§2L2.1 Trafficking in a Document Relating to Naturalization, Citizenship, or Legal Resident Status, or a United States Passport: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2020
A total of 71 people were sentenced in fiscal year 2020 with §2L2.1 as the primary guideline, and 46 of them (65%) were sent to prison. The median prison term was 12 months. A guilty plea was entered by 64 people (90%), and 7 were convicted after a trial.
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › §2L2.1 Trafficking in a Document Relating to Naturalization, › §2L2.1: FY2020
In brief: A total of 71 people were sentenced in fiscal year 2020 with §2L2.1 as the primary guideline, and 46 of them (65%) were sent to prison. The median prison term was 12 months. A guilty plea was entered by 64 people (90%), and 7 were convicted after a trial.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 71 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2020. 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.
Trials in a Small Group
Of the 71 people sentenced in fiscal year 2020, 7 were convicted after a trial, and 64 (90%) pleaded guilty. For all guidelines that year, 98% pleaded guilty.
The median prison term was 12 months after a guilty plea and 24 months after a trial. The trial median is based on 5 people sent to prison. With so few people, the gap between the medians cannot be treated as a pattern.
Of those who pleaded guilty, 91% had a written plea agreement and 9% were straight pleas with no agreement.
Prison Terms and Probation
A prison term was imposed on 46 of the 71 people (65%), and 19 (27%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement.
Among those sent to prison, the median was 12 months. A quarter received 20 months or more, and a quarter received 6.7 months or less. These figures are the terms imposed and not the time served.
A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 3 of the 71 people (4%).
Sentences Measured Against the Range
Within the guideline range: 39% (28 people). Below the range at the government's request: 34% (24). Below the range without a government request: 25% (18). Above the range: 1% (1).
All guidelines combined had 50% within the range in fiscal year 2020, and §2L2.1 across fiscal years 2016 to 2025 had 45%. The share for fiscal year 2019 was 49%, and the share for fiscal year 2021 was 39%.
What §2L2.1 Is and How the Data Was Built
The Guidelines Manual lists §2L2.1 as "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 U.S. Sentencing Commission placed all 71 cases under Immigration. Counts include only people convicted and sentenced, and the guideline listed is the primary one for each person. Fiscal year 2020 ran from October 1, 2019 to September 30, 2020.
Other Conditions of Sentence
Supervised release followed prison for 38 people (54%), with a median term of 36 months. A fine was ordered for 12 (17%), and restitution for 4 (6%).
By criminal history, 87% were in category I and 0% in category VI. Court-martial files do not record criminal history.
Nearby Years and Limits
There were 104 people under this guideline in fiscal year 2019, with a median prison term of 10 months. There were 57 in fiscal year 2021, with a median of 12 months. Across all guidelines in 2020, the median was 18 months for 64,565 people.
The records do not show case facts or the reasons for a 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 2020 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2L2.1 (71), 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 2019 (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 2021 (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.