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# §2P1.1 Escape, Instigating or Assisting Escape: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2019
- URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2p1-1-escape-instigating-or-assisting-escape-fy2019/
- Published: 2026-11-04T10:07:05.000Z
- Updated: 2026-11-04T10:07:05.000Z
- Description: In fiscal year 2019, 298 people were sentenced in federal court under §2P1.1. 5 were convicted after a trial, and their median prison term was 41 months. The median after a guilty plea, which 293 people (98%) entered, was 12 months.
- Author: Jocelyn C. Stewart
- Tags: Understanding Trends, Federal

[Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/) › [Federal Prosecution Analysis](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal/) › [§2P1.1 Escape, Instigating or Assisting Escape](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2p1-1-escape-instigating-or-assisting-escape/) › §2P1.1: FY2019

**In brief:** In fiscal year 2019, 298 people were sentenced in federal court under §2P1.1\. 5 were convicted after a trial, and their median prison term was 41 months. The median after a guilty plea, which 293 people (98%) entered, was 12 months.

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 298 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2019\. 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/).

## The 5 Trial Convictions and the 293 Guilty Pleas

Of the 298 people, 293 (98%) pleaded guilty and 5 were convicted after a trial. The median prison term after a trial was 41 months. After a guilty plea it was 12 months.

The trial figure rests on 5 people sent to prison, which is a very small group. It should not be read as a general rule for trials under this guideline. Among guilty pleas, 61% had a written plea agreement and 39% were straight pleas with no agreement.

## Overall Prison Terms

A prison term was given to 295 of the 298 people (99%), and 3 (1%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement. The median prison term for all those sent to prison was 12 months.

A quarter received 15 months or more, and a quarter received 6 months or less. No mandatory minimum applied to any of the 298 people with that information recorded.

## Guideline Range Results

A total of 196 sentences (66%) were within the range. Below the range at the government's request: 25 (8%). Below the range without a government request: 66 (22%). Above the range: 11 (4%).

For all fiscal years 2016 to 2025 under this guideline, 66% of sentences were within the range. For everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2019, 51% were within the range.

## What the Guideline Covers

The Sentencing Guidelines Manual gives §2P1.1 the title "Escape, Instigating or Assisting Escape." The Commission's offense type for these 298 cases is Prison Offenses. The fiscal year ran from October 1, 2018 to September 30, 2019, and the data include only people convicted and sentenced.

## Supervised Release, Fines, and Restitution

Supervised release after prison was ordered for 242 people (81%). The median term was 36 months. A fine was ordered for 7 (2%), and restitution for 4 (1%).

## Neighboring Years

Fiscal year 2018 had 301 people under this guideline and fiscal year 2020 had 235\. The median prison term was 12 months in 2018 and 10 months in 2020\. The table gives each year from 2016 to 2025.

In fiscal year 2019 across every guideline, there were 76,538 people, the median prison term was 21 months, and 98% pleaded guilty.

| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
| ----------- | ---------------- | ------------- | -------------- |
| 2016        | 264              | 12 months     | more than 99%  |
| 2017        | 321              | 12 months     | 100%           |
| 2018        | 301              | 12 months     | 100%           |
| 2019        | 298              | 12 months     | 98%            |
| 2020        | 235              | 10 months     | more than 99%  |
| 2021        | 265              | 12 months     | more than 99%  |
| 2022        | 280              | 12 months     | more than 99%  |
| 2023        | 303              | 12 months     | more than 99%  |
| 2024        | 287              | 12 months     | 100%           |
| 2025        | 253              | 12 months     | more than 99%  |

## Criminal History and the Military Crosswalk

In this group, 35% were in the highest criminal history category (VI), and 1% were in the lowest. Court-martial records have no criminal history field. The approved crosswalk has no close court-martial counterpart for this guideline, so this post gives federal numbers alone.

The records do not show the facts of any escape or the reasons for any sentence. They also cannot show why one year differs from another.

### How We Counted

Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2019 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2P1.1 (298), 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)
- [§2P1.1 Escape, Instigating or Assisting Escape: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2p1-1-escape-instigating-or-assisting-escape/) (overview)
- [§2P1.1 Escape, Instigating or Assisting Escape: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2018](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2p1-1-escape-instigating-or-assisting-escape-fy2018/) (previous or next fiscal year)
- [§2P1.1 Escape, Instigating or Assisting Escape: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2020](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2p1-1-escape-instigating-or-assisting-escape-fy2020/) (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.