§2X1.1 Attempt, Solicitation, or Conspiracy (Not Covered by a Specific Offense Guideline): Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2023
In fiscal year 2023, 20 people were sentenced with §2X1.1 as the primary guideline. 19 (95%) received a prison term, with a median of 41 months (3.4 years), and 0 received probation only. The most common offense type was Kidnapping, with 5 people.
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › §2X1.1 Attempt, Solicitation, or Conspiracy (Not Covered by › §2X1.1: FY2023
In brief: In fiscal year 2023, 20 people were sentenced with §2X1.1 as the primary guideline. 19 (95%) received a prison term, with a median of 41 months (3.4 years), and 0 received probation only. The most common offense type was Kidnapping, with 5 people.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 20 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.
Which Offenses Were Behind the 20 Sentences
Guideline §2X1.1 is titled "Attempt, Solicitation, or Conspiracy (Not Covered by a Specific Offense Guideline)" in the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines Manual. It applies to attempts, solicitations, and conspiracies that no more specific guideline covers, so the underlying offenses differ.
In fiscal year 2023, the U.S. Sentencing Commission listed these offense types: Kidnapping 5, Robbery 3, Drug Trafficking 2, and Fraud/Theft/Embezzlement 2. The listing shows only the most common types. The fiscal year ran from October 1, 2022 to September 30, 2023.
Prison Terms
19 of the 20 people (95%) received a prison term. 0 (0%) received probation only. The median prison term was 41 months (3.4 years). The top quarter of terms were 84 months or more, and the bottom quarter were 18 months or less.
This median is higher than the all-years median of 36 months for §2X1.1, and higher than the 30 months for everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2023 under every guideline. The previous fiscal year, 2022, had a median of 33 months, and the next, 2024, had 33.5 months.
18 people (90%) were ordered to serve supervised release after prison, with a median term of 36 months. A fine was ordered for 3 (15%), and restitution for 3 (15%).
One Trial Conviction
19 of the 20 (95%) pleaded guilty. 1 person was convicted after a trial. The median prison term after a guilty plea was 37 months. After a trial it was 117 months, based on that 1 person.
A single trial case cannot stand for trial sentences in general, and the data does not describe the case.
95% of the guilty pleas included a written plea agreement, and 5% did not. 2 of the 20 people with that information recorded had a mandatory minimum (10%).
Position Against the Guideline Range
11 sentences (55%) were within the range. 5 (25%) were below the range at the government's request, and 4 (20%) were below the range without a government request. None was above the range.
The all-years share within the range under §2X1.1 is 43%, and for all guidelines in fiscal year 2023 it is 42%. The 2023 share under §2X1.1 is higher than both. In fiscal year 2022 the share was 13%, so the year-to-year change is large, and the records cannot show whether it will last.
Criminal History and the Wider Record
75% of the group were in the lowest criminal history category, and 5% were in the highest. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.
The 2016 to 2025 total for §2X1.1 is 152 people, of whom 89% went to prison. Guilty pleas were 91% over those years. In all of fiscal year 2023, 64,124 people were sentenced under every guideline, with guilty pleas of 97%. The table lists each year's figures.
| 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 of the Data
The Commission counts people who were convicted and sentenced. Anyone acquitted, or whose case was dismissed, is absent. Reported terms are imposed terms, not time served.
The approved crosswalk has no close court-martial match for this guideline, so no military comparison is made.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2023 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2X1.1 (20), 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 2022 (previous or next fiscal year)
- §2X1.1 Attempt, Solicitation, or Conspiracy (Not Covered by a Specific Offense Guideline): 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.