> ## 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. # §2X4.1 Misprision of Felony: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2023 - URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2x4-1-misprision-of-felony-fy2023/ - Published: 2026-11-04T10:24:11.000Z - Updated: 2026-11-04T10:24:11.000Z - Description: The median prison term under §2X4.1 in fiscal year 2023 was 10.3 months, which is lower than the 12 months listed for most other years in the yearly table. The count was 151 people, and 100% 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/) › [§2X4.1 Misprision of Felony](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2x4-1-misprision-of-felony/) › §2X4.1: FY2023 **In brief:** The median prison term under §2X4.1 in fiscal year 2023 was 10.3 months, which is lower than the 12 months listed for most other years in the yearly table. The count was 151 people, and 100% 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 151 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2023\. 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/). ## A Median of 10.3 Months Of the 151 people sentenced in fiscal year 2023, 80 (53%) received a prison term. The median among them was 10.3 months. The yearly table lists 12 months for most other years. A quarter of those sent to prison received 21.6 months or more, and a quarter received 0.5 months or less. Because the middle of the group can move with a handful of sentences, the 10.3-month figure should not be read as a change in how these cases are sentenced. The records do not show why it differs. Probation only, with no prison or other confinement, went to 63 people (42%). ## Reform Context Fiscal year 2023 ran from October 1, 2022 to September 30, 2023\. The data covers only a single year of results, and it may be too early to tell whether any guideline change had an effect on cases like these. The next year, 2024, had a median of 12 months, and the previous year, 2022, also had 12 months. ## Sentences Against the Guideline Range A sentence within the range was imposed for 39% (59). Below the range at the government's request were 30% (46), and below the range without a request were 26% (40). Above the range were 4% (6). The previous year had 46% within the range, and the next year had 43%. For §2X4.1 across 2016 to 2025 the figure was 48%, and for all federal cases in fiscal year 2023 it was 42%. ## Plea Agreements and Mandatory Minimums All 151 people (100%) pleaded guilty, and 0 were convicted after a trial. Every plea had a written plea agreement (100%), and 0% were straight pleas. A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 0 of the 151 people with that information recorded (0%). ## Supervised Release, Money Orders, and Criminal History Supervised release was ordered for 76 people (50%), with a median term of 12 months. A fine was ordered for 19 (13%), and restitution for 17 (11%). In criminal history, 71% were in category I, the lowest, and 3% were in category VI, the highest. Court-martial records have no criminal history field. ## Guideline Title and Comparison Totals The Guidelines Manual calls §2X4.1 "Misprision of Felony". The Commission places all 151 cases in the Administration of Justice offense type. All federal cases in fiscal year 2023 totaled 64,124 people, with a median prison term of 30 months and 97% guilty pleas. Under §2X4.1 from 2016 to 2025, there were 2,122 people, with 54% sent to prison. | 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 The Commission's data leaves out acquittals and dismissals. No close court-martial counterpart exists in the crosswalk, so this post covers federal numbers alone. The prison terms are those imposed, not time served, and the records do not give the facts of any case or the reasons for any sentence. ### How We Counted Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2023 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2X4.1 (151), 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](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) - [§2X4.1 Misprision of Felony: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2x4-1-misprision-of-felony/) (overview) - [§2X4.1 Misprision of Felony: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2022](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2x4-1-misprision-of-felony-fy2022/) (previous or next fiscal year) - [§2X4.1 Misprision of Felony: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2024](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2x4-1-misprision-of-felony-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.