> ## 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, FY2016–2025 - URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2n1-1-tampering-or-attempting-to-tamper-involving-risk/ - Published: 2026-11-03T01:40:04.000Z - Updated: 2026-11-03T01:40:04.000Z - Description: Most people sentenced under §2N1.1 in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 went to prison: 95 of 116 (82%). The median prison term was 26 months (2.2 years). Almost all pleaded guilty, 114 of 116 (98%). - 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 **In brief:** Most people sentenced under §2N1.1 in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 went to prison: 95 of 116 (82%). The median prison term was 26 months (2.2 years). Almost all pleaded guilty, 114 of 116 (98%). Updated November 2, 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 116 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal years 2016 to 2025\. 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/). ## What §2N1.1 Covers The Guidelines Manual titles §2N1.1 "Tampering or Attempting to Tamper Involving Risk of Death or Bodily Injury." From the title alone, it applies to tampering, or attempted tampering, where there is a risk of death or bodily injury. In fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 116 people were sentenced in federal court with §2N1.1 as the primary guideline. The Sentencing Commission puts these cases in the Food and Drug offense type. ## How Long Were Prison Terms? Prison was ordered for 95 people (82%), and 13 (11%) received probation only. The median prison term was 26 months, or 2.2 years. Prison terms varied: a quarter received 12 months or less, and a quarter received 48 months or more. These are imposed terms, not time served. ## Most Sentences Were Below the Range The guideline range is the span the Guidelines calculate for each case. Within the range were 6 sentences (5%). A sentence below the range without a government request applied to 65 people (56%), and below the range at the government's request to 43 (37%). In 2 cases (2%), the sentence was above the range. These figures show how often courts sentenced below the calculated range in these cases. They do not show the reasons. ## Pleas, Trials, and Mandatory Minimums Of the 116 people, 114 pleaded guilty and 2 were convicted after a trial. Among guilty pleas, 86% had a written plea agreement and 14% had none. The median prison term after a guilty plea was 24 months. After a trial it was 73.5 months, based on only 2 people, so the number says little by itself. A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 1 person (less than 1%). ## Supervised Release, Fines, and Restitution Supervised release after prison was ordered for 95 people (82%), with a median term of 36 months. A fine was ordered for 20 (17%). Restitution was ordered for 35 (30%). In criminal history, 86% were in the lowest category I, and less than 1% were in the highest (VI). ## Year-by-Year Results Fiscal years 2016 to 2019 had 33 people and a median prison term of 30 months. Fiscal years 2020 to 2025 had 83 people and a median of 24 months. The yearly medians vary: 46 months in 2020, 36 months in 2022 and 2023, then 13 months in 2024 and 12 months in 2025\. The number of people sentenced each year ranges from 4 to 19, so one year rests on few cases. | 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 Is Not in the Data Acquittals and dismissals are not in the Sentencing Commission data. The approved crosswalk lists no close court-martial counterpart for this guideline, so only federal numbers are given here. Whether any later change reflects a new pattern or only small counts cannot be told from these records. ### How We Counted Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2N1.1 (116), from the U.S. Sentencing Commission's 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) - [§2N2.1 Violations of Statutes and Regulations Dealing With Any Food, Drug, Biological Product, Device, Cosmetic, or Agricultural Product: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2n2-1-violations-of-statutes-and-regulations-dealing-with/) (same guideline chapter part) - [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.