§2X1.1 Attempt, Solicitation, or Conspiracy (Not Covered by a Specific Offense Guideline): Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2025
All 11 people sentenced under §2X1.1 in fiscal year 2025 (100%) received a prison term, and the median was 60 months (5 years). A quarter received 144 months or more. 7 sentences (64%) were below the guideline range at the government's request.
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › §2X1.1 Attempt, Solicitation, or Conspiracy (Not Covered by › §2X1.1: FY2025
In brief: All 11 people sentenced under §2X1.1 in fiscal year 2025 (100%) received a prison term, and the median was 60 months (5 years). A quarter received 144 months or more. 7 sentences (64%) were below the guideline range at the government's request.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 11 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2025. 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.
The Longest Terms in the Group
The median prison term was 60 months (5 years) in fiscal year 2025. The top quarter of prison terms were 144 months or more, and the bottom quarter were 29.3 months or less. That is a very wide range for a group of 11 people.
The all-years median for §2X1.1 is 36 months, and the median for everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2025 under every guideline is 24 months. The 2025 median is higher than both. The previous fiscal year, 2024, had a median of 33.5 months.
The yearly table also shows 60 months for fiscal year 2016. Both years are small groups, and the records cannot show a trend. Terms are those imposed, not time served.
All Pleaded Guilty, All Received Supervised Release
Every person, 11 of 11 (100%), pleaded guilty. 0 were convicted after a trial. The data has no trial figure for this year. Among guilty pleas, 91% had a written plea agreement, and 9% were straight pleas with no agreement.
All 11 (100%) were ordered to serve supervised release after prison. The median term was 36 months. A fine was ordered for 0 (0%), and restitution for 3 (27%). A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 1 of the 11 people with that information recorded (9%).
Sentences Mostly Below the Guideline Range
7 sentences (64%) were below the range at the government's request. 2 (18%) were below the range without a government request, and 2 (18%) were within the range. None was above the range.
Under §2X1.1, 43% of sentences from 2016 to 2025 were within the range. Under every guideline in fiscal year 2025, 51% were. The 2025 figure of 18% for §2X1.1 is lower than both, and fiscal year 2024 had 50%.
Criminal History and Offense Types
36% of the group were in the lowest criminal history category, and 36% were in the highest. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.
Guideline §2X1.1 is titled "Attempt, Solicitation, or Conspiracy (Not Covered by a Specific Offense Guideline)" in the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines Manual. The Commission's offense types for the 11 people were Assault 3, Kidnapping 2, National Defense 2, and Fraud/Theft/Embezzlement 1. The fiscal year ran from October 1, 2024 to September 30, 2025.
Place in the 2016 to 2025 Record
The 2016 to 2025 record for §2X1.1 lists 152 people. 89% went to prison, 91% pleaded guilty, and the median prison term was 36 months. In fiscal year 2025, 66,662 people were sentenced under every guideline, with guilty pleas of 98%.
Fiscal year 2025 is the last year in the record. The table lists every year from 2016.
| 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 Records
The Commission's data covers only convicted and sentenced people, so acquittals and dismissals are absent. No court-martial offense in the approved crosswalk closely matches this guideline, which is why only federal numbers are given. The records do not describe the conduct in any case.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2025 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2X1.1 (11), 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 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.