§2P1.2 Providing or Possessing Contraband in Prison: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2023
In fiscal year 2023, 97 people were sentenced in federal court under §2P1.2, "Providing or Possessing Contraband in Prison." 51% were sentenced within the guideline range, and 34% were sentenced below it at the government's request. The median prison term was 12 months.
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › §2P1.2 Providing or Possessing Contraband in Prison › §2P1.2: FY2023
In brief: In fiscal year 2023, 97 people were sentenced in federal court under §2P1.2, "Providing or Possessing Contraband in Prison." 51% were sentenced within the guideline range, and 34% were sentenced below it at the government's request. The median prison term was 12 months.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 97 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2023. 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.
Government-Requested Reductions Were Common in 2023
The Commission had range information for all 97 people. 49 (51%) received a sentence within the guideline range. 33 (34%) received a sentence below the range at the government's request. Another 10 (10%) were below the range without such a request, and 5 (5%) were above it.
In 2022 the within-range share was 66%, and in 2024 it was 48%. Across all of fiscal years 2016 to 2025 under §2P1.2, it was 62%.
Written Agreements Covered 75% of Guilty Pleas
93 of the 97 people (96%) pleaded guilty, and 4 were convicted after a trial. Among the guilty pleas, 75% had a written plea agreement and 25% were straight pleas.
The median prison term was 12 months after a guilty plea and 14 months after a trial. The trial figure covers 4 people, which is a small group. A mandatory minimum applied to 2 of the 97 (2%).
Prison Terms
89 of the 97 people (92%) received prison, and 6 (6%) received probation only with no prison or other confinement. The median prison term was 12 months. A quarter received 20 months or more, and a quarter received 12 months or less.
These are the terms imposed by courts. They are not the time served.
Supervised Release, Fines, and Restitution
42 people (43%) were ordered to serve supervised release, with a median term of 36 months. A fine was ordered for 5 (5%), and restitution for 1 (1%).
Criminal History
15% of the people were in criminal history category I, the lowest, and 28% were in category VI, the highest. A court-martial record has no field for criminal history.
The 2023 Group Within the 2016 to 2025 Data
The group is defined by primary guideline, meaning the guideline that set the offense level for the most serious count. Fiscal year 2023 ran from October 1, 2022 to September 30, 2023. The Commission placed all 97 cases in its Prison Offenses category, and counts only people convicted and sentenced.
In fiscal year 2022 there were 144 people with a median of 6 months. In fiscal year 2024 there were 122 people with a median of 12 months. The table gives each year from 2016 to 2025. Across the full period, 1,552 people were sentenced, 93% went to prison, and the median was 9 months.
For all guidelines in 2023, 64,124 people were sentenced, the median prison term was 30 months, and 42% were within the range.
| 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 One Year Cannot Establish
A count of 97 people is small, and a single year is not a trend. The records cannot show why the share of reductions requested by the government was higher in 2023 or what conduct was involved. The crosswalk lists no close court-martial counterpart, so only federal numbers are reported.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2023 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2P1.2 (97), 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)
- §2P1.2 Providing or Possessing Contraband in Prison: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- §2P1.2 Providing or Possessing Contraband in Prison: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2022 (previous or next fiscal year)
- §2P1.2 Providing or Possessing Contraband in Prison: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2024 (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.