§2X4.1 Misprision of Felony: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2025
In fiscal year 2025, 162 people were sentenced under §2X4.1. Of them, 81% were in criminal history category I, the lowest. Prison went to 97 (60%), and probation only went to 61 (38%). The median prison term was 12 months.
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › §2X4.1 Misprision of Felony › §2X4.1: FY2025
In brief: In fiscal year 2025, 162 people were sentenced under §2X4.1. Of them, 81% were in criminal history category I, the lowest. Prison went to 97 (60%), and probation only went to 61 (38%). The median prison term was 12 months.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 162 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2025. 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.
Criminal History in the Fiscal Year 2025 Cases
The Sentencing Commission places each person in a criminal history category, with category I the lowest and category VI the highest. In fiscal year 2025, 81% of the 162 people under §2X4.1 were in category I, the lowest. Less than 1% were in category VI, the highest.
The Commission's records do not say whether that mix is tied to the sentences. Court-martial records have no criminal history field, so no military figure exists to compare.
Prison and Probation
Prison was imposed on 97 of the 162 people (60%). Probation only, with no prison or other confinement, was imposed on 61 (38%).
The median prison term was 12 months. A quarter of those sent to prison received 21 months or more, and a quarter received 0.1 months or less. The previous year's median was also 12 months.
After prison, 86 people (53%) were ordered to serve supervised release, with a median term of 12 months. A fine was ordered for 19 (12%), and restitution for 16 (10%).
Sentences and the Guideline Range
A sentence within the range was imposed for 44% (72). A sentence below the range at the government's request was imposed for 26% (42), and below the range without a request for 25% (40). A sentence above the range was imposed for 5% (8).
The previous year had 43% within the range. Across 2016 to 2025, the figure for §2X4.1 was 48%. For all federal cases in fiscal year 2025, it was 51%.
Pleas and Mandatory Minimums
All 162 people (100%) pleaded guilty, and 0 were convicted after a trial. Written plea agreements were part of 98% of the pleas, and 2% were straight pleas.
A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 0 of the 162 people with that information recorded (0%).
The Guideline, the Year, and the Totals
§2X4.1 is called "Misprision of Felony" in the Guidelines Manual. The Commission classifies the 162 cases as Administration of Justice.
The fiscal year ran from October 1, 2024 to September 30, 2025. In that year, 66,662 people were sentenced under every guideline, with a median prison term of 24 months and 98% guilty pleas.
Under §2X4.1 from 2016 to 2025, the total was 2,122 people. Of them, 54% were sent to prison, and the median prison term was 12 months. The table shows 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 Cannot Be Concluded
The data includes only people who were convicted and sentenced, so cases that ended in acquittal or dismissal are absent. The prison terms are those imposed, not time served.
The crosswalk has no close court-martial counterpart for this guideline, so only federal numbers appear here. One year of counts cannot show a trend.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2025 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2X4.1 (162), 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 2024 (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.