§2X5.2 Class A Misdemeanors (Not Covered by Another Specific Offense Guideline): Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2017
The median prison term under §2X5.2, "Class A Misdemeanors (Not Covered by Another Specific Offense Guideline)," was 1.5 months in fiscal year 2017. 169 people were sentenced, 109 (64%) received probation only, and 51 (30%) received a prison term.
· Understanding Trends in Military Practice · 6 min read
Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › §2X5.2 Class A Misdemeanors (Not Covered by Another Specific › §2X5.2: FY2017
In brief: The median prison term under §2X5.2, "Class A Misdemeanors (Not Covered by Another Specific Offense Guideline)," was 1.5 months in fiscal year 2017. 169 people were sentenced, 109 (64%) received probation only, and 51 (30%) received a prison term.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 169 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2017. 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 Median Prison Term of 1.5 Months
In fiscal year 2017, the U.S. Sentencing Commission counted 169 people with §2X5.2 as the primary guideline. Of these, 51 (30%) received a prison term.
The median prison term for those 51 people was 1.5 months. A quarter received 5.7 months or more, and a quarter received 0.4 months or less.
This median was lower than the 3 months for fiscal years 2016 to 2025 together. It was also lower than the 5 months in fiscal year 2016 and the 3 months in fiscal year 2018.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 177 | 5 months | 94% |
| 2017 | 169 | 1.5 months | 92% |
| 2018 | 189 | 3 months | 97% |
| 2019 | 214 | 5.1 months | more than 99% |
| 2020 | 142 | 4.6 months | 100% |
| 2021 | 175 | 2.2 months | 99% |
| 2022 | 214 | 3.3 months | more than 99% |
| 2023 | 339 | 7 months | 99% |
| 2024 | 202 | 0.3 months | 99% |
| 2025 | 216 | 0.1 months | 97% |
Probation and Supervised Release
Probation only, with no prison or other confinement, went to 109 of the 169 people (64%).
Supervised release after prison was ordered for 30 people (18%), with a median term of 12 months.
Guilty Pleas and Trials
A total of 156 of 169 people (92%) pleaded guilty, and 13 were convicted after a trial.
The median prison term was 1.3 months after a guilty plea. After a trial, it was 4 months, based on 7 people who were convicted at trial and sent to prison. That is a small group.
Among guilty pleas, 37% had a written plea agreement and 44% were straight pleas with no agreement.
Within the Range, Below It, and Above It
The Commission has range information for 168 people. A sentence within the guideline range was given to 157 (93%).
A sentence above the range was given to 5 (3%). A sentence below the range at the government's request was given to 2 (1%), and one below the range without a government request to 4 (2%).
A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 1 of the 107 people with that information recorded, which is less than 1%.
Fines, Restitution, and Criminal History
A fine was ordered for 105 people (62%), and restitution for 14 (8%).
In criminal history, 68% were in the lowest category (category I) and 3% were in the highest (category VI). Court-martial records have no criminal history field.
The Wider Numbers
For fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 2,037 people were sentenced under this guideline. In that period, 48% went to prison, 98% pleaded guilty, and 84% were within the range.
The previous year had 177 people and 92% within the range. The next year had 189 people and 96% within the range.
For all guidelines in fiscal year 2017, 66,873 people were sentenced, with a median prison term of 24 months and 49% within the range. The Commission places the §2X5.2 cases in the offense type Other.
Limits of the Records
The files include only convicted and sentenced people. Acquittals and dismissals are not counted, and prison terms are terms imposed, not time served.
Fiscal year 2017 ran from October 1, 2016 to September 30, 2017. The approved crosswalk has no close court-martial counterpart for this guideline, so the post reports federal numbers on their own.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2017 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2X5.2 (169), 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.
Mandatory minimum sentences. Many federal statutes on drugs, images of child exploitation, child sex abuse, and firearms carry mandatory minimum prison terms. The UCMJ has mandatory minimums only for a few offenses (a dishonorable discharge or dismissal for rape and sexual assault, and life for premeditated murder). Federal sentences for these offenses are partly set by Congress, not by the judge.
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)
- §2X5.2 Class A Misdemeanors (Not Covered by Another Specific Offense Guideline): Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- §2X5.2 Class A Misdemeanors (Not Covered by Another Specific Offense Guideline): Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2016 (previous or next fiscal year)
- §2X5.2 Class A Misdemeanors (Not Covered by Another Specific Offense Guideline): Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2018 (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.