§2P1.1 Escape, Instigating or Assisting Escape: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2020
In fiscal year 2020, the median prison term under §2P1.1 was 10 months for the 233 of 235 people sentenced to prison. The table shows 12 months for every other fiscal year from 2016 to 2025. 235 people were sentenced in all.
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › §2P1.1 Escape, Instigating or Assisting Escape › §2P1.1: FY2020
In brief: In fiscal year 2020, the median prison term under §2P1.1 was 10 months for the 233 of 235 people sentenced to prison. The table shows 12 months for every other fiscal year from 2016 to 2025. 235 people were sentenced in all.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 235 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 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.
A 10-Month Median in Fiscal Year 2020
Among the 233 people sent to prison, the median prison term was 10 months. A quarter received 15 months or more, and a quarter received 6 months or less. Fiscal year 2019 and fiscal year 2021 each had a median of 12 months.
The records cannot show why the median was 10 months in this year. With 235 people, the count is also smaller than in the years before and after, so no trend is claimed.
Pleas and Trials
A guilty plea was entered by 233 of 235 people (more than 99%), and 2 were convicted after a trial. The median prison term after a guilty plea was 10 months. After a trial it was 12 months, based on 1 person convicted at trial and sent to prison.
Among guilty pleas, 67% had a written plea agreement and 32% were straight pleas with no agreement. A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 1 of the 235 people with that information recorded (less than 1%).
Probation, Supervised Release, and Money Orders
One person (less than 1%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement. Supervised release after prison was ordered for 190 people (81%), with a median term of 36 months.
A fine was ordered for 2 people (less than 1%). Restitution was ordered for 0 (0%).
How the Sentences Compared With the Range
Of the 234 people with this information, 147 (63%) were sentenced within the guideline range. Below the range at the government's request: 20 (9%). Below the range without a government request: 63 (27%). Above the range: 4 (2%).
For all fiscal years 2016 to 2025 under §2P1.1, 66% of sentences were within the range. For everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2020, 50% were within the range.
The Guideline and the Counting Rules
The Sentencing Guidelines Manual titles §2P1.1 "Escape, Instigating or Assisting Escape." The Commission's offense type for the 235 cases is Prison Offenses. The fiscal year ran from October 1, 2019 to September 30, 2020. Only people who were convicted and sentenced are counted, and prison terms are those imposed, not time served.
Other Years and All Cases
Fiscal year 2019 had 298 people under this guideline, and fiscal year 2021 had 265. The table lists every year. Across 2016 to 2025, 2,807 people were sentenced under §2P1.1.
For every guideline in fiscal year 2020, there were 64,565 people, the median prison term was 18 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 What Is Missing
In this group, 34% were in the highest criminal history category (VI), and 3% in the lowest. Court-martial records have no criminal history field, and the approved crosswalk has no close court-martial counterpart for this guideline. The federal numbers are therefore reported on their own.
The data do not describe any individual escape or the reasons for a sentence.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2020 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2P1.1 (235), 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.
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 (the background article)
- Federal Prosecution Analysis (all federal posts)
- How the Federal Comparison Data Was Built (sources and method)
- §2P1.1 Escape, Instigating or Assisting Escape: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- §2P1.1 Escape, Instigating or Assisting Escape: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2019 (previous or next fiscal year)
- §2P1.1 Escape, Instigating or Assisting Escape: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2021 (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.