§2X1.1 Attempt, Solicitation, or Conspiracy (Not Covered by a Specific Offense Guideline): Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2020
All 13 people sentenced under §2X1.1 in fiscal year 2020 (100%) received a prison term. The median prison term was 24 months (2 years), and 0 people received probation only. 12 of the 13 (92%) pleaded guilty.
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › §2X1.1 Attempt, Solicitation, or Conspiracy (Not Covered by › §2X1.1: FY2020
In brief: All 13 people sentenced under §2X1.1 in fiscal year 2020 (100%) received a prison term. The median prison term was 24 months (2 years), and 0 people received probation only. 12 of the 13 (92%) pleaded guilty.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 13 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2020. 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.
Every Person Was Sentenced to Prison
13 of 13 people (100%) received a prison term in fiscal year 2020. 0 (0%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement. The median prison term was 24 months (2 years).
A quarter received 41 months or more, and a quarter received 9 months or less. These are terms imposed, not time served.
Over 2016 to 2025 the median for §2X1.1 is 36 months, and 2020 was lower than that. Federal sentences under every guideline in fiscal year 2020 had a median of 18 months.
Criminal History in This Group
46% of the group were in the lowest criminal history category, and 15% were in the highest. These shares come from a group of 13 people and should be read as small counts.
Court-martial records have no criminal history field, so there is no military figure to set beside these.
What Kind of Cases Use §2X1.1
Guideline §2X1.1 is titled "Attempt, Solicitation, or Conspiracy (Not Covered by a Specific Offense Guideline)" in the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines Manual. For fiscal year 2020, which began October 1, 2019 and ended September 30, 2020, the Commission recorded 13 people under this guideline.
The Commission's offense types in that year were Kidnapping 2, Immigration 2, National Defense 1, and Firearms 1. The Commission's listing shows only the most common types.
Pleas, Trials, and Mandatory Minimums
12 of the 13 (92%) pleaded guilty. 1 person was convicted after a trial. The median prison term after a guilty plea was 24 months. For the 1 person convicted at trial, the recorded prison term was 0 months. That is a single case, and the data does not explain it.
Of the guilty pleas, 92% came with a written plea agreement and 8% did not. Mandatory minimums applied to 2 of the 13 people with that information recorded (15%).
Guideline Range, Supervised Release, and Fines
Within the range were 7 sentences (54%). Below the range at the government's request were 4 (31%), and below it without a request were 2 (15%). None was above. The all-years share within the range is 43%, and the share for all guidelines in fiscal year 2020 is 50%.
12 people (92%) were ordered to serve supervised release after prison, with a median term of 36 months. A fine was ordered for 1 (8%), and restitution for 2 (15%).
Neighboring Years
The previous fiscal year, 2019, had 16 people and a median prison term of 36.5 months. The next fiscal year, 2021, had 16 people and a median of 20 months. The 2016 to 2025 total for §2X1.1 is 152 people, with 89% sent to prison and 91% pleading guilty.
In all of fiscal year 2020, 64,565 people were sentenced under every guideline, with guilty pleas of 98%.
The data leaves out anyone who was acquitted or whose case was dismissed. No court-martial offense in the approved crosswalk closely matches this guideline, so only federal numbers appear.
| 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% |
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2020 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2X1.1 (13), 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.
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)
- §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 2019 (previous or next fiscal year)
- §2X1.1 Attempt, Solicitation, or Conspiracy (Not Covered by a Specific Offense Guideline): Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2021 (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.