§2Q1.3 Mishandling of Other Environmental Pollutants: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2019
In fiscal year 2019, only 3 of the 20 people sentenced under §2Q1.3 (15%) received a prison term, and 17 (85%) received probation only. The median prison term for the 3 was 15 months. The group is small, so the median describes very few people.
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In brief: In fiscal year 2019, only 3 of the 20 people sentenced under §2Q1.3 (15%) received a prison term, and 17 (85%) received probation only. The median prison term for the 3 was 15 months. The group is small, so the median describes very few people.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 20 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2019. 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.
Few Prison Terms in a Small Group
The U.S. Sentencing Commission counted 20 people in fiscal year 2019 whose primary guideline was §2Q1.3. In the Commission's terms, the offense type for all 20 is Environmental.
3 people (15%) received a prison term, and 17 (85%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement. Among the 3, the median prison term was 15 months. A quarter received 22.5 months or more, and a quarter received 8 months or less.
The prison terms reported are the terms imposed, not the time served. The fiscal year ran from October 1, 2018 to September 30, 2019.
Pleas and Trials
18 of the 20 (90%) pleaded guilty, and 2 were convicted after a trial. Among guilty pleas, 100% had a written plea agreement.
The median prison term after a guilty plea was 1 months. After a trial it was 22.5 months, based on the 2 people convicted at trial and sent to prison. The Commission's data does not show whether the plea group and the trial group faced the same facts, so these medians cannot show the effect of going to trial.
A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 0 of the 20 people with that information recorded (0%).
Below the Range, Within the Range
For all 20 people, the Commission recorded where the sentence fell against the guideline range. 6 sentences (30%) were within the range. 7 (35%) were below the range at the government's request, and 7 (35%) were below the range without a government request. None was above the range.
The guideline range is the one calculated under the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines. Across all guidelines in fiscal year 2019, sentences within the range were 51%, which was more often than here.
Other Parts of the Sentence
3 people (15%) were ordered to serve supervised release after prison, with a median term of 12 months. A fine was ordered for 12 (60%), and restitution for 3 (15%).
On criminal history, 85% were in the lowest category and 0% were in the highest. Court-martial records have no criminal history field, so that comparison cannot be made with military cases.
Fiscal Year 2019 in the Longer Record
Over the period from fiscal year 2016 to 2025, the Commission recorded 163 people under §2Q1.3. 26% of them were sent to prison. Their median prison term was 5 months. Guilty pleas were 93%, and 31% of sentences were within the guideline range. The share sent to prison in fiscal year 2019 was lower than that all-years figure, and the median prison term was higher.
The previous fiscal year, 2018, had 18 people and a median prison term of 1 months. The next fiscal year, 2020, had 13 people and a median prison term of 2 months. The yearly table shows the full run. Because each year has so few people sent to prison, the records cannot show a trend.
For everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2019 under every guideline, the total was 76,538 people. The median prison term was 21 months, and guilty pleas were 98%.
| 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 Is Not in the Data
The Commission's files count only people who were convicted and sentenced. Acquittals and dismissals are not included.
There is no close court-martial counterpart for this guideline in the approved crosswalk, so this post reports the federal numbers on their own. The records do not describe the conduct behind any sentence.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2019 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2Q1.3 (20), 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)
- §2Q1.3 Mishandling of Other Environmental Pollutants: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- §2Q1.3 Mishandling of Other Environmental Pollutants: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2018 (previous or next fiscal year)
- §2Q1.3 Mishandling of Other Environmental Pollutants: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2020 (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.