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# §2K1.4 Arson: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2020
- URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2k1-4-arson-fy2020/
- Published: 2026-11-04T10:27:05.000Z
- Updated: 2026-11-04T10:27:05.000Z
- Description: In fiscal year 2020, 47 people were sentenced under §2K1.4, and 45 of them (96%) went to prison for a median of 60 months. The median after a trial was 180 months, but that rests on only 7 people. A mandatory minimum applied to 31 of the 47 (66%).
- 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: FY2020

**In brief:** In fiscal year 2020, 47 people were sentenced under §2K1.4, and 45 of them (96%) went to prison for a median of 60 months. The median after a trial was 180 months, but that rests on only 7 people. A mandatory minimum applied to 31 of the 47 (66%).

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 47 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2020\. 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 Small Group With a Large Trial Figure

7 of the 47 people were convicted after a trial, and their median prison term was 180 months. The 40 people who pleaded guilty (85%) had a median of 60 months.

A group of 7 people is small, and a single long sentence can move a median. The trial figure should not be read as a pattern. It describes only the people counted in this fiscal year.

## Mandatory Minimums Applied to 31 People

A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 31 of the 47 people with that information recorded (66%).

Position against the guideline range was recorded for all 47\. 21 sentences (45%) were within the range, 10 (21%) were below it at the government's request, and 11 (23%) were below it without a government request. 5 sentences (11%) were above the range.

## Prison and Probation

45 of the 47 people (96%) received a prison term, and 2 (4%) received probation only. Among those sent to prison, a quarter received 92 months or more, and a quarter received 36 months or less.

Across all federal cases in fiscal year 2020, the median prison term was 18 months. Prison terms here are the terms imposed, not the time a person actually served.

## Plea Agreements and Straight Pleas

Of the people who pleaded guilty, 83% had a written plea agreement and 18% entered straight pleas with no agreement.

The overall plea rate was 85% for this guideline, compared with 98% for all guidelines in fiscal year 2020 and 93% for §2K1.4 over fiscal years 2016 to 2025.

## Supervised Release, Restitution, and Criminal History

45 people (96%) were ordered to serve supervised release after prison, with a median term of 36 months. 1 person (2%) received supervised release for life.

A fine was ordered for 1 person (2%), and restitution for 30 (64%). On criminal history, 43% were in category I, the lowest, and 19% were in category VI, the highest.

## Where Fiscal Year 2020 Fits in the Series

The guideline is titled "Arson; Property Damage by Use of Explosives" in the Sentencing Guidelines Manual, and the Commission lists these cases under the offense type Arson. The fiscal year ran from October 1, 2019 to September 30, 2020.

The next year, fiscal year 2021, had 78 people and a median of 48 months. Across fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 727 people were sentenced under this guideline, with a median of 60 months and 45% of sentences within the range.

The table lists every year.

| 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

The Commission's data covers only people who were convicted and sentenced. It has no acquittals or dismissals, and it does not explain why a sentence was set where it was.

No close court-martial counterpart exists in the approved crosswalk, so no military comparison is made here.

### How We Counted

Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2020 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2K1.4 (47), 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 2019](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2k1-4-arson-fy2019/) (previous or next fiscal year)
- [§2K1.4 Arson: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2021](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2k1-4-arson-fy2021/) (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.