§2L1.2 Unlawfully Entering or Remaining in the United States: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2016
In fiscal year 2016, 15,813 people were sentenced under §2L1.2, and the median prison term was 9 months. A quarter of those sent to prison received 21 months or more, and a quarter received 2.8 months or less. More than 99% pleaded guilty, and 59% were sentenced within the guideline range.
· Understanding Trends in Military Practice · 7 min read
Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › §2L1.2 Unlawfully Entering or Remaining in the United States › §2L1.2: FY2016
In brief: In fiscal year 2016, 15,813 people were sentenced under §2L1.2, and the median prison term was 9 months. A quarter of those sent to prison received 21 months or more, and a quarter received 2.8 months or less. More than 99% pleaded guilty, and 59% were sentenced within the guideline range.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 15,813 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2016. 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.
A Median of 9 Months, With a Wide Spread
The U.S. Sentencing Commission counted 15,813 people sentenced in fiscal year 2016 whose primary guideline was §2L1.2. The Sentencing Guidelines Manual titles it "Unlawfully Entering or Remaining in the United States", and the Commission files these cases under the Immigration offense type.
A prison term went to 15,451 people (98%). Another 361 (2%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement.
Among those sent to prison, the median prison term was 9 months. A quarter received 21 months or more, and a quarter received 2.8 months or less. The median is much lower than the 24 months for everyone sentenced in federal court that year under any guideline.
Almost All Cases Ended in a Guilty Plea
A total of 15,774 people (more than 99%) pleaded guilty, and 39 were convicted after a trial. The median prison term was 9 months after a guilty plea and 27 months after a trial, based on 39 people convicted at trial and sent to prison.
The trial group is small, so its median rests on few cases. The records do not describe how the trial cases differed from the plea cases.
Among the guilty pleas, 41% had a written plea agreement and 59% were straight pleas with no agreement. Straight pleas were the larger group.
Where Sentences Fell Against the Guideline Range
For 15,810 people with the information, 59% (9,352) were sentenced within the guideline range. A sentence below the range at the government's request applied to 25% (3,946), and below the range without a government request to 14% (2,244). Above the range applied to 2% (268).
In fiscal year 2017, 65% were within the range, which is higher than the 59% in fiscal year 2016. Across all guidelines in fiscal year 2016, 49% were within the range.
Mandatory Minimums, Supervised Release, Fines, and Restitution
A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 10 of the 15,811 people with that information recorded (less than 1%).
Supervised release after prison was ordered for 8,430 people (53%), with a median term of 36 months. A fine was ordered for 28 people (less than 1%), and restitution for 2 (less than 1%).
How Fiscal Year 2016 Compares With Other Years
Across fiscal years 2016 to 2025, §2L1.2 covered 158,846 people. In that period, 97% were sent to prison, the median prison term was 7 months, more than 99% pleaded guilty, and 65% were sentenced within the range. The 2016 median of 9 months was higher than the median for the full period.
The next year, 2017, had 15,895 people and the same median of 9 months. The table lists the count, median, and plea rate for every year.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 15,813 | 9 months | more than 99% |
| 2017 | 15,895 | 9 months | more than 99% |
| 2018 | 18,241 | 6 months | more than 99% |
| 2019 | 22,077 | 6 months | more than 99% |
| 2020 | 19,654 | 5 months | more than 99% |
| 2021 | 11,565 | 10 months | more than 99% |
| 2022 | 11,978 | 9 months | more than 99% |
| 2023 | 12,869 | 8 months | more than 99% |
| 2024 | 12,550 | 8 months | more than 99% |
| 2025 | 18,204 | 6 months | more than 99% |
What the Records Cannot Show
The Commission's data includes only people who were convicted and sentenced. Acquittals and dismissals are not counted, and prison terms are the terms imposed, not time served.
A federal fiscal year runs from October 1 to September 30, so fiscal year 2016 began on October 1, 2015. The approved crosswalk has no close court-martial counterpart for this guideline, so this post reports the federal numbers on their own.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2016 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2L1.2 (15,813), 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)
- §2L1.2 Unlawfully Entering or Remaining in the United States: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- §2L1.2 Unlawfully Entering or Remaining in the United States: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2017 (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.