> ## Content Index
> Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.bodiesburied.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further.

# §2L2.2 Fraudulently Acquiring Documents Relating to Naturalization, Citizenship, or Legal Resident Status for Own Use: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2016
- URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2l2-2-fraudulently-acquiring-documents-relating-to-naturalization-citizenship-fy2016/
- Published: 2026-11-04T10:23:52.000Z
- Updated: 2026-11-04T10:23:52.000Z
- Description: In fiscal year 2016, 769 people were sentenced in federal court under §2L2.2. 73% received a sentence within the guideline range, compared with 49% of all federal cases that year. The median prison term was 4 months, and 98% pleaded guilty.
- Author: Jocelyn C. Stewart
- Tags: Understanding Trends, Federal

[Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/) › [Federal Prosecution Analysis](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal/) › [§2L2.2 Fraudulently Acquiring Documents Relating to Naturali](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2l2-2-fraudulently-acquiring-documents-relating-to-naturalization-citizenship/) › §2L2.2: FY2016

**In brief:** In fiscal year 2016, 769 people were sentenced in federal court under §2L2.2\. 73% received a sentence within the guideline range, compared with 49% of all federal cases that year. The median prison term was 4 months, and 98% pleaded guilty.

Updated November 4, 2026 · Sources: U.S. Sentencing Commission and Federal Judicial Center, fiscal years 2016–2025

This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 769 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](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal/) series, which builds on [Military Moves Toward Sentencing Guidelines to Mirror the Federal System](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/military-sentencing-guidelines-federal-system/). How the numbers were built: [How the Federal Comparison Data Was Built](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-data-methodology/).

## Sentences Within the Guideline Range More Often Than in Federal Court Overall

767 of the 769 people had guideline range information recorded. 73% (562) were sentenced within the range. 16% (125) were sentenced below the range without a government request, and 8% (65) were sentenced below it at the government's request. 2% (15) were sentenced above the range.

For everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2016 under every guideline, 49% of sentences were within the range. Within-range sentences were more common under §2L2.2\. The records do not show why.

## Short Prison Terms, With Probation for Some

655 of the 769 people (85%) received a prison term. 95 (12%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement.

The median prison term was 4 months. A quarter of those sent to prison received 7.1 months or more, and a quarter received 1 month or less. These are the terms imposed, not time served. For all 67,742 people sentenced in federal court that year, the median prison term was 24 months. That group includes every offense type, so it provides background only.

## What the Guideline Covers

The Sentencing Guidelines Manual titles §2L2.2 "Fraudulently Acquiring Documents Relating to Naturalization, Citizenship, or Legal Resident Status for Own Use; False Personation or Fraudulent Marriage by Alien to Evade Immigration Law; Fraudulently Acquiring or Improperly Using a United States Passport." The U.S. Sentencing Commission files these cases under the offense type Immigration.

A person is counted here when §2L2.2 was the primary guideline, meaning the one that set the offense level for the most serious count. Fiscal year 2016 ran from October 1, 2015 to September 30, 2016.

## Almost All Cases Ended in a Guilty Plea

757 people (98%) pleaded guilty, and 12 were convicted after a trial. The federal rate for all cases that year was 97%. Among the guilty pleas, 49% had a written plea agreement and 50% were straight pleas with no agreement.

The median prison term was 4 months after a guilty plea and 11.9 months after a trial. The trial figure is based on only 8 people convicted at trial and sent to prison. A group that small cannot support a general conclusion about trial sentences.

## Mandatory Minimums, Supervised Release, Fines, and Restitution

A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 29 of the 769 people with that information recorded (4%).

448 people (58%) were ordered to serve supervised release after prison, with a median term of 24 months. A fine was ordered for 42 (5%). Restitution was ordered for 4 (less than 1%).

## Criminal History and the Military Crosswalk

75% were in the lowest criminal history category I, and 1% were in the highest category VI. Court-martial records have no criminal history field. The approved crosswalk has no close court-martial counterpart for this guideline, so only federal numbers are reported.

## Fiscal Year 2016 Among All Years

In fiscal year 2017, 691 people were sentenced under §2L2.2, with a median prison term of 4.4 months and 74% within the range. For fiscal years 2016 to 2025 combined, 6,602 people were sentenced, 87% went to prison, and the median prison term was 3.9 months. 98% pleaded guilty and 76% were within the range.

The table lists each year. The data counts only people convicted and sentenced, so acquittals and dismissals are not in it, and it contains no facts about individual cases.

| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
| ----------- | ---------------- | ------------- | -------------- |
| 2016        | 769              | 4 months      | 98%            |
| 2017        | 691              | 4.4 months    | 98%            |
| 2018        | 935              | 4 months      | 98%            |
| 2019        | 962              | 3.5 months    | 99%            |
| 2020        | 642              | 3.4 months    | 98%            |
| 2021        | 582              | 3.5 months    | more than 99%  |
| 2022        | 661              | 3.3 months    | 98%            |
| 2023        | 437              | 4.2 months    | 97%            |
| 2024        | 394              | 4.2 months    | 98%            |
| 2025        | 529              | 3.3 months    | 99%            |

### How We Counted

Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2016 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2L2.2 (769), 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](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/military-sentencing-guidelines-federal-system/) (the background article)
- [Federal Prosecution Analysis](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal/) (all federal posts)
- [How the Federal Comparison Data Was Built](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-data-methodology/) (sources and method)
- [§2L2.2 Fraudulently Acquiring Documents Relating to Naturalization, Citizenship, or Legal Resident Status for Own Use: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2l2-2-fraudulently-acquiring-documents-relating-to-naturalization-citizenship/) (overview)
- [§2L2.2 Fraudulently Acquiring Documents Relating to Naturalization, Citizenship, or Legal Resident Status for Own Use: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2017](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2l2-2-fraudulently-acquiring-documents-relating-to-naturalization-citizenship-fy2017/) (previous or next fiscal year)
- [How Often Federal Judges Sentence Outside the Guideline Range](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-sentences-outside-guideline-range/)
- [Mandatory Minimums: How Many Federal Sentences Are Set by Congress](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-mandatory-minimum-sentences/)
- [U.S. Sentencing Commission, Individual Offender Datafiles](https://www.ussc.gov/research/datafiles/commission-datafiles?ref=bodiesburied.com) (source)
- [Federal Judicial Center, Integrated Database (criminal defendants)](https://www.fjc.gov/research/idb?ref=bodiesburied.com) (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](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/?ref=bodiesburied.com). This analysis is for education and information only. It is not legal advice, and every case is different.