> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.bodiesburied.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # §2X3.1 Accessory After the Fact: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2025 - URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2x3-1-accessory-after-the-fact-fy2025/ - Published: 2026-11-04T10:26:40.000Z - Updated: 2026-11-04T10:26:40.000Z - Description: In fiscal year 2025, 73 people were sentenced in federal court with §2X3.1, "Accessory After the Fact," as the primary guideline. The median prison term was 24 months, the same as for all federal cases that year. Of the 73, 67 (92%) received prison, and 66 (90%) pleaded guilty. - Author: Jocelyn C. Stewart - Tags: Understanding Trends, Federal [Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/) › [Federal Prosecution Analysis](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal/) › [§2X3.1 Accessory After the Fact](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2x3-1-accessory-after-the-fact/) › §2X3.1: FY2025 **In brief:** In fiscal year 2025, 73 people were sentenced in federal court with §2X3.1, "Accessory After the Fact," as the primary guideline. The median prison term was 24 months, the same as for all federal cases that year. Of the 73, 67 (92%) received prison, and 66 (90%) pleaded guilty. Updated November 4, 2026 · Sources: U.S. Sentencing Commission and Federal Judicial Center, fiscal years 2016–2025 This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 73 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](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal/) series, which builds on [Military Moves Toward Sentencing Guidelines to Mirror the Federal System](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/military-sentencing-guidelines-federal-system/). How the numbers were built: [How the Federal Comparison Data Was Built](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-data-methodology/). ## Fiscal Year 2025 Sentences at a Glance The U.S. Sentencing Commission counted 73 people whose most serious count was sentenced under §2X3.1\. Prison was imposed on 67 (92%), and 6 (8%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement. The median prison term among those 67 was 24 months (2 years). A quarter received 62.5 months or more, and a quarter received 7 months or less. For everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2025 under every guideline, the median prison term was also 24 months. ## Plea Versus Trial Prison Terms Of the 73 people, 66 (90%) pleaded guilty and 7 were convicted after a trial. Across all guidelines, 98% pleaded guilty, so guilty pleas were less common here than in federal court overall. The median prison term was 24 months after a guilty plea and 94 months after a trial. The trial figure rests on 6 people who were convicted at trial and sent to prison. A group that small can move a median a long way, and the records cannot show what separated those cases from the plea cases. Among guilty pleas, 88% had a written plea agreement, and 11% were straight pleas with no agreement. ## Where Sentences Fell Against the Guideline Range For all 73 people, the Commission has the position of the sentence against the advisory range. Within the range: 27% (20). Below the range at the government's request: 33% (24). Below the range without a government request: 30% (22). Above the range: 10% (7). Sentences within the range were less common here than in all federal cases in 2025, where the figure was 51%. A mandatory minimum applied to 1 of 72 people with that information recorded (1%). ## How Fiscal Year 2025 Fits Across All Years The Commission recorded 827 people under §2X3.1 from fiscal year 2016 to 2025\. Of those, 84% went to prison, and the median prison term was 30 months. Sentences within the guideline range were 32% of the total. The median of 24 months in 2025 is lower than the median of 48 months in 2024, when 90 people were sentenced. It is also lower than the all-years median of 30 months. The table shows each year. A count of 73 people is small, 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% | ## Offense Types, Supervised Release, and Other Orders The Commission lists the offense type for these cases as Murder in 19, Robbery in 11, Drug Trafficking in 10, and Assault in 6. After prison, 66 (90%) were ordered to serve supervised release. The median term was 36 months, and 1 person (1%) received supervised release for life. A fine was ordered for 8 (11%), and restitution for 12 (16%). In criminal history, 56% were in the lowest category, category I, and 3% were in the highest, category VI. Court-martial records have no criminal history field. ## Limits of the Records The data includes only people who were convicted and sentenced. Acquittals and dismissals are not counted, and prison terms are the terms imposed, not time served. Fiscal year 2025 ran from October 1, 2024 to September 30, 2025. The approved crosswalk has no close court-martial counterpart for this guideline, so this post reports the federal numbers on their own. ### How We Counted Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2025 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2X3.1 (73), 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](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/military-sentencing-guidelines-federal-system/) (the background article) - [Federal Prosecution Analysis](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal/) (all federal posts) - [How the Federal Comparison Data Was Built](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-data-methodology/) (sources and method) - [§2X3.1 Accessory After the Fact: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2x3-1-accessory-after-the-fact/) (overview) - [§2X3.1 Accessory After the Fact: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2024](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2x3-1-accessory-after-the-fact-fy2024/) (previous or next fiscal year) - [How Often Federal Judges Sentence Outside the Guideline Range](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-sentences-outside-guideline-range/) - [Mandatory Minimums: How Many Federal Sentences Are Set by Congress](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-mandatory-minimum-sentences/) - [U.S. Sentencing Commission, Individual Offender Datafiles](https://www.ussc.gov/research/datafiles/commission-datafiles?ref=bodiesburied.com) (source) - [Federal Judicial Center, Integrated Database (criminal defendants)](https://www.fjc.gov/research/idb?ref=bodiesburied.com) (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](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/?ref=bodiesburied.com). This analysis is for education and information only. It is not legal advice, and every case is different.