> ## 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. # §2N1.1 Tampering or Attempting to Tamper Involving Risk of Death or Bodily Injury: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2020 - URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2n1-1-tampering-or-attempting-to-tamper-involving-risk-fy2020/ - Published: 2026-11-04T10:58:29.000Z - Updated: 2026-11-04T10:58:29.000Z - Description: In fiscal year 2020, the median prison term under §2N1.1 was 46 months (3.8 years), the highest median in the yearly table. 13 people were sentenced, 10 (77%) received prison, and all 13 pleaded guilty. Only 1 sentence (8%) was within the guideline range. - Author: Jocelyn C. Stewart - Tags: Understanding Trends, Federal [Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/) › [Federal Prosecution Analysis](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal/) › [§2N1.1 Tampering or Attempting to Tamper Involving Risk of D](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2n1-1-tampering-or-attempting-to-tamper-involving-risk/) › §2N1.1: FY2020 **In brief:** In fiscal year 2020, the median prison term under §2N1.1 was 46 months (3.8 years), the highest median in the yearly table. 13 people were sentenced, 10 (77%) received prison, and all 13 pleaded guilty. Only 1 sentence (8%) was within the guideline range. 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 13 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](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/). ## A Median Prison Term of 46 Months The yearly table for §2N1.1 has its highest median in fiscal year 2020\. Among the 10 people sent to prison, the median prison term was 46 months, or 3.8 years. A quarter received 53.2 months or more, and a quarter received 33.2 months or less. Fiscal year 2019 had a median of 36 months and fiscal year 2021 had a median of 24 months. For fiscal years 2016 to 2025 together, the median was 26 months. ## Who Went to Prison and Who Did Not 13 people were sentenced in fiscal year 2020 with §2N1.1 as the primary guideline. 10 (77%) received a prison term, and 2 (15%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement. 10 people (77%) were ordered to serve supervised release after prison, with a median term of 36 months. A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 0 of the 13 people. ## Almost All Sentences Were Below the Range 1 of the 13 sentences (8%) was within the guideline range. 3 (23%) were below it at the government's request, and 9 (69%) were below it without a government request. None was above the range. In fiscal year 2019, 0% were within the range, and in fiscal year 2021, 0% were. The share for all years from 2016 to 2025 was 5%. ## Guilty Pleas All 13 people (100%) pleaded guilty, and none went to trial. 85% of the guilty pleas had a written plea agreement and 15% were straight pleas. Because the data counts only people who were convicted and sentenced, it says nothing about charges that ended in acquittal or dismissal. ## Fines, Restitution, and Criminal History A fine was ordered for 1 person (8%), and restitution for 4 (31%). In criminal history, 85% of the people were in the lowest category, category I, and 0% were in the highest, category VI. Court-martial records have no criminal history field. ## Comparison With All Federal Sentences in 2020 Fiscal year 2020 ran from October 1, 2019 to September 30, 2020\. For all guidelines, 64,565 people were sentenced. The median prison term was 18 months, 98% pleaded guilty, and 50% of sentences were within the range. Across fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 116 people were sentenced under §2N1.1, 82% were sent to prison, and 98% pleaded guilty. The table shows each year, from 4 people in fiscal year 2016 to 19 in fiscal year 2023. | 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 Remains Unknown The guideline's Manual title is "Tampering or Attempting to Tamper Involving Risk of Death or Bodily Injury," and its offense type in the Commission's data is Food and Drug. The records do not describe the conduct in any case or explain the median. A group of 13 is small. The crosswalk has no close court-martial counterpart for this guideline, so only federal numbers are given. ### How We Counted Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2020 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2N1.1 (13), 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. ## 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) - [§2N1.1 Tampering or Attempting to Tamper Involving Risk of Death or Bodily Injury: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2n1-1-tampering-or-attempting-to-tamper-involving-risk/) (overview) - [§2N1.1 Tampering or Attempting to Tamper Involving Risk of Death or Bodily Injury: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2019](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2n1-1-tampering-or-attempting-to-tamper-involving-risk-fy2019/) (previous or next fiscal year) - [§2N1.1 Tampering or Attempting to Tamper Involving Risk of Death or Bodily Injury: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2021](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2n1-1-tampering-or-attempting-to-tamper-involving-risk-fy2021/) (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.