> ## 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. # §2P1.2 Providing or Possessing Contraband in Prison: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2016 - URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2p1-2-providing-or-possessing-contraband-in-prison-fy2016/ - Published: 2026-11-04T10:25:01.000Z - Updated: 2026-11-04T10:25:01.000Z - Description: In fiscal year 2016, 107 of the 119 people sentenced under §2P1.2 (90%) received a prison term, with a median of 12 months. 72 people (61%) were sentenced within the guideline range. - Author: Jocelyn C. Stewart - Tags: Understanding Trends, Federal [Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/) › [Federal Prosecution Analysis](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal/) › [§2P1.2 Providing or Possessing Contraband in Prison](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2p1-2-providing-or-possessing-contraband-in-prison/) › §2P1.2: FY2016 **In brief:** In fiscal year 2016, 107 of the 119 people sentenced under §2P1.2 (90%) received a prison term, with a median of 12 months. 72 people (61%) were sentenced within the guideline range. 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 119 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2016\. 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/). ## 90% Were Sentenced to Prison 107 of the 119 people (90%) received a prison term. 9 (8%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement. The median prison term was 12 months. A quarter of those sent to prison received 20 months or more, and a quarter received 4 months or less. A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 1 of the 119 people with that information recorded (less than 1%). ## What §2P1.2 Is The Sentencing Guidelines Manual titles §2P1.2 "Providing or Possessing Contraband in Prison." The U.S. Sentencing Commission groups all 119 cases in its Prison Offenses type. Fiscal year 2016 ran from October 1, 2015 to September 30, 2016\. The numbers include only people who were convicted and sentenced. The primary guideline is the one that set the offense level for the most serious count. ## 30% in the Highest Criminal History Category 14% of the group were in the lowest criminal history category, and 30% were in the highest. Category I is the lowest federal category and category VI is the highest. The records summarized here do not show the categories in between. Court-martial records have no criminal history field. ## Guideline Range and Plea Details The Commission recorded the range position for all 119 people. 72 (61%) were within the range. 34 (29%) were below it at the government's request, and 7 (6%) were below it without a request. 6 (5%) were above it. For all guidelines in fiscal year 2016, 49% of sentences were within the range. 118 of the 119 people (more than 99%) pleaded guilty, and 1 person was convicted after a trial. That person received 30 months, and a single case cannot be compared with the 12-month median after a plea. 72% of guilty pleas had a written plea agreement, and 27% were straight pleas. ## Supervised Release, Fines, and Restitution 62 people (52%) were ordered to serve supervised release after prison, with a median term of 36 months. A fine was ordered for 13 (11%). No one (0 people) was ordered to pay restitution. ## Federal Totals and the Series 67,742 people were sentenced under all guidelines in fiscal year 2016\. The median prison term was 24 months, and 97% pleaded guilty. The §2P1.2 median was lower. From fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 1,552 people were sentenced under §2P1.2\. 93% were sent to prison, the median prison term was 9 months, 98% pleaded guilty, and 62% were within the range. In fiscal year 2017, 133 people were sentenced, with a median of 8 months and 64% within the range. The table lists every year. | Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty | | ----------- | ---------------- | ------------- | -------------- | | 2016 | 119 | 12 months | more than 99% | | 2017 | 133 | 8 months | more than 99% | | 2018 | 206 | 12 months | 97% | | 2019 | 250 | 6 months | 98% | | 2020 | 162 | 7.4 months | 97% | | 2021 | 198 | 6 months | 98% | | 2022 | 144 | 6 months | 98% | | 2023 | 97 | 12 months | 96% | | 2024 | 122 | 12 months | 95% | | 2025 | 121 | 12 months | more than 99% | ## Limits The approved crosswalk has no close court-martial counterpart for §2P1.2, so only federal numbers are given. The records do not describe what contraband was involved in any case, and the prison terms shown are terms imposed, not time served. ### How We Counted Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2016 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2P1.2 (119), 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](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) - [§2P1.2 Providing or Possessing Contraband in Prison: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2p1-2-providing-or-possessing-contraband-in-prison/) (overview) - [§2P1.2 Providing or Possessing Contraband in Prison: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2017](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2p1-2-providing-or-possessing-contraband-in-prison-fy2017/) (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.