§2N1.1 Tampering or Attempting to Tamper Involving Risk of Death or Bodily Injury: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2018
In fiscal year 2018, 10 people were sentenced under §2N1.1, and only 1 sentence (10%) was within the guideline range. 9 sentences were below it: 3 (30%) at the government's request and 6 (60%) without one. 8 of the 10 people (80%) received prison, with a median of 30 months.
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › §2N1.1 Tampering or Attempting to Tamper Involving Risk of D › §2N1.1: FY2018
In brief: In fiscal year 2018, 10 people were sentenced under §2N1.1, and only 1 sentence (10%) was within the guideline range. 9 sentences were below it: 3 (30%) at the government's request and 6 (60%) without one. 8 of the 10 people (80%) received prison, with a median of 30 months.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 10 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2018. 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.
Sentences Below the Range Were the Rule in 2018
The U.S. Sentencing Commission recorded 10 people sentenced in fiscal year 2018 with §2N1.1 as the primary guideline. The Guidelines Manual titles it "Tampering or Attempting to Tamper Involving Risk of Death or Bodily Injury." The Commission places these cases in its Food and Drug offense type.
Only 1 of the 10 sentences (10%) was within the guideline range. 3 (30%) were below the range at the government's request, and 6 (60%) were below it without a government request. None was above the range.
Across fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 5% of sentences under this guideline were within the range. The next year, fiscal year 2019, had 0% within the range.
How Much Prison Time Was Imposed
8 of the 10 people (80%) received a prison term, and 1 (10%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement. The median prison term among those sent to prison was 30 months, or 2.5 years.
A quarter of them received 37.5 months or more, and a quarter received 21.5 months or less. 8 people (80%) were ordered to serve supervised release after prison, with a median term of 36 months. A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 1 of the 10 people (10%).
One Trial Conviction and 9 Guilty Pleas
9 of the 10 people (90%) pleaded guilty, and 1 was convicted after a trial. The median prison term after a guilty plea was 30 months. The person convicted after a trial received 111 months.
One trial result cannot show how trial and plea sentences generally compare. Among the 9 guilty pleas, 8 had a written plea agreement and 1 was a straight plea.
Only people who were convicted and sentenced appear in this data.
Money Orders and Criminal History
A fine was ordered for 4 people (40%), and restitution for 5 (50%). All 10 people (100%) were in the lowest criminal history category, category I. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.
Placing 2018 in the Yearly Table and Among All Cases
Fiscal year 2018 ran from October 1, 2017 to September 30, 2018. The table shows 8 people in fiscal year 2017 with a median of 20 months, and 11 people in fiscal year 2019 with a median of 36 months.
For fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 116 people were sentenced under §2N1.1. 82% were sent to prison, the median prison term was 26 months, and 98% pleaded guilty. The 2018 median of 30 months was higher than 26 months.
For all guidelines in fiscal year 2018, 69,425 people were sentenced. The median prison term was 24 months, 97% pleaded guilty, and 51% of sentences were within the range. The share within the range under §2N1.1 was far lower than that.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 4 | 21 months | 4 of 4 |
| 2017 | 8 | 20 months | 8 of 8 |
| 2018 | 10 | 30 months | 90% |
| 2019 | 11 | 36 months | 100% |
| 2020 | 13 | 46 months | 100% |
| 2021 | 15 | 24 months | 100% |
| 2022 | 14 | 36 months | 93% |
| 2023 | 19 | 36 months | 100% |
| 2024 | 10 | 13 months | 100% |
| 2025 | 12 | 12 months | 100% |
What the Records Do Not Explain
The records do not say why so many sentences were below the range or what the conduct was in any case. Only 10 people are in this year, so the numbers should not be read as a trend.
The crosswalk has no close court-martial counterpart for this guideline, so the post reports federal numbers on their own.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2018 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2N1.1 (10), 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)
- §2N1.1 Tampering or Attempting to Tamper Involving Risk of Death or Bodily Injury: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- §2N1.1 Tampering or Attempting to Tamper Involving Risk of Death or Bodily Injury: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2019 (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.