§2X4.1 Misprision of Felony: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2024
In fiscal year 2024, 8% of the 170 people sentenced under §2X4.1 received a sentence above the guideline range (14). Prison went to 98 people (58%), and probation only went to 64 (38%). The median prison term was 12 months.
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › §2X4.1 Misprision of Felony › §2X4.1: FY2024
In brief: In fiscal year 2024, 8% of the 170 people sentenced under §2X4.1 received a sentence above the guideline range (14). Prison went to 98 people (58%), and probation only went to 64 (38%). The median prison term was 12 months.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 170 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2024. 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.
Above-Range Sentences
A sentence above the guideline range was imposed for 14 of the 170 people (8%). The Commission recorded range information for all 170.
Within the range were 73 people (43%). Below the range at the government's request were 43 (25%), and below the range without a government request were 40 (24%).
In the previous year, 2023, 39% were within the range, and in the next year, 2025, 44% were. Over 2016 to 2025, §2X4.1 had 48% within the range, and all federal cases in fiscal year 2024 had 46%. The records do not show why any court went above the range.
Prison Terms and Probation
Of the 170 people, 98 (58%) were sentenced to prison, and 64 (38%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement.
The median prison term was 12 months. A quarter of those sent to prison received 20 months or more, and a quarter received 6 months or less. The 2023 median was 10.3 months, which is lower.
Supervised release after prison was ordered for 95 people (56%), with a median term of 12 months.
Fines and Restitution
A fine was ordered for 24 people (14%), and restitution for 28 (16%). The data gives counts of orders and not dollar amounts.
Every Case Ended in a Guilty Plea
All 170 people (100%) pleaded guilty. None was convicted after a trial, so there is no trial comparison for this year.
Among the guilty pleas, 98% had a written plea agreement and 2% were straight pleas. A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 0 of the 170 people with that information recorded (0%).
Criminal History, Title, and Totals
In criminal history, 71% of the people were in category I, the lowest, and 4% were in category VI, the highest.
The Guidelines Manual title of §2X4.1 is "Misprision of Felony", and the Commission's offense type for these cases is Administration of Justice.
Fiscal year 2024 ran from October 1, 2023 to September 30, 2024. All federal cases under every guideline totaled 61,678 people, with a median prison term of 30 months and 97% 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 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% |
What the Records Cannot Answer
The Commission counts only convicted and sentenced people. Acquittals and dismissals are not in the files, and the terms shown are those imposed rather than served.
There is no close court-martial counterpart to this guideline in the crosswalk, so the post uses federal figures only. A count of 14 above-range sentences is small, and one year is not a trend.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2024 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2X4.1 (170), 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 2023 (previous or next fiscal year)
- §2X4.1 Misprision of Felony: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2025 (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.