§2X3.1 Accessory After the Fact: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2017
In fiscal year 2017, 99 people were sentenced under §2X3.1, and 11 of them were convicted after a trial. The median prison term was 60 months after a trial and 23.5 months after a guilty plea. Overall, 74 people (75%) were sent to prison, with a median of 25 months (2.1 years).
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In brief: In fiscal year 2017, 99 people were sentenced under §2X3.1, and 11 of them were convicted after a trial. The median prison term was 60 months after a trial and 23.5 months after a guilty plea. Overall, 74 people (75%) were sent to prison, with a median of 25 months (2.1 years).
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 99 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2017. 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.
Trial Convictions and Guilty Pleas
Of the 99 people sentenced in fiscal year 2017, 88 (89%) pleaded guilty and 11 were convicted after a trial. For all guidelines that year, 97% of 66,873 people pleaded guilty.
The median prison term was 23.5 months after a guilty plea and 60 months after a trial. The trial figure is based on 9 people who were sent to prison. It describes that group of cases and does not show what going to trial does to a sentence.
Among guilty pleas, 90% had a written plea agreement and 9% were straight pleas with no agreement.
Prison Lengths in Fiscal Year 2017
A prison term went to 74 of the 99 people (75%), and 18 (18%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement.
Among those sent to prison, the median was 25 months. A quarter received 50.8 months or more, and a quarter received 12 months or less. Terms are those imposed, not time served.
The medians in the adjacent fiscal years were 26.1 months in 2016 and 27 months in 2018. Over fiscal years 2016 to 2025, the median was 30 months.
Range Position
Within the guideline range: 38% (38 people). Below the range at the government's request: 33% (33). Below the range without a government request: 26% (26). Above the range: 2% (2).
All guidelines combined had 49% within the range in 2017, and §2X3.1 across fiscal years 2016 to 2025 had 32%. The §2X3.1 shares were 33% in fiscal year 2016 and 41% in fiscal year 2018.
Guideline and Offense Types
The Guidelines Manual titles §2X3.1 "Accessory After the Fact." Each person is counted under the primary guideline, which is the one for the most serious count.
The U.S. Sentencing Commission's offense types for these cases in fiscal year 2017 included Drug Trafficking 15, Murder 13, Fraud/Theft/Embezzlement 13, and Assault 12. The records show category labels and not what any person did.
Fiscal year 2017 ran from October 1, 2016 to September 30, 2017.
Criminal History and Other Orders
By criminal history, 60% were in category I, the lowest, and 8% were in category VI, the highest. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.
Supervised release was ordered for 74 people (75%), with a median term of 36 months. A fine was ordered for 12 (12%) and restitution for 23 (23%). A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 2 of the 99 people (2%).
Counting Limits
Only people who were convicted and sentenced are counted. Acquittals and dismissals do not appear. Over fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 827 people were sentenced under this guideline and 84% went to prison. The yearly table shows each year's count.
There is no close court-martial counterpart for this guideline in the approved crosswalk, so this post reports the federal numbers on their own. In fiscal year 2017, 99 people is a modest group, and one year does not make a trend.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 82 | 26.1 months | 93% |
| 2017 | 99 | 25 months | 89% |
| 2018 | 90 | 27 months | 91% |
| 2019 | 88 | 36 months | 91% |
| 2020 | 55 | 30 months | 93% |
| 2021 | 71 | 27.6 months | 96% |
| 2022 | 97 | 30 months | 97% |
| 2023 | 82 | 26 months | 96% |
| 2024 | 90 | 48 months | 89% |
| 2025 | 73 | 24 months | 90% |
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2017 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2X3.1 (99), 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)
- §2X3.1 Accessory After the Fact: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- §2X3.1 Accessory After the Fact: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2016 (previous or next fiscal year)
- §2X3.1 Accessory After the Fact: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2018 (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.