§2L1.1 Smuggling, Transporting, or Harboring an Unlawful Alien: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2023
Fiscal year 2023 has the highest count in the table for §2L1.1, with 4,731 people sentenced. Their median prison term was 12 months, and fines were ordered for 752 people (16%). Guilty pleas made up more than 99% of the cases.
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › §2L1.1 Smuggling, Transporting, or Harboring an Unlawful Ali › §2L1.1: FY2023
In brief: Fiscal year 2023 has the highest count in the table for §2L1.1, with 4,731 people sentenced. Their median prison term was 12 months, and fines were ordered for 752 people (16%). Guilty pleas made up more than 99% of the cases.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 4,731 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2023. 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.
The Highest Yearly Count for This Guideline
In the table below, 4,731 is the largest number of people sentenced under §2L1.1 in any fiscal year from 2016 to 2025. The year ran from October 1, 2022 to September 30, 2023.
The count was 4,056 in fiscal year 2022 and 4,345 in fiscal year 2024. The Commission files these cases under its Immigration offense type, which also had 4,731 people in this fiscal year. A primary guideline is the one that set the offense level for the most serious count in a case.
A count says how many people were sentenced. It does not say how many cases were investigated or charged, because the data includes only people who were convicted and sentenced.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 2,423 | 13 months | 99% |
| 2017 | 2,765 | 13 months | 98% |
| 2018 | 2,843 | 12 months | 99% |
| 2019 | 3,487 | 12 months | 99% |
| 2020 | 3,392 | 11.4 months | 99% |
| 2021 | 3,551 | 13 months | more than 99% |
| 2022 | 4,056 | 12 months | more than 99% |
| 2023 | 4,731 | 12 months | more than 99% |
| 2024 | 4,345 | 12 months | more than 99% |
| 2025 | 3,957 | 12 months | more than 99% |
Prison Terms and Probation
Prison went to 4,255 people (90%), and probation only, with no prison or other confinement, went to 400 (8%).
The median prison term was 12 months. A quarter of those sent to prison received 22 months or more. A quarter received 6.2 months or less. The terms are as imposed, not as served.
Fines, Restitution, and Supervised Release
A fine was ordered for 752 people (16%). The Commission's data does not say why a fine was or was not ordered in a given case.
Restitution was ordered for 25 people (less than 1%). Supervised release was ordered for 3,889 (82%), with a median term of 36 months.
Pleas, Trials, and Agreements
A total of 4,695 people pleaded guilty, and 36 were convicted after a trial. The median prison term was 12 months after a plea and 33 months after a trial. The trial median is based on 36 people sent to prison.
Among guilty pleas, 79% had a written plea agreement and 21% were straight pleas.
Guideline Range and Criminal History
All 4,731 people had range information. Within the range: 40% (1,894). Below the range at the government's request: 49% (2,301). Below the range without a request: 9% (424). Above the range: 2% (112). A mandatory minimum applied to 72 of 4,730 people (2%).
In criminal history, 64% were in category I, the lowest, and 4% in category VI, the highest. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.
How This Compares and What Is Missing
The Manual calls the guideline "Smuggling, Transporting, or Harboring an Unlawful Alien." Across all fiscal years 2016 to 2025, it covers 35,550 people with a median of 12 months and 44% within the range. Fiscal year 2022 had 38% within the range, and fiscal year 2024 had 52%.
Every guideline together in fiscal year 2023 covers 64,124 people, with a median of 30 months and 42% within the range.
The approved crosswalk has no close court-martial counterpart, so only federal numbers are reported. The data cannot show case facts or why a sentence was set.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2023 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2L1.1 (4,731), 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)
- §2L1.1 Smuggling, Transporting, or Harboring an Unlawful Alien: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- §2L1.1 Smuggling, Transporting, or Harboring an Unlawful Alien: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2022 (previous or next fiscal year)
- §2L1.1 Smuggling, Transporting, or Harboring an Unlawful Alien: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2024 (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.