§2Q1.3 Mishandling of Other Environmental Pollutants: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2025
In fiscal year 2025, 11 people were sentenced under §2Q1.3. 5 (45%) were sent to prison and 5 (45%) received probation only, and the median prison term was 0 months. That median is based on 5 people.
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In brief: In fiscal year 2025, 11 people were sentenced under §2Q1.3. 5 (45%) were sent to prison and 5 (45%) received probation only, and the median prison term was 0 months. That median is based on 5 people.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 11 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 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.
A Median Prison Term of 0 Months
The median prison term among the 5 people who received a prison term was 0 months. A quarter received 12 months or more, and a quarter received 0 months or less. The table below records the same figure for fiscal year 2025.
The Commission's data does not explain how a term of 0 months was recorded for people counted as sent to prison, and this post does not interpret it. Prison terms in the data are the terms imposed, not time served.
Prison and Probation Were Equally Common
Guideline §2Q1.3 is titled "Mishandling of Other Environmental Pollutants; Recordkeeping, Tampering, and Falsification" in the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines Manual. The Commission counted 11 people in fiscal year 2025 for whom it was the primary guideline, and all 11 fall under the offense type Environmental.
5 of the 11 (45%) received a prison term, and 5 (45%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement. 2 people (18%) were ordered to serve supervised release after prison, with a median term of 12 months. A fine was ordered for 4 (36%), and restitution for 3 (27%).
The fiscal year ran from October 1, 2024 to September 30, 2025.
Pleas and Mandatory Minimums
11 of 11 people (100%) pleaded guilty, and 0 were convicted after a trial. Among guilty pleas, 91% had a written plea agreement, and 9% were straight pleas with no agreement.
A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 0 of the 11 people with that information recorded (0%).
Against the Guideline Range
Sentences were within the guideline range for 5 people (45%). 4 (36%) were below the range at the government's request, and 2 (18%) were below the range without a government request. None was above the range.
The all-years figure for §2Q1.3 within the range is 31%, so fiscal year 2025 was higher than that. For everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2025 under every guideline, the figure was 51%. The previous fiscal year, 2024, had 30% within the range under §2Q1.3.
The Longer Record
Taking fiscal years 2016 through 2025 together, 163 people were sentenced under §2Q1.3. The share sent to prison was 26%. The median prison term was 5 months, and 93% pleaded guilty. Fiscal year 2025 had a higher share sent to prison than that, and a lower median prison term.
The previous fiscal year, 2024, had 10 people and a median prison term of 12 months. In all of fiscal year 2025, 66,662 people were sentenced in federal court under every guideline, with a median prison term of 24 months and guilty pleas of 98%.
On criminal history, 91% of the §2Q1.3 group were in the lowest category and 0% in the highest. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.
| 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% |
Limits of This Year's Numbers
One year of 11 people does not form a trend. People who were acquitted, or whose cases were dismissed, are not part of the Commission's data.
No court-martial offense is a close match for this guideline in the approved crosswalk. The figures here are federal only.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2025 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2Q1.3 (11), 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 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.