§2X4.1 Misprision of Felony: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2017
The yearly table lists 306 people for fiscal year 2017, the most of any year from 2016 to 2025 under §2X4.1. Of them, 167 (55%) received a prison term and 127 (42%) received probation only. The median prison term was 12 months.
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In brief: The yearly table lists 306 people for fiscal year 2017, the most of any year from 2016 to 2025 under §2X4.1. Of them, 167 (55%) received a prison term and 127 (42%) received probation only. The median prison term was 12 months.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 306 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.
How Many People and What Sentences
In fiscal year 2017, the Sentencing Commission recorded 306 people sentenced with §2X4.1 as the primary guideline. Prison terms went to 167 (55%). Probation only, with no prison or other confinement, went to 127 (42%).
The median prison term was 12 months. A quarter of the people sent to prison received 21 months or more, and a quarter received 3.6 months or less.
After prison, 156 people (51%) were ordered to serve supervised release, and the median term was 12 months.
The median prison term for all federal cases in fiscal year 2017 was 24 months, which is higher than the median under this guideline. The groups contain different offenses, so the comparison describes the groups and not any single case.
Within, Below, and Above the Guideline Range
Range information was recorded for all 306 people. A sentence within the range was imposed for 52% (159). A sentence below the range at the government's request was imposed for 20% (61), and below the range without a government request for 26% (81). A sentence above the range was imposed for 2% (5).
The within-range share was 45% in the previous year, 2016, and 41% in the next, 2018. The all-years figure for §2X4.1 was 48%, and the figure for all federal cases in fiscal year 2017 was 49%.
No Trials and No Mandatory Minimums
All 306 people (100%) pleaded guilty, and 0 were convicted after a trial. A written plea agreement was part of 98% of the pleas, and 2% were straight pleas.
A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 0 of the 306 people with that information recorded (0%).
A fine was ordered for 38 people (12%), and restitution for 32 (10%).
Criminal History
In criminal history, 77% of the people were in category I, the lowest, and 3% were in category VI, the highest. Court-martial records have no criminal history field, so there is no military figure to set beside these.
The Guideline and the Fiscal Year
The Guidelines Manual title of §2X4.1 is "Misprision of Felony". The Commission places all 306 cases in the Administration of Justice offense type.
Fiscal year 2017 ran from October 1, 2016 to September 30, 2017. In that year, all federal cases under every guideline totaled 66,873 people, with a median prison term of 24 months and 97% guilty pleas.
From 2016 to 2025, §2X4.1 covered 2,122 people. Of them, 54% were sent to prison, and the median prison term was 12 months.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 290 | 12 months | 100% |
| 2017 | 306 | 12 months | 100% |
| 2018 | 234 | 12 months | 100% |
| 2019 | 268 | 12 months | 100% |
| 2020 | 155 | 12 months | 100% |
| 2021 | 173 | 12 months | 100% |
| 2022 | 213 | 12 months | 100% |
| 2023 | 151 | 10.3 months | 100% |
| 2024 | 170 | 12 months | 100% |
| 2025 | 162 | 12 months | 100% |
What the Records Cannot Show
The data includes only people who were convicted and sentenced. Acquittals and dismissals are not counted, and the prison terms are those imposed, not time served.
The crosswalk has no close court-martial counterpart for this guideline, so the numbers are federal only. The records do not explain why sentences differed between people.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2017 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2X4.1 (306), 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)
- §2X4.1 Misprision of Felony: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- §2X4.1 Misprision of Felony: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2016 (previous or next fiscal year)
- §2X4.1 Misprision of Felony: 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.