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# §2P1.2 Providing or Possessing Contraband in Prison: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2024
- URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2p1-2-providing-or-possessing-contraband-in-prison-fy2024/
- Published: 2026-11-04T10:25:09.000Z
- Updated: 2026-11-04T10:25:09.000Z
- Description: Federal courts sentenced 122 people in fiscal year 2024 with §2P1.2, "Providing or Possessing Contraband in Prison," as the primary guideline. 108 (89%) were sent to prison and 12 (10%) received probation only. The median prison term was 12 months.
- 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: FY2024

**In brief:** Federal courts sentenced 122 people in fiscal year 2024 with §2P1.2, "Providing or Possessing Contraband in Prison," as the primary guideline. 108 (89%) were sent to prison and 12 (10%) received probation only. The median prison term was 12 months.

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 122 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2024\. 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/).

## Prison for 108, Probation Only for 12

In fiscal year 2024, 108 of the 122 people (89%) received a prison term. 12 people (10%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement.

For the 108, the median prison term was 12 months. A quarter received 21 months or more, and a quarter received 6 months or less. The figures are terms imposed, not time served.

Over fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 93% of people sentenced under this guideline went to prison, and the median prison term was 9 months.

## Nearly All Pleaded Guilty, and Most Had Written Agreements

116 of the 122 (95%) pleaded guilty, and 6 were convicted after a trial. Among the pleas, 83% had a written plea agreement and 17% were straight pleas with no agreement.

After a guilty plea, the median prison term was 12 months. After a trial it was 16 months, based on 6 people. A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 2 of the 122 (2%).

## Sentences and the Guideline Range

Range information was recorded for 121 people. 48% (58) were sentenced within the range. 31% (37) were below it at the government's request, and 16% (19) were below it without a request. 6% (7) were above the range.

The previous year, 2023, had 51% within the range, and the next year, 2025, had 54%. Among all guidelines in 2024, 46% were within the range.

## Other Parts of the Sentences

49 people (40%) were ordered to serve supervised release, and the median term was 36 months. 7 (6%) received a fine, and 1 (less than 1%) was ordered to pay restitution.

11% of the group were in criminal history category I, the lowest, and 24% were in category VI, the highest. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.

## How the Count Was Made

The U.S. Sentencing Commission assigns each person a primary guideline, the one that set the offense level for the most serious count. Fiscal year 2024 began October 1, 2023 and ended September 30, 2024\. The Commission lists these 122 cases as Prison Offenses. Only people who were convicted and sentenced are counted.

## Placing 2024 Among the Other Years

The table shows 97 people in 2023, 122 in 2024, and 121 in 2025\. The median prison term was 12 months in each of those years. Across fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 1,552 people were sentenced under §2P1.2, and 98% pleaded guilty.

In 2024, 61,678 people were sentenced under all guidelines. Their median prison term was 30 months, and 97% pleaded guilty.

| 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 Remains Unknown

The records do not explain why the share of people receiving probation only differs from year to year, and they say nothing about the conduct in each case. The crosswalk has no close court-martial counterpart, so this post reports the federal numbers on their own.

### How We Counted

Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2024 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2P1.2 (122), 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 2023](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2p1-2-providing-or-possessing-contraband-in-prison-fy2023/) (previous or next fiscal year)
- [§2P1.2 Providing or Possessing Contraband in Prison: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2p1-2-providing-or-possessing-contraband-in-prison-fy2025/) (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.