§2X4.1 Misprision of Felony: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2020
Fiscal year 2020 had 155 people sentenced under §2X4.1, down from 268 the year before. Of them, 76 (49%) received a prison term and 68 (44%) received probation only. The median prison term was 12 months, and all 155 pleaded guilty.
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In brief: Fiscal year 2020 had 155 people sentenced under §2X4.1, down from 268 the year before. Of them, 76 (49%) received a prison term and 68 (44%) received probation only. The median prison term was 12 months, and all 155 pleaded guilty.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 155 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2020. 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.
A Smaller Group in Fiscal Year 2020
The Sentencing Commission counted 155 people whose primary guideline was §2X4.1 in fiscal year 2020. The count was 268 in 2019 and 173 in 2021. The yearly table at the end of this post shows every year.
The records do not say why the count was lower. Fiscal year 2020 ended on September 30, 2020, and it began on October 1, 2019. The records cannot show whether any event during that period affected these cases.
All federal cases that year, under every guideline, totaled 64,565 people. Their median prison term was 18 months, and 98% pleaded guilty.
Prison and Probation Split
Prison went to 76 of the 155 people (49%), and probation only, with no prison or other confinement, went to 68 (44%).
The median prison term was 12 months. A quarter of those sent to prison received 21 months or more, and a quarter received 3 months or less. The figures are the terms the court imposed. They are not the months people actually spent in custody.
Supervised release was ordered for 73 people (47%), with a median term of 12 months. A fine was ordered for 22 (14%), and restitution for 21 (14%).
Sentences and the Guideline Range
A sentence within the range was imposed for 47% (73). A sentence below the range at the government's request was imposed for 25% (38), and below the range without a government request for 23% (36). A sentence above the range was imposed for 5% (8).
The previous year had 60% within the range, and the next year had 49%. Over 2016 to 2025, the figure for §2X4.1 was 48%. For all federal cases in fiscal year 2020, it was 50%.
Pleas, Plea Agreements, and Mandatory Minimums
All 155 people (100%) pleaded guilty, and none was convicted after a trial. Of the pleas, 97% had a written plea agreement and 2% were straight pleas with no agreement.
A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 0 of the 155 people with that information recorded (0%).
Criminal History and Guideline Title
In criminal history, 68% were in category I, the lowest, and 3% were in category VI, the highest. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.
In the Guidelines Manual, §2X4.1 carries the title "Misprision of Felony". All 155 cases belong to the Commission's Administration of Justice offense type.
Across 2016 to 2025, §2X4.1 covered 2,122 people, with 54% sent to prison and a median prison term of 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 Data Does Not Contain
The Commission data lists convicted and sentenced people and nothing else. A charge that ended in acquittal or dismissal would not show up in these counts, and the data cannot say how many such charges there were.
This guideline has no close match among court-martial offenses in the approved crosswalk. For that reason no military figure is set beside these federal ones.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2020 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2X4.1 (155), 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 2019 (previous or next fiscal year)
- §2X4.1 Misprision of Felony: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2021 (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.