§2K2.5 Possession of Firearm or Dangerous Weapon in Federal Facility: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2018
In fiscal year 2018, 12 people were sentenced under §2K2.5. 11 pleaded guilty (92%) and 1 was convicted after a trial. 8 of the 12 (67%) received prison, with a median prison term of 10.8 months, and 9 sentences (75%) were within the guideline range.
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › §2K2.5 Possession of Firearm or Dangerous Weapon in Federal › §2K2.5: FY2018
In brief: In fiscal year 2018, 12 people were sentenced under §2K2.5. 11 pleaded guilty (92%) and 1 was convicted after a trial. 8 of the 12 (67%) received prison, with a median prison term of 10.8 months, and 9 sentences (75%) were within the guideline range.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 12 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.
Plea and Trial Results Under §2K2.5 in Fiscal Year 2018
Of the 12 people sentenced in fiscal year 2018 with §2K2.5 as the primary guideline, 11 (92%) pleaded guilty and 1 was convicted after a trial. 64% of the guilty pleas had a written plea agreement, and 36% were straight pleas with no agreement.
The median prison term after a guilty plea was 9.7 months. After the trial it was 12 months. That trial figure comes from 1 person, so it cannot be treated as a typical trial sentence.
The U.S. Sentencing Commission data includes only people who were convicted and sentenced.
Prison Terms and Probation
8 of the 12 people (67%) were sent to prison, and 4 (33%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement. The median prison term among those sent to prison was 10.8 months.
A quarter of them received 29.1 months or more, and a quarter received 7.6 months or less. 6 people (50%) were ordered to serve supervised release after prison, with a median term of 24 months.
Sentences Against the Guideline Range
9 of the 12 sentences (75%) were within the range. 1 (8%) was below the range without a government request, and 2 (17%) were above it. None was below the range at the government's request.
A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 0 of the 12 people. In fiscal year 2017, 92% of sentences under this guideline were within the range, and in fiscal year 2019, 82% were.
Criminal History, Fines, and Restitution
In criminal history, 50% of the people were in the lowest category, category I, and 25% were in the highest, category VI. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.
A fine was ordered for 2 people (17%). Restitution was ordered for 0 (0%).
Comparing 2018 With the Whole Period and With All Guidelines
The fiscal year ran from October 1, 2017 to September 30, 2018. In that year, 69,425 people were sentenced under all guidelines. The median prison term was 24 months, 97% pleaded guilty, and 51% of sentences were within the range.
For §2K2.5 across fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 132 people were sentenced. 59% were sent to prison, the median prison term was 11.2 months, 98% pleaded guilty, and 73% of sentences were within the range. The 2018 median of 10.8 months was about the same as that 11.2 months.
The table lists the count, median prison term, and plea share for each year. The 2019 count was 17, and the 2017 count was 12.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 10 | 7.3 months | 100% |
| 2017 | 12 | 10.5 months | 100% |
| 2018 | 12 | 10.8 months | 92% |
| 2019 | 17 | 5 months | 94% |
| 2020 | 17 | 12 months | 100% |
| 2021 | 10 | 5.5 months | 100% |
| 2022 | 12 | 13.9 months | 100% |
| 2023 | 21 | 18.5 months | 100% |
| 2024 | 12 | 18.7 months | 100% |
| 2025 | 9 | 10 months | 9 of 9 |
What a Group of 12 Cannot Tell a Reader
The guideline is titled "Possession of Firearm or Dangerous Weapon in Federal Facility; Possession or Discharge of Firearm in School Zone." The Commission counts these cases as Firearms offenses. The records do not describe the facts of any case or the reasons for any sentence.
There is no close court-martial counterpart for this guideline in the crosswalk used here, so the post reports federal numbers on their own.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2018 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2K2.5 (12), 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.
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)
- §2K2.5 Possession of Firearm or Dangerous Weapon in Federal Facility: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- §2K2.5 Possession of Firearm or Dangerous Weapon in Federal Facility: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2017 (previous or next fiscal year)
- §2K2.5 Possession of Firearm or Dangerous Weapon in Federal Facility: 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.