§2L2.1 Trafficking in a Document Relating to Naturalization, Citizenship, or Legal Resident Status, or a United States Passport: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2023
Of the 69 people sentenced under §2L2.1 in fiscal year 2023, 57 (83%) received a prison term. That share is higher than the 70% across fiscal years 2016 to 2025 under the same guideline. The median prison term was 10 months, and 67 people (97%) pleaded guilty.
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › §2L2.1 Trafficking in a Document Relating to Naturalization, › §2L2.1: FY2023
In brief: Of the 69 people sentenced under §2L2.1 in fiscal year 2023, 57 (83%) received a prison term. That share is higher than the 70% across fiscal years 2016 to 2025 under the same guideline. The median prison term was 10 months, and 67 people (97%) pleaded guilty.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 69 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.
A Higher Share Went to Prison
In fiscal year 2023, 57 of 69 people (83%) were sent to prison, and 10 (14%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement.
Across the years 2016 to 2025, 70% of people sentenced under this guideline received prison. The yearly table lists the prison median for each year but not the prison share, so this post compares the 2023 share only with the all-years figure.
Among those sent to prison in 2023, the median prison term was 10 months. A quarter received 24 months or more, and a quarter received 5 months or less. These are terms imposed, not time served.
Plea Agreements and Trial Convictions
A total of 67 of 69 people (97%) pleaded guilty. The other 2 were convicted after a trial.
After a guilty plea, the median prison term was 10 months. The trial median was 48 months, but it comes from 1 person sent to prison, so it cannot show how trial sentences compare with plea sentences.
A written plea agreement was recorded for 78% of guilty pleas, and 21% were straight pleas with no agreement.
Where Sentences Fell Relative to the Range
Within the range: 42% (29 people). Below the range at the government's request: 32% (22). Below the range without a government request: 25% (17). Above the range: 1% (1).
All guidelines combined had 42% within the range in fiscal year 2023, which is the same share. The previous fiscal year had 26% under §2L2.1, and the next had 34%.
The Guideline and the Counting Rules
The Guidelines Manual gives §2L2.1 the 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."
The Commission placed all 69 cases in the Immigration offense type. Only convicted and sentenced people are in the data. Fiscal year 2023 ran from October 1, 2022 to September 30, 2023.
Mandatory Minimums, Supervised Release, and Other Orders
A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 5 of the 69 people (7%). Supervised release was ordered for 52 (75%), with a median term of 24 months.
A fine was ordered for 9 people (13%), and restitution for 2 (3%). By criminal history, 91% were in category I and 0% in category VI.
Context From Other Years
In fiscal year 2022, 84 people were sentenced under this guideline, with a median prison term of 10 months. In fiscal year 2024, 47 people were sentenced, with a median of 13.5 months. For all guidelines in 2023, the median was 30 months across 64,124 people.
The records do not show case facts or reasons for any 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 2023 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2L2.1 (69), 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 2022 (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 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.