> ## 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. # §2N2.1 Violations of Statutes and Regulations Dealing With Any Food, Drug, Biological Product, Device, Cosmetic, or Agricultural Product: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2023 - URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2n2-1-violations-of-statutes-and-regulations-dealing-with-fy2023/ - Published: 2026-11-04T10:30:28.000Z - Updated: 2026-11-04T10:30:28.000Z - Description: Fines were ordered for 17 of the 25 people (68%) sentenced under guideline §2N2.1 in fiscal year 2023, which was a more common outcome than prison. Prison went to 4 people (16%), with a median prison term of 0.5 months. Probation only went to 19 people (76%). - Author: Jocelyn C. Stewart - Tags: Understanding Trends, Federal [Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/) › [Federal Prosecution Analysis](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal/) › [§2N2.1 Violations of Statutes and Regulations Dealing With A](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2n2-1-violations-of-statutes-and-regulations-dealing-with/) › §2N2.1: FY2023 **In brief:** Fines were ordered for 17 of the 25 people (68%) sentenced under guideline §2N2.1 in fiscal year 2023, which was a more common outcome than prison. Prison went to 4 people (16%), with a median prison term of 0.5 months. Probation only went to 19 people (76%). 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 25 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](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/). ## Fines and Restitution in Fiscal Year 2023 The U.S. Sentencing Commission counted 25 people sentenced in fiscal year 2023 with §2N2.1 as the primary guideline. A fine was ordered for 17 of them (68%). Restitution was ordered for 4 (16%). These financial orders were recorded alongside the main sentence. Most people in this group received probation only, and fines were common in this group. The data does not say which sentences included a fine. ## Prison and Probation Probation only, with no prison or other confinement, was the sentence for 19 of the 25 people (76%). Prison went to 4 people (16%). The median prison term among those 4 people was 0.5 months. A quarter received 2.2 months or more, and a quarter received 0 months or less. Terms this short are the terms imposed by the court, not the time served. Supervised release after prison was ordered for 1 person (4%), with a term of 12 months. Across all fiscal years 2016 to 2025 under this guideline, 15% of people were sent to prison and the median prison term was 4 months. ## All 25 Pleaded Guilty All 25 people (100%) pleaded guilty, and 0 were convicted after a trial. Every guilty plea (100%) had a written plea agreement. A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 0 of the 25 people (0%). The Commission's files count only people who were convicted and sentenced, so acquittals and dismissals are missing from every number here. ## Sentences Within the Guideline Range Within the guideline range were 23 of the 25 sentences (92%). One sentence (4%) was below the range at the government's request, and 1 (4%) was above the range. None (0%) was below the range without a government request. The 92% is about the same as the 93% for all fiscal years 2016 to 2025 under §2N2.1\. For everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2023, under every guideline, the within-range share was 42%. ## Guideline Title, Offense Type, and Criminal History The Manual title of §2N2.1 is "Violations of Statutes and Regulations Dealing With Any Food, Drug, Biological Product, Device, Cosmetic, or Agricultural Product." The Commission's offense type for the 25 cases is Food and Drug. In criminal history, 96% were in the lowest category, Category I, and 0% were in the highest, Category VI. Court-martial records have no criminal history field. Fiscal year 2023 ran from October 1, 2022 to September 30, 2023. ## Comparison With Fiscal Years 2022 and 2024 In fiscal year 2022, 21 people were sentenced under §2N2.1, and the median prison term was 4 months. In fiscal year 2024, 22 people were sentenced, and the median prison term was 18 months. The 0.5 months in fiscal year 2023 is lower than both. Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2023, under every guideline, totaled 64,124 people. Their median prison term was 30 months, and 97% pleaded guilty. The table gives the counts and medians for each fiscal year from 2016 to 2025. | Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty | | ----------- | ---------------- | ------------- | -------------- | | 2016 | 43 | 1 months | 100% | | 2017 | 28 | 30 months | 100% | | 2018 | 28 | 2.5 months | 100% | | 2019 | 28 | 9 months | 96% | | 2020 | 17 | 36 months | 88% | | 2021 | 26 | 1.2 months | 92% | | 2022 | 21 | 4 months | 95% | | 2023 | 25 | 0.5 months | 100% | | 2024 | 22 | 18 months | 100% | | 2025 | 26 | n/a | 100% | ## What a Median of 0.5 Months Does Not Show A median this low rests on 4 sentences. The data does not show how long any person actually spent in custody, what any case involved, or why courts chose probation for most. No close court-martial counterpart for this guideline appears in the approved crosswalk, so only federal numbers are reported here. ### How We Counted Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2023 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2N2.1 (25), 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) - [§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/) (overview) - [§2N2.1 Violations of Statutes and Regulations Dealing With Any Food, Drug, Biological Product, Device, Cosmetic, or Agricultural Product: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2022](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2n2-1-violations-of-statutes-and-regulations-dealing-with-fy2022/) (previous or next fiscal year) - [§2N2.1 Violations of Statutes and Regulations Dealing With Any Food, Drug, Biological Product, Device, Cosmetic, or Agricultural Product: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2024](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2n2-1-violations-of-statutes-and-regulations-dealing-with-fy2024/) (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.