§2L2.1 Trafficking in a Document Relating to Naturalization, Citizenship, or Legal Resident Status, or a United States Passport: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2017
Fiscal year 2017 had the most people sentenced under §2L2.1 in the table: 153. A prison term went to 105 (69%), and the median was 12 months. A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 14 people (9%).
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › §2L2.1 Trafficking in a Document Relating to Naturalization, › §2L2.1: FY2017
In brief: Fiscal year 2017 had the most people sentenced under §2L2.1 in the table: 153. A prison term went to 105 (69%), and the median was 12 months. A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 14 people (9%).
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 153 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2017. 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 Number Sentenced and the Prison Share
The U.S. Sentencing Commission recorded 153 people sentenced in fiscal year 2017 with §2L2.1 as the primary guideline. Of those, 105 (69%) received a prison term, and 36 (24%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement.
The yearly table covers fiscal years 2016 to 2025. The count of 153 for 2017 is the highest in the table. The count was 130 in 2016 and 117 in 2018.
Fiscal year 2017 ran from October 1, 2016 to September 30, 2017.
Mandatory Minimums and Prison Lengths
A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 14 of the 153 people (9%). In other years in this set, the share was lower, as with 4% in fiscal year 2016.
Among those sent to prison, the median prison term was 12 months. A quarter received 24 months or more, and a quarter received 5.8 months or less. These are terms imposed, not time served.
The median was 9.7 months in fiscal year 2016 and 10 months in fiscal year 2018. Across all 885 people in fiscal years 2016 to 2025, it was 11 months.
Guilty Pleas Compared With Trials
In fiscal year 2017, 145 of 153 people (95%) pleaded guilty. The other 8 were convicted after a trial. A written plea agreement was part of 89% of guilty pleas, and 11% were straight pleas with no agreement.
After a guilty plea, the median prison term was 12 months. After a trial it was 13.5 months, based on 8 people sent to prison. These medians are close, but 8 people is a small group.
Sentences and the Guideline Range
Within the range: 50% (77 people). Below the range at the government's request: 26% (40). Below the range without a government request: 22% (33). Above the range: 2% (3).
Across all guidelines in fiscal year 2017, 49% of sentences were within the range. The §2L2.1 share across fiscal years 2016 to 2025 was 45%.
Guideline Title and Data Rules
The Guidelines Manual titles §2L2.1 "Trafficking in a Document Relating to Naturalization, Citizenship, or Legal Resident Status, or a United States Passport; False Statement in Respect to the Citizenship or Immigration Status of Another; Fraudulent Marriage to Assist Alien to Evade Immigration Law."
The Commission classed all 153 cases as Immigration. The data includes only people who were convicted and sentenced. The primary guideline is the one that set the offense level for the most serious count.
Supervised release after prison was ordered for 85 people (56%), with a median term of 36 months. A fine was ordered for 33 (22%) and restitution for 4 (3%).
Criminal History and Limits
Criminal history was mostly the lowest category: 78% were in category I and less than 1% in category VI. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.
For all guidelines in fiscal year 2017, 66,873 people were sentenced and the median prison term was 24 months. That covers every offense type. The records here do not show case facts or reasons for sentences. There is no close court-martial counterpart for this guideline in the approved crosswalk, so this post reports the federal numbers on their own.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 130 | 9.7 months | 95% |
| 2017 | 153 | 12 months | 95% |
| 2018 | 117 | 10 months | 97% |
| 2019 | 104 | 10 months | 93% |
| 2020 | 71 | 12 months | 90% |
| 2021 | 57 | 12 months | 100% |
| 2022 | 84 | 10 months | 94% |
| 2023 | 69 | 10 months | 97% |
| 2024 | 47 | 13.5 months | 89% |
| 2025 | 53 | 5.4 months | 100% |
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2017 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2L2.1 (153), 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)
- §2L2.1 Trafficking in a Document Relating to Naturalization, Citizenship, or Legal Resident Status, or a United States Passport: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- §2L2.1 Trafficking in a Document Relating to Naturalization, Citizenship, or Legal Resident Status, or a United States Passport: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2016 (previous or next fiscal year)
- §2L2.1 Trafficking in a Document Relating to Naturalization, Citizenship, or Legal Resident Status, or a United States Passport: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2018 (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.