§2X1.1 Attempt, Solicitation, or Conspiracy (Not Covered by a Specific Offense Guideline): Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2024
In fiscal year 2024, the one person convicted at trial under §2X1.1 received a prison term of 30 months, while the median after a guilty plea was 37 months. Across the 10 people sentenced, 8 (80%) received a prison term, with a median of 33.5 months (2.8 years). Only 1 sentence (10%) was below the r
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › §2X1.1 Attempt, Solicitation, or Conspiracy (Not Covered by › §2X1.1: FY2024
In brief: In fiscal year 2024, the one person convicted at trial under §2X1.1 received a prison term of 30 months, while the median after a guilty plea was 37 months. Across the 10 people sentenced, 8 (80%) received a prison term, with a median of 33.5 months (2.8 years). Only 1 sentence (10%) was below the range at the government's request.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 10 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2024. 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.
A Trial Sentence Shorter Than the Plea Median
9 of the 10 people (90%) pleaded guilty, and 1 was convicted after a trial. The median prison term after a guilty plea was 37 months. After a trial it was 30 months, based on that 1 person.
One person cannot establish a pattern, and the data does not describe the case.
All 9 people who pleaded guilty had a written plea agreement, and 0 of 9 were straight pleas with no agreement.
Few Government-Requested Reductions
The Commission recorded the position against the guideline range for all 10 people. 5 sentences (50%) were within the range. 4 (40%) were below the range without a government request, and 1 (10%) was below the range at the government's request. None 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 2024 is 46%. Fiscal year 2024 is higher than both. Fiscal year 2023 had 55% and fiscal year 2025 had 18%.
Prison, Probation, and Supervised Release
8 of the 10 (80%) received a prison term, and 1 (10%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement. The median prison term was 33.5 months (2.8 years). A quarter received 42.8 months or more, and a quarter received 18 months or less.
8 people (80%) were ordered to serve supervised release after prison, with a median term of 36 months. A fine was ordered for 1 (10%), and restitution for 3 (30%). A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 0 of the 10 people with that information recorded (0%).
The Guideline and Its Offense Types
Guideline §2X1.1 is titled "Attempt, Solicitation, or Conspiracy (Not Covered by a Specific Offense Guideline)" in the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines Manual. The group's offense types in fiscal year 2024, from October 1, 2023 to September 30, 2024, were Fraud/Theft/Embezzlement 4, Robbery 3, Assault 2, and Kidnapping 1.
40% of the group were in the lowest criminal history category, and 0% were in the highest. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.
The Wider Record
The median in fiscal year 2024 was 33.5 months, and the all-years median is 36 months, so 2024 was a little lower. For everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2024 under every guideline, the median was 30 months.
Fiscal year 2023 had 20 people and a median of 41 months, and fiscal year 2025 had 11 people and a median of 60 months. Taken together, 2016 to 2025 covers 152 people under §2X1.1, with 89% sent to prison and 91% pleading guilty. In all of fiscal year 2024, 61,678 people were sentenced under every guideline, with guilty pleas of 97%.
Each year appears in the table below. With 10 people, the records cannot show a trend.
| 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% |
What Is Not Counted
The data includes only people who were convicted and sentenced. Prison terms are those imposed. No court-martial offense in the approved crosswalk closely matches this guideline, so only federal numbers appear here.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2024 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2X1.1 (10), 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 2023 (previous or next fiscal year)
- §2X1.1 Attempt, Solicitation, or Conspiracy (Not Covered by a Specific Offense Guideline): Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2025 (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.