§2L2.2 Fraudulently Acquiring Documents Relating to Naturalization, Citizenship, or Legal Resident Status for Own Use: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2020
Of the 642 people sentenced under §2L2.2 in fiscal year 2020, 87 (14%) received probation only and 549 (86%) received a prison term. The median prison term was 3.4 months. A mandatory minimum applied to 14 people (2%).
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › §2L2.2 Fraudulently Acquiring Documents Relating to Naturali › §2L2.2: FY2020
In brief: Of the 642 people sentenced under §2L2.2 in fiscal year 2020, 87 (14%) received probation only and 549 (86%) received a prison term. The median prison term was 3.4 months. A mandatory minimum applied to 14 people (2%).
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 642 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.
Probation Only or Prison?
87 of the 642 people (14%) were sentenced to probation only, with no prison or other confinement. The other 549 (86%) were sentenced to prison.
Among those sent to prison, the median prison term was 3.4 months. A quarter received 6 months or more, and a quarter received 1.6 months or less. The median for all 64,565 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2020 was 18 months. That federal group spans every offense and guideline, so the figure is only background.
Mandatory Minimums Were Rare
14 of the 642 people (2%) had a mandatory minimum prison term, which is a statutory floor for the sentence.
Range information was recorded for all 642 people. 478 (74%) received a sentence within the guideline range. 108 (17%) received one below the range with no government request, and 52 (8%) received one below the range at the government's request. 4 (less than 1%) received a sentence above the range. Across all federal cases that year, 50% were within the range.
Pleas, Trials, and Plea Agreements
631 people (98%) pleaded guilty and 11 were convicted after a trial. The share of guilty pleas in all federal cases was also 98%.
The median prison term was 3.4 months after a guilty plea and 6 months after a trial. The trial median reflects only 11 people. Looking at how pleas were made, 43% had a written plea agreement and 56% were straight pleas.
Supervised Release and Money Penalties
244 people (38%) were ordered to serve supervised release after prison, and the median term was 24 months. 18 (3%) were fined, and 4 (less than 1%) were ordered to pay restitution.
What the Guideline Is and Who Falls Under It
§2L2.2 carries the manual title "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 calls the offense type Immigration. The fiscal year ran from October 1, 2019 to September 30, 2020.
81% of the people were in criminal history category I, the lowest. 1% were in category VI, the highest. Court-martial records do not have a criminal history field, and the approved crosswalk offers no close court-martial counterpart. Military comparisons are left out of this post.
Fiscal Year 2020 in the Yearly Record
In fiscal year 2019, 962 people were sentenced under this guideline, with a median prison term of 3.5 months and 73% within the range. In fiscal year 2021, the count was 582, the median was 3.5 months, and 76% were within the range.
For the full period of fiscal years 2016 to 2025, the figures are 6,602 people, 87% sent to prison, a median prison term of 3.9 months, 98% guilty pleas, and 76% within the range. The table shows each year. The records cannot show what caused the changes in the number of cases, and they do not include acquittals or dismissals.
| 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 2020 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2L2.2 (642), 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)
- §2L2.2 Fraudulently Acquiring Documents Relating to Naturalization, Citizenship, or Legal Resident Status for Own Use: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- §2L2.2 Fraudulently Acquiring Documents Relating to Naturalization, Citizenship, or Legal Resident Status for Own Use: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2019 (previous or next fiscal year)
- §2L2.2 Fraudulently Acquiring Documents Relating to Naturalization, Citizenship, or Legal Resident Status for Own Use: 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.