | | ----------- | ---------------- | ------------- | -------------- | | 2016 | 20 | 30 months | 95% | | 2017 | 30 | 18 months | 100% | | 2018 | 17 | 33 months | 100% | | 2019 | 27 | 18 months | 100% | | 2020 | 19 | 18 months | 100% | | 2021 | 17 | 20.5 months | 100% | | 2022 | 6 | 24.5 months | 6 of 6 | | 2023 | 20 | 16.5 months | 100% | | 2024 | 14 | 18 months | 100% | | 2025 | 15 | 6.2 months | 100% | ## What These Records Leave Out Supervised release is a period of oversight after prison. Restitution is money ordered to be paid to people or entities that lost money because of the offense, and the data shows none ordered in this group. Counts in the table run from 6 to 30, so a single year is not a trend. Acquittals and dismissals are not in the data, and prison terms are those imposed, not served. The approved crosswalk has no close court-martial counterpart for this guideline, so the post reports the federal numbers on their own. ### How We Counted Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2021 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2K1.3 (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) - [§2K1.3 Unlawful Receipt, Possession, or Transportation of Explosive Materials: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2k1-3-unlawful-receipt-possession-or-transportation-of-explosive/) (overview) - [§2K1.3 Unlawful Receipt, Possession, or Transportation of Explosive Materials: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2020](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2k1-3-unlawful-receipt-possession-or-transportation-of-explosive-fy2020/) (previous or next fiscal year) - [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.