§2L2.1 Trafficking in a Document Relating to Naturalization, Citizenship, or Legal Resident Status, or a United States Passport: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2018
Federal courts sentenced 117 people in fiscal year 2018 under §2L2.1. Prison went to 75 of them (64%), the median prison term was 10 months, and 113 (97%) pleaded guilty. The 48% of sentences within the guideline range was close to the 51% for all guidelines that year.
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › §2L2.1 Trafficking in a Document Relating to Naturalization, › §2L2.1: FY2018
In brief: Federal courts sentenced 117 people in fiscal year 2018 under §2L2.1. Prison went to 75 of them (64%), the median prison term was 10 months, and 113 (97%) pleaded guilty. The 48% of sentences within the guideline range was close to the 51% for all guidelines that year.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 117 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.
A Lower Prison Share Than in Other Years
In fiscal year 2018, 75 of 117 people (64%) received a prison term. Probation only, with no prison or other confinement, went to 25 (21%).
The 64% prison share is lower than the 70% across all fiscal years 2016 to 2025 under this guideline.
Among those sent to prison, the median prison term was 10 months. A quarter received 20.5 months or more, and a quarter received 6 months or less. The terms are those imposed, not time served.
Pleas and Trial Convictions
Of the 117 people, 113 (97%) pleaded guilty and 4 were convicted after a trial. For all guidelines in fiscal year 2018, 97% also pleaded guilty, so the plea share here was about the same.
The median prison term was 10 months after a guilty plea and 18 months after a trial. The trial median covers 3 people sent to prison. That is too small a group to support a conclusion about trials.
A written plea agreement was recorded for 92% of guilty pleas, and 8% were straight pleas.
Range Position and Mandatory Minimums
Within the guideline range: 48% (56 people). Below the range at the government's request: 31% (36). Below the range without a government request: 20% (23). Above the range: 2% (2).
The all-guidelines figure for fiscal year 2018 was 51%, and the figure under §2L2.1 for fiscal years 2016 to 2025 was 45%.
A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 5 of the 117 people (4%).
Which Guideline This Is
The Sentencing Guidelines Manual gives §2L2.1 this title: "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."
All 117 cases belong to the Commission's Immigration offense type. Each person is counted under the guideline that set the offense level for the most serious count. People who were acquitted or whose cases were dismissed are not in the data. Fiscal year 2018 ran from October 1, 2017 to September 30, 2018.
Supervised Release, Fines, and Restitution
Supervised release after prison was ordered for 65 people (56%), with a median term of 36 months. A fine was ordered for 21 (18%), and restitution for 6 (5%).
Most people, 84%, were in the lowest criminal history category I, and 0% were in the highest, category VI. Court-martial records do not have a criminal history field.
Neighboring Years and What the Records Omit
In fiscal year 2017, 153 people were sentenced under §2L2.1, with a median of 12 months. In fiscal year 2019, 104 people were sentenced, with a median of 10 months. The table shows all years from 2016 to 2025 side by side.
The records omit the facts of each case and the reasons for each sentence. 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 2018 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2L2.1 (117), 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 2017 (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 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.