§2Q1.3 Mishandling of Other Environmental Pollutants: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025
Probation only was the most common sentence under §2Q1.3: 105 of 163 people (64%) received it from fiscal year 2016 to fiscal year 2025. 43 (26%) received prison, with a median term of 5 months. A fine was ordered for 89 people (55%).
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In brief: Probation only was the most common sentence under §2Q1.3: 105 of 163 people (64%) received it from fiscal year 2016 to fiscal year 2025. 43 (26%) received prison, with a median term of 5 months. A fine was ordered for 89 people (55%).
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 163 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal years 2016 to 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.
Probation Was the Usual Sentence
Probation only means no prison or other confinement. 105 of the 163 people (64%) received that sentence, and 43 (26%) were sent to prison.
Among those sent to prison, the median term was 5 months. A quarter received 16.5 months or more, and a quarter received 1 month or less.
What the Title Describes
The Manual title of §2Q1.3 is "Mishandling of Other Environmental Pollutants; Recordkeeping, Tampering, and Falsification." The title covers mishandling pollutants and also keeping, tampering with, or falsifying records.
The Commission's offense type for all 163 cases is Environmental. They are cases where this was the primary guideline. The approved crosswalk lists no close court-martial counterpart, so only federal numbers appear.
Pleas and Trials
152 of 163 people (93%) pleaded guilty, and 11 were convicted after a trial. 97% of the guilty pleas had a written plea agreement, and 3% were straight pleas.
The median prison term after a guilty plea was 4 months. After a trial it was 15 months, based on 9 people who were convicted at trial and sent to prison.
Mandatory Minimums and the Range
A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 7 people (4%).
Of 162 people with range information, 31% (51) were sentenced within the guideline range. 35% (56) were below the range at the government's request, and 33% (54) were below it without a request. 1 sentence was above the range.
Supervised Release, Fines, and Restitution
Supervised release followed prison for 37 people (23%), and the median term was 12 months.
Money penalties were more common than prison. A fine was ordered for 89 people (55%), and restitution for 27 (17%). In criminal history, 87% were in the lowest category and 2% were in the highest.
Year-by-Year Changes
In fiscal years 2016 to 2019, 96 people were sentenced and the median prison term was 5 months. In fiscal years 2020 to 2025, 67 people were sentenced and the median was 7.7 months.
The table shows medians from 0 months in fiscal year 2025 to 18 months in fiscal year 2023. Those years had 11 and 9 people. With so few prison sentences per year, the medians move easily. The records cannot show a cause.
The most people were sentenced in fiscal year 2017, at 34, and the fewest in fiscal year 2023, at 9. The median prison term was 15 months in fiscal year 2019, 2 months in fiscal year 2020, and 11.4 months in fiscal year 2022. Guilty pleas were 100% in most years from fiscal year 2020 on.
| 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 the Data
The Commission's files count only people who were convicted and sentenced. They do not include acquittals or dismissals, the pollutant involved, or the amount of harm. Because 105 people received probation only, the prison-length figures describe only the 43 people sentenced to prison.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2Q1.3 (163), from the U.S. Sentencing Commission's 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)
- §2Q2.1 Offenses Involving Fish, Wildlife, and Plants: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025 (same guideline chapter part)
- §2Q1.2 Mishandling of Hazardous or Toxic Substances or Pesticides: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025 (same guideline chapter part)
- 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.