§2N1.1 Tampering or Attempting to Tamper Involving Risk of Death or Bodily Injury: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2023
Fiscal year 2023 had 19 people sentenced under §2N1.1, the largest count in the yearly table. 16 (84%) received prison, with a median of 36 months, and all 19 pleaded guilty. 8 sentences (42%) were below the guideline range at the government's request.
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › §2N1.1 Tampering or Attempting to Tamper Involving Risk of D › §2N1.1: FY2023
In brief: Fiscal year 2023 had 19 people sentenced under §2N1.1, the largest count in the yearly table. 16 (84%) received prison, with a median of 36 months, and all 19 pleaded guilty. 8 sentences (42%) were below the guideline range at the government's request.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 19 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2023. 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.
The Largest Group of Any Year: 19 People
The U.S. Sentencing Commission counted 19 people in fiscal year 2023 whose primary guideline was §2N1.1. No other year in the table has more. Fiscal year 2022 had 14 and fiscal year 2024 had 10.
16 of the 19 (84%) received a prison term, and 2 (11%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement. The median prison term was 36 months, or 3 years. A quarter received 48 months or more, and a quarter received 17.2 months or less.
Below-Range Sentences With and Without a Government Request
None of the 19 sentences (0%) was within the guideline range, and none was above it. 8 (42%) were below the range at the government's request. 11 (58%) were below it without a government request.
Fiscal year 2022 had 14% of sentences within the range, and fiscal year 2024 had 0%. Across all years from 2016 to 2025, 5% were within the range.
Pleas and Plea Agreements
19 of 19 people (100%) pleaded guilty, and nobody was convicted after a trial. 89% of the guilty pleas had a written plea agreement and 11% were straight pleas.
No mandatory minimum prison term applied to any of the 19 people. The data holds only convicted and sentenced people.
Supervised Release, Fines, and Restitution
16 people (84%) were ordered to serve supervised release after prison, with a median term of 36 months. A fine was ordered for 5 (26%), and restitution for 6 (32%).
79% of the people were in the lowest criminal history category, category I, and 0% were in the highest, category VI. Court-martial records have no criminal history field to match.
How 2023 Fits With the Full Period
Fiscal year 2023 ran from October 1, 2022 to September 30, 2023. From fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 116 people were sentenced under §2N1.1. 82% were sent to prison, the median prison term was 26 months, 98% pleaded guilty, and 5% of sentences were within the range. The 2023 median was higher than 26 months.
For all guidelines in fiscal year 2023, 64,124 people were sentenced. The median prison term was 30 months, 97% pleaded guilty, and 42% of sentences were within the range.
The table shows the next year, fiscal year 2024, with a median of 13 months.
| 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% |
Limits of the Numbers
The guideline's Manual title is "Tampering or Attempting to Tamper Involving Risk of Death or Bodily Injury." The Commission files these cases under Food and Drug. The records give no facts about any case and no reasons for the below-range sentences. A group of 19 is still small, so one year should not be read as a trend.
No close court-martial counterpart exists in the crosswalk, so the post covers federal numbers only.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2023 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2N1.1 (19), 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 (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 2022 (previous or next fiscal year)
- §2N1.1 Tampering or Attempting to Tamper Involving Risk of Death or Bodily Injury: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2024 (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.