§2X5.2 Class A Misdemeanors (Not Covered by Another Specific Offense Guideline): Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2020
All 142 people sentenced in fiscal year 2020 under §2X5.2, "Class A Misdemeanors (Not Covered by Another Specific Offense Guideline)," pleaded guilty (100%), and none were convicted after a trial. 86 (61%) received a prison term with a median of 4.6 months, and 53 (37%) received probation only.
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › §2X5.2 Class A Misdemeanors (Not Covered by Another Specific › §2X5.2: FY2020
In brief: All 142 people sentenced in fiscal year 2020 under §2X5.2, "Class A Misdemeanors (Not Covered by Another Specific Offense Guideline)," pleaded guilty (100%), and none were convicted after a trial. 86 (61%) received a prison term with a median of 4.6 months, and 53 (37%) received probation only.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 142 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.
Every Person Pleaded Guilty
The Sentencing Commission recorded 142 people sentenced in fiscal year 2020 with §2X5.2 as the primary guideline. All 142 pleaded guilty, and 0 were convicted after a trial.
Because no one went to trial, the data has no trial prison term to set beside the plea figures. The comparison made in other years is not possible here.
Among the guilty pleas, 23% had a written plea agreement and 71% were straight pleas with no agreement.
Prison Terms and Probation in Fiscal Year 2020
A prison term was given to 86 of the 142 people (61%). Probation only, meaning no prison or other confinement, was given to 53 (37%).
The median prison term was 4.6 months. A quarter of those sent to prison received 7.8 months or more, and a quarter received 1.4 months or less.
The share sent to prison was higher than the 48% across fiscal years 2016 to 2025. The median was also higher than the 3 months for that full period.
Sentences Above the Guideline Range
Range information is available for all 142 people. A sentence within the range was given to 114 (80%), and a sentence above the range to 24 (17%).
A sentence below the range was rare. One person (less than 1%) received a sentence below the range at the government's request, and 3 (2%) received one below the range without such a request.
The within-range share was lower than the 84% for the full period and higher than the 50% for all guidelines in fiscal year 2020. A mandatory minimum applied to 0 of the 93 people with that information recorded.
Supervised Release, Fines, and Restitution
Supervised release after prison was ordered for 69 people (49%), with a median term of 12 months.
A fine was ordered for 55 people (39%), and restitution for 5 (4%).
On criminal history, 74% were in the lowest category (category I) and 2% were in the highest (category VI). Court-martial records have no criminal history field.
The Years Around 2020
The previous year, 2019, had 214 people, a median prison term of 5.1 months, and 79% within the range. The next year, 2021, had 175 people, a median of 2.2 months, and 91% within the range. The table covers every year.
Across fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 2,037 people were sentenced under this guideline, and 98% pleaded guilty.
For everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2020, under every guideline, the count was 64,565 people. Their median prison term was 18 months. The Commission places the §2X5.2 cases in the offense type Other.
| 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% |
What the Data Does Not Say
Only convicted and sentenced people are in the files. Acquittals and dismissals are not, and prison terms are those imposed, not time served.
Fiscal year 2020 ran from October 1, 2019 to September 30, 2020. 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 2020 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2X5.2 (142), 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)
- §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 2019 (previous or next fiscal year)
- §2X5.2 Class A Misdemeanors (Not Covered by Another Specific Offense Guideline): 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.