§2R1.1 Bid-Rigging, Price-Fixing or Market-Allocation Agreements Among Competitors: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2023
In fiscal year 2023, 9 of the 17 people sentenced under §2R1.1 (53%) were sent to prison, with a median prison term of 6 months. 5 (29%) received probation only. All 17 pleaded guilty, and all 17 were in the lowest criminal history category.
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › §2R1.1 Bid-Rigging, Price-Fixing or Market-Allocation Agreem › §2R1.1: FY2023
In brief: In fiscal year 2023, 9 of the 17 people sentenced under §2R1.1 (53%) were sent to prison, with a median prison term of 6 months. 5 (29%) received probation only. All 17 pleaded guilty, and all 17 were in the lowest criminal history category.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 17 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.
Prison Terms Under §2R1.1 in Fiscal Year 2023
9 of the 17 people (53%) received a prison term, and 5 (29%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement. The median prison term among those sent to prison was 6 months. A quarter received 6 months or more, and a quarter received 1 months or less.
The 2016 to 2025 figure for §2R1.1 is 43% sent to prison, with a median prison term of 6 months. The 2023 share sent to prison was higher than the all-years share, and the median was the same.
After prison, 9 people (53%) were ordered to serve supervised release, with a median term of 24 months. Prison terms here are those imposed, not served.
Plea Agreements and Criminal History
17 of 17 people (100%) pleaded guilty, and 0 were convicted after a trial. Among guilty pleas, 100% had a written plea agreement.
100% of the group were in the lowest criminal history category, and 0% were in the highest. Court-martial records have no criminal history field, so that measure cannot be compared with military cases.
A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 0 of the 17 people with that information recorded (0%).
Fines and Restitution
Fines were ordered for 16 of the 17 (94%). Restitution was ordered for 2 (12%). Restitution was ordered less often than fines in this group.
Where Sentences Fell Against the Guideline Range
10 sentences (59%) were below the range at the government's request. 3 (18%) were within the range, and 4 (24%) were below the range without a government request. None was above the range.
Across fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 14% of §2R1.1 sentences were within the range. For all guidelines in fiscal year 2023, the share was 42%. The 2023 share under §2R1.1 was higher than its own all-years figure and lower than the all-guidelines figure.
About This Guideline and Year
Guideline §2R1.1 is titled "Bid-Rigging, Price-Fixing or Market-Allocation Agreements Among Competitors" in the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines Manual. The U.S. Sentencing Commission counted 17 people with it as the primary guideline in fiscal year 2023, from October 1, 2022 to September 30, 2023. The offense type for all 17 is Antitrust.
For everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2023 under every guideline, the total was 64,124 people, with a median prison term of 30 months and guilty pleas of 97%.
Across 2016 to 2025, 184 people were sentenced under §2R1.1, and guilty pleas were 91%. The yearly table shows 8 people in 2024 and 18 in 2025.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 19 | 5 months | 95% |
| 2017 | 26 | 11 months | 77% |
| 2018 | 53 | 8 months | 91% |
| 2019 | 20 | 4 months | 100% |
| 2020 | 9 | 8 months | 7 of 9 |
| 2021 | 6 | 0 months | 6 of 6 |
| 2022 | 8 | 14.9 months | 7 of 8 |
| 2023 | 17 | 6 months | 100% |
| 2024 | 8 | 5 months | 8 of 8 |
| 2025 | 18 | 6 months | 89% |
What These Records Do Not Show
People who were acquitted or whose cases were dismissed are not in the Commission's data. No court-martial offense in the approved crosswalk closely matches this guideline, so the numbers here are federal only.
The records do not show the industries, the amounts, or the conduct in any case.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2023 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2R1.1 (17), 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)
- §2R1.1 Bid-Rigging, Price-Fixing or Market-Allocation Agreements Among Competitors: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- 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.