§2Q1.3 Mishandling of Other Environmental Pollutants: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2016
In fiscal year 2016, 24 people were sentenced under §2Q1.3. Probation only was the most common sentence: 13 people (54%) received it, while 8 (33%) were sentenced to prison. The median prison term was 2.5 months, and a fine was ordered for 18 people (75%).
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › §2Q1.3 Mishandling of Other Environmental Pollutants › §2Q1.3: FY2016
In brief: In fiscal year 2016, 24 people were sentenced under §2Q1.3. Probation only was the most common sentence: 13 people (54%) received it, while 8 (33%) were sentenced to prison. The median prison term was 2.5 months, and a fine was ordered for 18 people (75%).
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 24 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2016. 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 Was More Common Than Prison
The U.S. Sentencing Commission counted 24 people in fiscal year 2016 whose primary guideline was §2Q1.3. The Guidelines Manual titles it "Mishandling of Other Environmental Pollutants; Recordkeeping, Tampering, and Falsification." The Commission classes these cases under the offense type Environmental.
Of the 24 people, 13 (54%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement. 8 (33%) received a prison term.
The fiscal year ran from October 1, 2015 to September 30, 2016. The primary guideline is the one that set the offense level for the most serious count.
Short Prison Terms
Among the 8 people sent to prison, the median prison term was 2.5 months. A quarter received 18 months or more, and a quarter received 1 months or less. The records report terms imposed, not time served.
Over fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 163 people were sentenced under §2Q1.3. Of them, 26% were sent to prison, and the median prison term was 5 months. The 2016 median is lower than that 5 months.
For everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2016, under every guideline, the median prison term was 24 months. The total was 67,742 people.
Fines and Restitution
A fine was ordered for 18 of the 24 people (75%), and restitution for 6 (25%). Supervised release after prison was ordered for 8 people (33%), with a median term of 12 months.
Fines were ordered for most of the group. The records do not show the amounts.
Pleas and Trials
Of the 24 people, 22 (92%) pleaded guilty, and 2 were convicted after a trial. The median prison term after a guilty plea was 1.5 months. After a trial it was 10.5 months, based on the 2 people convicted at trial and sent to prison.
The trial group is very small, so the 10.5-month figure describes those 2 cases only. All guilty pleas (100%) had a written plea agreement.
A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 3 of the 24 people with that information recorded (13%).
Against the Guideline Range
Within the guideline range were 4 sentences (17%). Below the range at the government's request were 14 (58%), and below the range without a government request were 5 (21%). One sentence (4%) was above the range.
For all guidelines in fiscal year 2016, 49% of sentences were within the range. Over fiscal years 2016 to 2025, the §2Q1.3 share was 31%.
Criminal History and Later Years
In the lowest criminal history category (category I) were 88% of the group, and 4% were in the highest (VI). Court-martial records have no criminal history field.
In fiscal year 2017, 34 people were sentenced under §2Q1.3, with a median prison term of 9 months. The table lists every year from 2016 to 2025. The yearly counts are small and the medians move a good deal, so one year does not show a trend.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 24 | 2.5 months | 92% |
| 2017 | 34 | 9 months | 88% |
| 2018 | 18 | 1 months | 94% |
| 2019 | 20 | 15 months | 90% |
| 2020 | 13 | 2 months | 100% |
| 2021 | 11 | 7.5 months | 100% |
| 2022 | 13 | 11.4 months | 100% |
| 2023 | 9 | 18 months | 7 of 9 |
| 2024 | 10 | 12 months | 100% |
| 2025 | 11 | 0 months | 100% |
What the Records Cannot Show
The data covers only people who were convicted and sentenced. It does not describe what happened in any case, and it does not explain why probation was used so often. The approved crosswalk has no close court-martial counterpart for this guideline, so the post reports the federal numbers on their own.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2016 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2Q1.3 (24), 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)
- §2Q1.3 Mishandling of Other Environmental Pollutants: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- §2Q1.3 Mishandling of Other Environmental Pollutants: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2017 (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.