§2P1.1 Escape, Instigating or Assisting Escape: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025
Federal courts sentenced 2,807 people under §2P1.1, the escape guideline, in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. 99% received prison, and the median prison term was 12 months. Only 13 people were convicted after a trial.
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In brief: Federal courts sentenced 2,807 people under §2P1.1, the escape guideline, in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. 99% received prison, and the median prison term was 12 months. Only 13 people were convicted after a trial.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 2,807 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 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.
An Escape Guideline With a Steady Median
The Sentencing Guidelines Manual titles §2P1.1 "Escape, Instigating or Assisting Escape." The median prison term was 12 months in the full period and in both of its halves. By year it was 12 months in every fiscal year except 2020, when it was 10 months.
Fiscal years 2016 to 2019 had 1,184 people sentenced, and fiscal years 2020 to 2025 had 1,623. The yearly count ranged from 235 in 2020 to 321 in 2017. The count was 264 in 2016 and 253 in 2025. The share who pleaded guilty was 100% in 2017, 2018, and 2024, and 98% in 2019. In the other years it was more than 99%. The records do not show why the count was lowest in 2020.
| 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% |
Prison Terms and Probation
2,772 of 2,807 people (99%) received a prison term. 22 (less than 1%) received probation only. A quarter of the prison terms were 16.6 months or more, and a quarter were 6 months or less. Probation only means that no prison or other confinement was ordered. Both outcomes are rare here, since nearly every person sentenced under this guideline received a prison term.
Almost Every Case Ended in a Guilty Plea
2,794 people (more than 99%) pleaded guilty, and 13 were convicted after a trial. Of the guilty pleas, 63% had a written plea agreement, and 37% were straight pleas.
The median prison term after a guilty plea was 12 months. After a trial it was 30 months, but that figure rests on 12 people. A group that small cannot support a firm comparison, and the records do not show whether those cases were alike. The plea figure covers nearly everyone in the data. The median is the middle prison term when all terms are put in order.
Mandatory Minimums and the Range
A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 2 people, which is less than 1%. A mandatory minimum is a prison term the law requires at least, so it set the floor for almost none of the sentences in this group. Of 2,803 cases with the information, 66% (1,859) were within the guideline range. 10% (281) were below it at the government's request, and 20% (566) were below it without a government request. 3% (97) were above the range.
Supervised Release and Other Orders
Supervised release was ordered for 2,241 people (80%), with a median term of 36 months. A fine was ordered for 83 (3%), and restitution for 17 (less than 1%).
Prior Records
Criminal history was concentrated in the highest category: 34% of people were in it, and 2% were in the lowest. Court-martial records have no criminal history field, so no military comparison is possible on this point. The federal figure shows that a large share of the people sentenced had the most extensive prior records the categories record. It does not show what those records contained.
What Is Missing
The approved crosswalk has no close court-martial counterpart for this guideline. The records do not show the circumstances of any escape, and they report the term imposed, not time served.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2P1.1 (2,807), 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 (the background article)
- Federal Prosecution Analysis (all federal posts)
- How the Federal Comparison Data Was Built (sources and method)
- §2P1.2 Providing or Possessing Contraband in Prison: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025 (same guideline chapter part)
- §2P1.3 Engaging In, Inciting or Attempting to Incite a Riot Involving Persons in a Facility for Official Detention: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025 (same guideline chapter part)
- 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.