§2X4.1 Misprision of Felony: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2019
In fiscal year 2019, 161 of the 268 people sentenced under §2X4.1 (60%) received a prison term, and 96 (36%) received probation only. A sentence within the guideline range was also imposed for 60% (162). The median prison term was 12 months.
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In brief: In fiscal year 2019, 161 of the 268 people sentenced under §2X4.1 (60%) received a prison term, and 96 (36%) received probation only. A sentence within the guideline range was also imposed for 60% (162). The median prison term was 12 months.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 268 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2019. 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.
Prison Was More Common Than Probation
The Sentencing Commission recorded 268 people in fiscal year 2019 whose primary guideline was §2X4.1. Prison went to 161 of them (60%), and probation only, with no prison or other confinement, went to 96 (36%).
The median prison term was 12 months. A quarter received 24 months or more, and a quarter received 5.4 months or less.
Supervised release after prison was ordered for 145 people (54%), with a median term of 12 months.
The median prison term for all federal cases in fiscal year 2019 was 21 months, which is higher than under this guideline. The next year, 2020, had 155 people under §2X4.1, fewer than in 2019.
Sentences Within the Range
A sentence within the guideline range was imposed for 162 of the 268 people (60%). Below the range at the government's request were 45 (17%), and below the range without a government request were 49 (18%). Above the range were 12 (4%).
In the previous year, 2018, the within-range share was 41%, and in the next year, 2020, it was 47%. Over 2016 to 2025 the figure for §2X4.1 was 48%. For all federal cases in fiscal year 2019, it was 51%.
The 2019 figure is higher than the figures in the years on either side and higher than the all-years figure. The records do not show why.
Pleas and Mandatory Minimums
All 268 people (100%) pleaded guilty, and 0 were convicted after a trial. Of the pleas, 98% had a written plea agreement and 2% were straight pleas.
A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 0 of the 268 people with that information recorded (0%). A mandatory minimum is a prison term set by statute as a floor, and none was recorded for these cases.
Money Orders and Criminal History
A fine was ordered for 18 people (7%), and restitution for 30 (11%).
In criminal history, 71% 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.
About the Guideline and the Fiscal Year
The Guidelines Manual title of §2X4.1 is "Misprision of Felony". The Commission classifies all 268 cases as Administration of Justice.
Fiscal year 2019 ran from October 1, 2018 to September 30, 2019. All federal cases that year totaled 76,538 people, with a median prison term of 21 months and 98% guilty pleas.
From 2016 to 2025, §2X4.1 covered 2,122 people, with 54% sent to prison and a median prison term of 12 months. The table lists the count for each year.
| 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% |
Limits of the Records
The Commission counts only people who were convicted and sentenced. Acquittals and dismissals are not included, and prison terms are those imposed rather than served.
There is no close court-martial counterpart for this guideline in the crosswalk, so the post reports federal numbers on their own.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2019 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2X4.1 (268), 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 2018 (previous or next fiscal year)
- §2X4.1 Misprision of Felony: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2020 (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.