§2K1.5 Possessing Dangerous Weapons or Materials While Boarding or Aboard an Aircraft: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025
13 people were sentenced under guideline §2K1.5 in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. 8 (62%) received a prison term, with a median of 6.8 months, and 4 (31%) received probation only. All 13 pleaded guilty.
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In brief: 13 people were sentenced under guideline §2K1.5 in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. 8 (62%) received a prison term, with a median of 6.8 months, and 4 (31%) received probation only. All 13 pleaded guilty.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 13 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 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.
Prison and Probation Both Occurred
Under §2K1.5, 8 of 13 people (62%) were sentenced to prison. Another 4 (31%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement.
The median prison term among the 8 was 6.8 months. A quarter received 30 months or more, and a quarter received 3.5 months or less.
What Does the Guideline Address?
The Sentencing Guidelines Manual titles this section "Possessing Dangerous Weapons or Materials While Boarding or Aboard an Aircraft." The title names having dangerous weapons or materials while boarding a plane or while on one.
The Commission puts all 13 cases in the offense type Firearms. The sheet gives no facts about individual cases.
Guilty Pleas Only
All 13 people (100%) pleaded guilty. No one was convicted after a trial. Of the guilty pleas, 69% included a written plea agreement and 31% were straight pleas with no agreement.
No mandatory minimum prison term applied to any case.
The Guideline Range
For 9 people (69%), the sentence was within the guideline range. For 2 people (15%), it was below the range at the government's request. For 2 more (15%), it was below the range without such a request. None was above the range.
Supervised Release, Fines, and Criminal History
Supervised release after prison was ordered for 7 people (54%), with a median term of 36 months. A fine was ordered for 5 people (38%), and restitution for 0.
In criminal history, 62% were in the lowest category I and 0% in the highest (VI).
Changes by Year
Fiscal years 2016 to 2019 had 3 people and a median prison term of 4.6 months. Fiscal years 2020 to 2025 had 10 people and a median of 9 months. The later median is higher.
The yearly table shows more variation: 36 months for the 4 people in 2024, and 0 months for 1 person in 2025. With so few people per year, the records cannot show a trend.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 1 | 4.6 months | 1 of 1 |
| 2017 | 1 | 2.1 months | 1 of 1 |
| 2018 | 1 | 30 months | 1 of 1 |
| 2020 | 2 | n/a | 2 of 2 |
| 2021 | 2 | 9 months | 2 of 2 |
| 2023 | 1 | 4 months | 1 of 1 |
| 2024 | 4 | 36 months | 4 of 4 |
| 2025 | 1 | 0 months | 1 of 1 |
Reading the Medians Carefully
The sheet gives a median of 6.8 months for 8 people, with a quarter at 30 months or more. That wide gap between 3.5 months and 30 months means the middle value describes few of the actual terms.
The yearly table has 1 to 4 people per year, and 2 years list n/a or 0 months. A table row with 1 person is one case, not a rate. The 2024 row, with 4 people and a median of 36 months, is the largest single group in the table and the longest median in it.
The comparison of 4.6 months with 9 months between the earlier and later groups of years is the sheet's own pairing. The records cannot show whether the difference comes from the cases or from chance.
What the Data Leaves Out
Acquittals and dismissals are not in the Commission data, which counts only people convicted and sentenced. Prison terms are those imposed, not time served.
The approved crosswalk lists no close court-martial counterpart for this guideline, so the federal numbers are reported alone.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2K1.5 (13), 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.
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)
- §2K2.1 Unlawful Receipt, Possession, or Transportation of Firearms or Ammunition: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025 (same guideline chapter part)
- §2K1.4 Arson: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025 (same guideline chapter part)
- §2K1.3 Unlawful Receipt, Possession, or Transportation of Explosive Materials: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025 (same guideline chapter part)
- §2K2.5 Possession of Firearm or Dangerous Weapon in Federal Facility: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025 (same guideline chapter part)
- §2K1.1 Failure to Report Theft of Explosive Materials: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025 (same guideline chapter part)
- 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.