§2K1.4 Arson: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2018
In fiscal year 2018, 52 people were sentenced in federal court with §2K1.4 as the primary guideline. Of those, 50 (96%) received a prison term, and the median prison term was 58.5 months (4.9 years). That median is lower than the 60 months for this guideline across fiscal years 2016 to 2025, and hig
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › §2K1.4 Arson › §2K1.4: FY2018
In brief: In fiscal year 2018, 52 people were sentenced in federal court with §2K1.4 as the primary guideline. Of those, 50 (96%) received a prison term, and the median prison term was 58.5 months (4.9 years). That median is lower than the 60 months for this guideline across fiscal years 2016 to 2025, and higher than the 24 months for all federal cases in fiscal year 2018.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 52 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2018. 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.
Who Is Counted Under §2K1.4 in Fiscal Year 2018?
Guideline §2K1.4 is titled "Arson; Property Damage by Use of Explosives" in the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines Manual. A case is counted here when this guideline set the offense level for the most serious count. The Commission's offense type for these 52 cases is Arson.
The fiscal year ran from October 1, 2017 to September 30, 2018. The data covers only people who were convicted and sentenced. Acquittals and dismissals are not in it.
Prison Terms: What the Median Covers
50 of the 52 people (96%) were sentenced to prison. 1 person (2%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement.
Among those sent to prison, the median prison term was 58.5 months. A quarter received 88.5 months or more, and a quarter received 33.8 months or less. These are the terms imposed by the court, not the time actually served.
Pleas and Trials
45 of the 52 people (87%) pleaded guilty, and 7 were convicted after a trial. Among those who pleaded guilty, 93% had a written plea agreement. The other 7% entered straight pleas with no agreement.
The median prison term after a guilty plea was 48 months. After a trial it was 72 months. The trial figure rests on only 7 people, so it is a small count and should be read with care.
Mandatory Minimums and the Guideline Range
A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 25 of the 52 people with that information recorded (48%).
For the guideline range, 21 sentences (40%) were within the range. Another 16 (31%) were below the range at the government's request, and 7 (13%) were below the range without a government request. 8 sentences (15%) were above the range.
After Prison and Other Orders
50 people (96%) were ordered to serve supervised release after prison. The median supervised release term was 36 months, and 1 person (2%) received supervised release for life.
A fine was ordered for 2 people (4%). Restitution was ordered for 37 (71%).
On criminal history, 42% were in criminal history category I, the lowest, and 10% were in category VI, the highest.
Fiscal Year 2018 Next to Other Years
In fiscal year 2017, 53 people were sentenced under §2K1.4, with a median prison term of 60 months and 38% of sentences within the range. In fiscal year 2019, the count was 66 people, the median was 60 months, and 52% of sentences were within the range. The share within the range in fiscal year 2018 was 40%.
Across fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 727 people were sentenced under this guideline. 96% went to prison, 93% pleaded guilty, and 45% were sentenced within the range. For every guideline in fiscal year 2018, 69,425 people were sentenced, 97% pleaded guilty, and 51% were sentenced within the range.
The table shows each year for §2K1.4.
| 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% |
What the Records Cannot Show
There is no close court-martial counterpart for this guideline in the approved crosswalk, so this post reports the federal numbers on their own. Court-martial records also have no criminal history field.
A count of 52 people is small, and the records do not show why any figure differs from one year to the next. They do not show the facts of individual cases.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2018 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2K1.4 (52), 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 (the background article)
- Federal Prosecution Analysis (all federal posts)
- How the Federal Comparison Data Was Built (sources and method)
- §2K1.4 Arson: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- §2K1.4 Arson: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2017 (previous or next fiscal year)
- §2K1.4 Arson: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2019 (previous or next fiscal year)
- How Often Federal Judges Sentence Outside the Guideline Range
- Mandatory Minimums: How Many Federal Sentences Are Set by Congress
- 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.