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# §2L2.2 Fraudulently Acquiring Documents Relating to Naturalization, Citizenship, or Legal Resident Status for Own Use: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2024
- URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2l2-2-fraudulently-acquiring-documents-relating-to-naturalization-citizenship-fy2024/
- Published: 2026-11-04T10:23:57.000Z
- Updated: 2026-11-04T10:23:57.000Z
- Description: Fiscal year 2024 had 394 people sentenced under §2L2.2, the smallest count in the yearly table. 70% were ordered to serve supervised release, 20% were sentenced above the guideline range, and the median prison term was 4.2 months.
- 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: FY2024

**In brief:** Fiscal year 2024 had 394 people sentenced under §2L2.2, the smallest count in the yearly table. 70% were ordered to serve supervised release, 20% were sentenced above the guideline range, and the median prison term was 4.2 months.

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 394 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2024\. 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/).

## The Smallest Group in the Yearly Table

The U.S. Sentencing Commission recorded 394 people sentenced under §2L2.2 in fiscal year 2024\. That is the lowest count among fiscal years 2016 to 2025 in the table. The previous year, 2023, had 437 people. The next year, 2025, had 529.

The fiscal year ran from October 1, 2023 to September 30, 2024\. The records do not show why fewer people were sentenced under this guideline in this year.

## Supervised Release Was Common

277 of the 394 people (70%) were ordered to serve supervised release after prison, and the median term was 36 months. 12 people (3%) were fined. Restitution was ordered for 8 (2%).

A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 14 of the 394 people (4%).

## Sentences Above the Range

All 394 people had guideline range information. 297 (75%) were sentenced within the range. 77 (20%) were sentenced above it. 18 (5%) were below it without a government request, and 2 (less than 1%) were below it at the government's request.

Across all federal cases in fiscal year 2024, 46% of sentences were within the range. Sentences inside the range were more common under this guideline. In fiscal year 2025, the within-range share under this guideline was 88%.

## Prison Terms and Probation

350 people (89%) received a prison term, and 36 (9%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement. The median prison term was 4.2 months. A quarter received 8 months or more, and a quarter received 1.8 months or less.

The median for all 61,678 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2024 was 30 months. That group includes all kinds of offenses. All figures are terms imposed.

## Pleas and Trials

385 people (98%) pleaded guilty, and 9 were convicted after a trial. For federal cases overall, 97% pleaded guilty. The median prison term was 4.1 months after a guilty plea and 34 months after a trial. The trial median is based on 8 people, which is too few to describe trials in general.

26% of the guilty pleas had a written plea agreement, and 72% were straight pleas with no agreement.

## Guideline Title, Criminal History, and Military Comparison

The Guidelines Manual names §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 offense type is Immigration.

89% of the people were in criminal history category I, and 2% were in category VI. Court-martial records have no criminal history field. The crosswalk assigns no close court-martial counterpart to this guideline, so this post makes no military comparison.

## Fiscal Year 2024 and the Whole Period

In fiscal year 2023, the median prison term was 4.2 months and 73% were 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. Acquittals and dismissals are not part of these records.

| 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 2024 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2L2.2 (394), 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 2023](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2l2-2-fraudulently-acquiring-documents-relating-to-naturalization-citizenship-fy2023/) (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 2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2l2-2-fraudulently-acquiring-documents-relating-to-naturalization-citizenship-fy2025/) (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.