> ## 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. # §2Q1.2 Mishandling of Hazardous or Toxic Substances or Pesticides: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2025 - URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2q1-2-mishandling-of-hazardous-or-toxic-substances-or-fy2025/ - Published: 2026-11-04T10:29:59.000Z - Updated: 2026-11-04T10:29:59.000Z - Description: In fiscal year 2025, 30 people were sentenced under guideline §2Q1.2. Only 7 (23%) were sent to prison, and the median prison term was 0.3 months. The guilty plea rate, 87%, was the lowest of the 10 years in the table. - Author: Jocelyn C. Stewart - Tags: Understanding Trends, Federal [Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/) › [Federal Prosecution Analysis](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal/) › [§2Q1.2 Mishandling of Hazardous or Toxic Substances or Pesti](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2q1-2-mishandling-of-hazardous-or-toxic-substances-or/) › §2Q1.2: FY2025 **In brief:** In fiscal year 2025, 30 people were sentenced under guideline §2Q1.2\. Only 7 (23%) were sent to prison, and the median prison term was 0.3 months. The guilty plea rate, 87%, was the lowest of the 10 years in the table. 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 30 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2025\. 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/). ## 7 People Sent to Prison The U.S. Sentencing Commission counted 30 people in fiscal year 2025 whose primary guideline was §2Q1.2\. A prison term was imposed on 7 of them (23%). Probation only, with no prison or other confinement, was imposed on 16 (53%). The prison share across all fiscal years 2016 to 2025 under this guideline was 35%, so the 2025 share was lower. A group of 30 is small, and the records cannot show whether this is a trend. ## Prison Terms of Less Than a Month at the Median The median prison term was 0.3 months. A quarter of those sent to prison received 3.5 months or more, and a quarter received 0 months or less. The previous year, 2024, had a median of 4.3 months. This is the last year in the data, so there is no later year to compare. Prison terms are those imposed, not time served. | Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty | | ----------- | ---------------- | ------------- | -------------- | | 2016 | 25 | 12 months | 92% | | 2017 | 22 | 19 months | 100% | | 2018 | 26 | 9 months | 100% | | 2019 | 31 | 12 months | 97% | | 2020 | 18 | 3 months | 94% | | 2021 | 54 | 0.2 months | 96% | | 2022 | 49 | 2.8 months | 100% | | 2023 | 31 | 4.4 months | 97% | | 2024 | 35 | 4.3 months | 100% | | 2025 | 30 | 0.3 months | 87% | ## 4 Convictions After a Trial A total of 26 people (87%) pleaded guilty, and 4 were convicted after a trial. The median prison term after a guilty plea was 1.6 months. After a trial it was 0 months, but that figure is based on 1 person sent to prison. The 2025 guilty plea rate was lower than the 97% for all years under this guideline. Among those who pleaded guilty, every one had a written plea agreement. No mandatory minimum prison term applied to anyone in the group. ## Fines and Restitution A fine was ordered for 21 people (70%), and restitution for 5 (17%). Supervised release after prison was ordered for 4 people (13%), with a median term of 12 months. ## Sentences Compared With the Guideline Range For 9 people (30%), the sentence was within the guideline range. For 15 (50%), it was below the range at the government's request, and for 6 (20%), it was below the range without a government request. No sentence was above the range. Across all federal sentences in 2025, 51% were within the range. Across all years under this guideline, 37% were within the range. ## Criminal History and the Federal Total In criminal history category I, the lowest, were 90% of the group, and no one was in category VI. Court-martial records have no criminal history field. Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2025, under every guideline, totaled 66,662 people. Their median prison term was 24 months, and 98% pleaded guilty. ## Guideline Title and Limits The guideline is titled "Mishandling of Hazardous or Toxic Substances or Pesticides; Recordkeeping, Tampering, and Falsification; Unlawfully Transporting Hazardous Materials in Commerce." The Commission's offense type for these cases is Environmental. Fiscal year 2025 ran from October 1, 2024 to September 30, 2025\. Acquittals and dismissals are not in the data. The approved 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 2025 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2Q1.2 (30), 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) - [§2Q1.2 Mishandling of Hazardous or Toxic Substances or Pesticides: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2q1-2-mishandling-of-hazardous-or-toxic-substances-or/) (overview) - [§2Q1.2 Mishandling of Hazardous or Toxic Substances or Pesticides: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2024](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2q1-2-mishandling-of-hazardous-or-toxic-substances-or-fy2024/) (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.