§2X1.1 Attempt, Solicitation, or Conspiracy (Not Covered by a Specific Offense Guideline): Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2019
In fiscal year 2019, 9 of the 16 people sentenced under §2X1.1 (56%) received a sentence within the guideline range. 14 (88%) received a prison term, and the median prison term was 36.5 months (3 years). All 16 pleaded guilty.
· Understanding Trends in Military Practice · 6 min read
Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › §2X1.1 Attempt, Solicitation, or Conspiracy (Not Covered by › §2X1.1: FY2019
In brief: In fiscal year 2019, 9 of the 16 people sentenced under §2X1.1 (56%) received a sentence within the guideline range. 14 (88%) received a prison term, and the median prison term was 36.5 months (3 years). All 16 pleaded guilty.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 16 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.
More Sentences Within the Range Than in Other Years
9 of the 16 sentences (56%) were within the guideline range. 4 (25%) were below the range at the government's request, and 2 (13%) were below the range without a government request. 1 sentence (6%) was above the range.
The all-years share within the range under §2X1.1 is 43%, and the share for all guidelines in fiscal year 2019 is 51%. The 2019 share is higher than both. The previous fiscal year, 2018, had 48%, and the next, 2020, had 54%.
With 16 people, each person is a noticeable part of every share, and the records cannot show a lasting change.
Prison Terms
14 of the 16 (88%) received a prison term, and 2 (13%) received probation only. Among those sent to prison, the median prison term was 36.5 months (3 years). A quarter received 47.5 months or more, and a quarter received 19 months or less.
The all-years median for §2X1.1 is 36 months, so 2019 was about the same. For everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2019 under every guideline, the median was 21 months.
14 people (88%) were ordered to serve supervised release after prison, with a median term of 36 months. A fine was ordered for 2 (13%), and restitution for 3 (19%).
No Trials This Year
16 of 16 (100%) pleaded guilty, and 0 were convicted after a trial. The data has no trial prison term for this year to compare with a plea term.
Among guilty pleas, 88% had a written plea agreement, and 13% were straight pleas with no agreement. A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 0 of the 16 people with that information recorded (0%).
The Guideline and Its Mix of Offenses
Guideline §2X1.1 is titled "Attempt, Solicitation, or Conspiracy (Not Covered by a Specific Offense Guideline)" in the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines Manual. Because it applies when no more specific guideline covers the offense, the offense types vary. For fiscal year 2019 the Commission's offense types included Robbery 5, Fraud/Theft/Embezzlement 4, Kidnapping 2, and Immigration 2.
The fiscal year ran from October 1, 2018 to September 30, 2019. 81% of the group were in the lowest criminal history category, and 6% were in the highest. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.
Nearby Years and the Overall Record
The previous fiscal year, 2018, had 23 people and a median prison term of 27 months. The next, 2020, had 13 people and a median of 24 months. Over fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 152 people were sentenced under §2X1.1, with 89% sent to prison and 91% pleading guilty.
In all of fiscal year 2019, 76,538 people were sentenced under every guideline, with guilty pleas of 98%.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 13 | 60 months | 92% |
| 2017 | 15 | 28 months | 93% |
| 2018 | 23 | 27 months | 83% |
| 2019 | 16 | 36.5 months | 100% |
| 2020 | 13 | 24 months | 92% |
| 2021 | 16 | 20 months | 94% |
| 2022 | 15 | 33 months | 80% |
| 2023 | 20 | 41 months | 95% |
| 2024 | 10 | 33.5 months | 90% |
| 2025 | 11 | 60 months | 100% |
Limits
Only people who were convicted and sentenced are counted, and prison terms are those imposed, not served. The approved crosswalk has no close court-martial counterpart for this guideline, so this post reports the federal numbers on their own.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2019 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2X1.1 (16), 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)
- §2X1.1 Attempt, Solicitation, or Conspiracy (Not Covered by a Specific Offense Guideline): Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- §2X1.1 Attempt, Solicitation, or Conspiracy (Not Covered by a Specific Offense Guideline): Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2018 (previous or next fiscal year)
- §2X1.1 Attempt, Solicitation, or Conspiracy (Not Covered by a Specific Offense Guideline): 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.