§2P1.2 Providing or Possessing Contraband in Prison: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2022
Of the 144 people sentenced under §2P1.2, "Providing or Possessing Contraband in Prison," in fiscal year 2022, 11 (8%) received probation only. 132 (92%) were sent to prison, with a median prison term of 6 months. 141 (98%) pleaded guilty.
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › §2P1.2 Providing or Possessing Contraband in Prison › §2P1.2: FY2022
In brief: Of the 144 people sentenced under §2P1.2, "Providing or Possessing Contraband in Prison," in fiscal year 2022, 11 (8%) received probation only. 132 (92%) were sent to prison, with a median prison term of 6 months. 141 (98%) pleaded guilty.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 144 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2022. 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.
Probation Only for 11 People
Probation without any prison or other confinement was the sentence for 11 of the 144 people, or 8%. The remaining 132 (92%) received a prison term.
Among those 132, the median prison term was 6 months. A quarter were sentenced to 15 months or more. A quarter were sentenced to 3 months or less. All of these are imposed terms. None is a measure of time served.
What This Count Includes
The U.S. Sentencing Commission counted 144 people in fiscal year 2022 whose primary guideline was §2P1.2. The primary guideline is the one that set the offense level for the most serious count. The fiscal year began on October 1, 2021 and ended on September 30, 2022.
Only people who were convicted and sentenced are included. The Commission placed these cases in its Prison Offenses category.
Pleas, Trials, and the Trial Median
141 people pleaded guilty and 3 were convicted after a trial. Prison terms had a median of 6 months after a guilty plea and 36 months after a trial.
The trial median reflects 3 people. With a group that size, one case can decide the number, so it should not be read as how trials generally end. Of the guilty pleas, 55% included a written plea agreement and 45% did not.
No mandatory minimum applied to any of the 144 people with that information recorded (0%).
Guideline Range Results
Range information existed for 143 people. 66% (95) received a sentence within the guideline range. 18% (26) were below it at the government's request, and 13% (18) were below it with no government request. 3% (4) were above the range.
The share within the range among all federal sentences in 2022 was 42%, which is lower than the 66% here.
Fines, Restitution, Supervised Release, and Criminal History
A fine was ordered for 12 people (8%), and restitution for 2 (1%). Supervised release after prison applied to 56 people (39%), with a median term of 36 months.
15% of the group were in criminal history category I, the lowest, and 26% were in category VI, the highest. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.
The Years Around 2022
In fiscal year 2021 there were 198 people under this guideline, with a median of 6 months and 67% within the range. In fiscal year 2023 there were 97 people, with a median of 12 months and 51% within the range. The count for 2022 is in between, and the table lists every year.
For fiscal years 2016 to 2025 together, 1,552 people were sentenced under §2P1.2. The median prison term was 9 months, 93% went to prison, 98% pleaded guilty, and 62% were within the range.
All guidelines combined in 2022 covered 64,142 people with a median prison term of 30 months and 97% guilty pleas.
| 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 of This Post
The records do not show why some people received probation only or what conduct each case involved. The approved crosswalk offers no close court-martial counterpart, so the numbers stand alone.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2022 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2P1.2 (144), 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 (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 (overview)
- §2P1.2 Providing or Possessing Contraband in Prison: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2021 (previous or next fiscal year)
- §2P1.2 Providing or Possessing Contraband in Prison: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2023 (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.