§2Q2.1 Offenses Involving Fish, Wildlife, and Plants: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2023
In fiscal year 2023, 67% of the 79 people sentenced under §2Q2.1, "Offenses Involving Fish, Wildlife, and Plants," received a sentence within the guideline range (53 people). That is higher than the 42% for all federal cases that year. The median prison term was 10 months, and 24 people (30%) went t
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › §2Q2.1 Offenses Involving Fish, Wildlife, and Plants › §2Q2.1: FY2023
In brief: In fiscal year 2023, 67% of the 79 people sentenced under §2Q2.1, "Offenses Involving Fish, Wildlife, and Plants," received a sentence within the guideline range (53 people). That is higher than the 42% for all federal cases that year. The median prison term was 10 months, and 24 people (30%) went to prison.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 79 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2023. 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.
Sentences Within the Guideline Range Reached 67%
The U.S. Sentencing Commission had range information for all 79 people. Within the advisory range: 67% (53). Below the range at the government's request: 15% (12). Below the range without a government request: 18% (14). Above the range: 0% (0).
The 67% is higher than the 42% for all federal cases in 2023. It is also higher than this guideline's own 51% in 2022 and 54% in 2024. Across all years 2016 to 2025, the figure for this guideline was 50%.
Prison Terms and Probation
Prison was imposed on 24 of the 79 (30%), and 51 (65%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement. The median prison term among those sent to prison was 10 months.
A quarter received 15.3 months or more, and a quarter received 0.1 months or less. For everyone sentenced in federal court in 2023, the median prison term was 30 months, which is higher than the median under this guideline.
After prison, 17 people (22%) were ordered to serve supervised release, with a median term of 24 months. No mandatory minimum prison term applied to any of the 79 people (0%).
Guilty Pleas and Trials in 2023
A total of 77 of 79 (97%) pleaded guilty, and 2 were convicted after a trial. The median prison term was 7 months after a guilty plea and 43.5 months after a trial.
The trial figure is based on 2 people. That is too few to show how trials and pleas differ under this guideline, and the records do not say what separated those cases. For all guidelines in 2023, guilty pleas were 97%.
Fines and Restitution
A fine was ordered for 48 people (61%), and restitution for 21 (27%). In criminal history, 85% were in the lowest category, category I, and 0% were in the highest, category VI. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.
Compared With 2022 and 2024
The year before had 69 people and a median prison term of 7.7 months. The year after had 57 people and a median of 6 months. The median of 10 months in 2023 was higher than in either year, and it matches the median in 2016 in the table.
The table lists all years. The Commission's offense type for all 79 cases in 2023 is Environmental. Fiscal year 2023 ran from October 1, 2022 to September 30, 2023.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 84 | 10 months | 93% |
| 2017 | 63 | 5.9 months | 100% |
| 2018 | 121 | 6 months | more than 99% |
| 2019 | 82 | 5.5 months | 100% |
| 2020 | 80 | 6 months | 99% |
| 2021 | 73 | 6 months | 100% |
| 2022 | 69 | 7.7 months | 100% |
| 2023 | 79 | 10 months | 97% |
| 2024 | 57 | 6 months | 98% |
| 2025 | 90 | 4.4 months | 99% |
What One Year Cannot Show
Counts of 79 people and 24 prison terms are small. A higher share within the range in one year is not a trend, and the records cannot show a cause for it.
The data includes only people who were convicted and sentenced. Acquittals and dismissals are not counted, and prison terms are the terms imposed, not time served. There is no close court-martial counterpart for this guideline in the approved crosswalk, so this post reports the federal numbers on their own.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2023 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2Q2.1 (79), 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)
- §2Q2.1 Offenses Involving Fish, Wildlife, and Plants: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- §2Q2.1 Offenses Involving Fish, Wildlife, and Plants: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2022 (previous or next fiscal year)
- §2Q2.1 Offenses Involving Fish, Wildlife, and Plants: 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.