> ## 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, FY2016–2025 - URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2k1-3-unlawful-receipt-possession-or-transportation-of-explosive/ - Published: 2026-11-03T01:40:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-11-03T01:40:00.000Z - Description: Guideline §2K1.3 was the primary guideline for 185 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. 142 (77%) received prison, and the median prison term was 18 months. A mandatory minimum applied to 2 people. - 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 **In brief:** Guideline §2K1.3 was the primary guideline for 185 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal years 2016 to 2025\. 142 (77%) received prison, and the median prison term was 18 months. A mandatory minimum applied to 2 people. Updated November 2, 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 185 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](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/). ## What Does §2K1.3 Address? Its Manual title is "Unlawful Receipt, Possession, or Transportation of Explosive Materials; Prohibited Transactions Involving Explosive Materials." In plain terms, the title concerns explosive materials that were received, possessed, or transported unlawfully, and other prohibited transactions in them. The Commission's offense type for all 185 cases is Firearms. The sheet draws on cases where this was the primary guideline. The approved crosswalk lists no close court-martial counterpart, so the numbers stand alone. Because the Commission counts people and not charges, a person with several counts appears once, under the guideline for the most serious count. ## The Prison Terms 142 of the 185 people (77%) were sentenced to prison, and 35 (19%) received probation only. The median prison term was 18 months. The spread is wide: a quarter received 35.8 months or more, and a quarter received 6 months or less. ## Almost All Pleaded Guilty 184 of 185 people (more than 99%) pleaded guilty. 1 person was convicted after a trial and received 63 months. That single case cannot be compared with the guilty pleas, whose median was 18 months. Among guilty pleas, 90% had a written plea agreement and 10% had none. ## Guideline Range and Mandatory Minimums The sentence was within the guideline range for 34% of the people (62). It was below the range at the government's request for 31% (58) and below it without a government request for 30% (55). It was above the range for 5% (10). A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 2 people (1%). For nearly everyone else, no mandatory minimum applied. ## Supervised Release, Fines, and Restitution 138 people (75%) were ordered to serve supervised release, and the median term was 36 months. A fine was ordered for 18 people (10%), and restitution for 23 (12%). Criminal history varied: 43% were in the lowest category and 9% were in the highest. ## Years Compared In fiscal years 2016 to 2019, 94 people were sentenced and the median prison term was 24 months. In fiscal years 2020 to 2025, 91 people were sentenced and the median was 17 months. The table gives each year. Medians ran from 6.2 months in fiscal year 2025 to 33 months in fiscal year 2018\. Fiscal year 2017 had the most people, at 30, and fiscal year 2022 had the fewest, at 6\. The records cannot show why any year differed. Guilty pleas were 100% in every year except fiscal year 2016, when the share was 95%. Because nearly all cases end in a plea, the yearly medians mainly describe plea sentences. | 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 the Records Leave Out The data covers only people convicted and sentenced. It does not include acquittals, dismissals, or details of any case. ### How We Counted Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2K1.3 (185), 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](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) - [§2K2.1 Unlawful Receipt, Possession, or Transportation of Firearms or Ammunition: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2k2-1-unlawful-receipt-possession-or-transportation-of-firearms/) (same guideline chapter part) - [§2K1.4 Arson: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2k1-4-arson/) (same guideline chapter part) - [§2K2.5 Possession of Firearm or Dangerous Weapon in Federal Facility: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2k2-5-possession-of-firearm-or-dangerous-weapon-in/) (same guideline chapter part) - [§2K1.1 Failure to Report Theft of Explosive Materials: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2k1-1-failure-to-report-theft-of-explosive-materials/) (same guideline chapter part) - [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.