> ## 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 2021 - URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2p1-2-providing-or-possessing-contraband-in-prison-fy2021/ - Published: 2026-11-04T10:25:06.000Z - Updated: 2026-11-04T10:25:05.000Z - Description: Under §2P1.2, "Providing or Possessing Contraband in Prison," 198 people were sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2021. Of those, 184 (93%) received prison, and the median prison term was 6 months. 195 (98%) pleaded guilty, and 62% of the guilty pleas had no written plea agreement. - 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: FY2021 **In brief:** Under §2P1.2, "Providing or Possessing Contraband in Prison," 198 people were sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2021\. Of those, 184 (93%) received prison, and the median prison term was 6 months. 195 (98%) pleaded guilty, and 62% of the guilty pleas had no written plea agreement. 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 198 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2021\. 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/). ## Supervised Release Followed Prison for 24% In fiscal year 2021, 47 of the 198 people (24%) were ordered to serve supervised release after prison. The median term for them was 36 months. Supervised release was therefore ordered less often than not in this group. Fines were ordered for 3 people (2%), and restitution for 0 (0%). Neither was a common part of these sentences. ## Prison Terms and Probation 184 of the 198 people (93%) were sentenced to prison. 10 (5%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement. The median prison term among those sent to prison was 6 months. A quarter received 18 months or more. A quarter received 3 months or less. The terms are imposed terms, not time served. ## Most Pleas Had No Written Agreement 195 of 198 people (98%) pleaded guilty, and 3 were convicted after a trial. Of the guilty pleas, 62% were straight pleas with no agreement and 38% had a written plea agreement. The median prison term was 6 months after a guilty plea and 13 months after a trial. Only 3 people were convicted at trial and sent to prison, so the trial median is a very small base. A mandatory minimum applied to 0 of the 196 people with that information recorded. ## Position Against the Guideline Range Range information was available for 195 people. 67% (130) were sentenced within the range. Another 16% (31) were below it without a government request, and 12% (24) were below it at the government's request. 5% (10) were above it. Across every guideline in fiscal year 2021, 43% of sentences were within the range, so the share under §2P1.2 was higher. ## Criminal History 7% of the group were in criminal history category I, the lowest, and 25% were in category VI, the highest. Court-martial records have no equivalent field. ## How This Year Sits Within 2016 to 2025 The U.S. Sentencing Commission assigns each person to a primary guideline, the one that set the offense level for the most serious count. Fiscal year 2021 began on October 1, 2020 and ended on September 30, 2021\. All 198 cases were in the Prison Offenses category. Only convicted and sentenced people are counted. The year before had 162 people and a median of 7.4 months. The year after had 144 people and a median of 6 months. Over all of fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 1,552 people were sentenced under §2P1.2, the median was 9 months, and 98% pleaded guilty. Everyone sentenced under all guidelines in 2021 numbered 57,287, with a median prison term of 29 months. | 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% | ## What Cannot Be Read From the Numbers The data cannot show what was involved in each case or why supervised release was ordered less often. No close court-martial counterpart exists in the approved crosswalk, so only the federal numbers are given. ### How We Counted Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2021 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2P1.2 (198), 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) - [§2P1.2 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 2020](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2p1-2-providing-or-possessing-contraband-in-prison-fy2020/) (previous or next fiscal year) - [§2P1.2 Providing or Possessing Contraband in Prison: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2022](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2p1-2-providing-or-possessing-contraband-in-prison-fy2022/) (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.