> ## 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. # §2K1.4 Arson: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2016 - URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2k1-4-arson-fy2016/ - Published: 2026-11-04T10:27:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-11-04T10:27:00.000Z - Description: A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 38 of the 63 people (60%) sentenced in fiscal year 2016 with §2K1.4, "Arson," as the primary guideline. Prison went to 59 (94%), and the median prison term was 48 months (4 years). Of the 63, 58 (92%) pleaded guilty. - Author: Jocelyn C. Stewart - Tags: Understanding Trends, Federal [Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/) › [Federal Prosecution Analysis](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal/) › [§2K1.4 Arson](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2k1-4-arson/) › §2K1.4: FY2016 **In brief:** A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 38 of the 63 people (60%) sentenced in fiscal year 2016 with §2K1.4, "Arson," as the primary guideline. Prison went to 59 (94%), and the median prison term was 48 months (4 years). Of the 63, 58 (92%) pleaded guilty. 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 63 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2016\. 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/). ## Mandatory Minimums in 60% of Cases The U.S. Sentencing Commission had mandatory minimum information for all 63 people. A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 38 (60%). A mandatory minimum is a prison term set by statute that a court generally cannot go below. For everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2016 under every guideline, the Commission reports a median prison term of 24 months. The median under this guideline, 48 months, was higher than that. ## Prison Terms A prison term went to 59 of the 63 (94%), and 3 (5%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement. Over all fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 96% of the 727 people under this guideline went to prison. The 2016 share was lower than that. Among those sent to prison, the median prison term was 48 months. A quarter received 61.5 months or more, and a quarter received 24 months or less. The all-years median was 60 months, so the 2016 median was lower. After prison, 58 people (92%) were ordered to serve supervised release. The median term was 36 months. ## Guilty Pleas and Trials in 2016 A total of 58 of 63 (92%) pleaded guilty, and 5 were convicted after a trial. The median prison term after a guilty plea was 42 months, and after a trial it was 180 months. Both medians come from people sent to prison. The trial median is based on 5 people, a small group, and the records do not say what differed between the trial cases and the plea cases. Among the guilty pleas, 97% had a written plea agreement, and 3% were straight pleas with no agreement. For all guidelines in 2016, guilty pleas were 97%, and under this guideline over all years they were 93%. ## Position Against the Guideline Range Within the advisory range: 51% (32). Below the range at the government's request: 29% (18). Below the range without a government request: 17% (11). Above the range: 3% (2). The share within the range was higher than the 49% for all federal cases in 2016 and the 45% for all years under this guideline. The next year, 2017, had 38% within the range. ## Restitution, Fines, and Criminal History Restitution was ordered for 44 people (70%), and a fine for 3 (5%). In criminal history, 44% were in the lowest category, category I, and 8% were in the highest, category VI. Court-martial records have no criminal history field. ## Year Count and Limits The Commission lists the offense type for all 63 cases as Arson. The next year, 2017, had 53 people and a median prison term of 60 months. The table lists every year from 2016 to 2025. Only people who were convicted and sentenced are counted, so acquittals and dismissals are not in the data. Prison terms are the terms imposed, not time served. The fiscal year ran from October 1, 2015 to September 30, 2016\. One year with 63 people is not a trend. The approved crosswalk has no close court-martial counterpart for this guideline, so this post reports the federal numbers on their own. | Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty | | ----------- | ---------------- | ------------- | -------------- | | 2016 | 63 | 48 months | 92% | | 2017 | 53 | 60 months | 94% | | 2018 | 52 | 58.5 months | 87% | | 2019 | 66 | 60 months | 85% | | 2020 | 47 | 60 months | 85% | | 2021 | 78 | 48 months | 97% | | 2022 | 103 | 51 months | 96% | | 2023 | 105 | 60 months | 98% | | 2024 | 84 | 60 months | 93% | | 2025 | 76 | 60 months | 93% | ### How We Counted Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2016 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2K1.4 (63), 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](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) - [§2K1.4 Arson: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2k1-4-arson/) (overview) - [§2K1.4 Arson: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2017](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2k1-4-arson-fy2017/) (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.