§2X5.2 Class A Misdemeanors (Not Covered by Another Specific Offense Guideline): Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025
Guideline §2X5.2 covers Class A misdemeanors not covered by another specific offense guideline. In fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 2,037 people were sentenced under it. Probation only went to 995 (49%), prison to 987 (48%), and the median prison term was 3 months.
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In brief: Guideline §2X5.2 covers Class A misdemeanors not covered by another specific offense guideline. In fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 2,037 people were sentenced under it. Probation only went to 995 (49%), prison to 987 (48%), and the median prison term was 3 months.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 2,037 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal years 2016 to 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.
Probation and Short Prison Terms
The U.S. Sentencing Guidelines Manual titles §2X5.2 "Class A Misdemeanors (Not Covered by Another Specific Offense Guideline)." The U.S. Sentencing Commission counted 2,037 people sentenced in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose primary guideline was §2X5.2. Their offense type is recorded as Other.
Probation only, with no prison or other confinement, went to 995 people (49%). A prison term went to 987 (48%). Prison terms were short: the median was 3 months, a quarter received 8 months or more, and a quarter received 0.3 months or less.
These are terms imposed, not time served. The low end of the range shows that some prison terms were very short.
Pleas and Trials
A total of 1,988 people (98%) pleaded guilty, and 49 were convicted after a trial. The median prison term was 3 months after a guilty plea and 2.2 months after a trial. The trial figure rests on 22 people, so it is a small base.
Among the guilty pleas, 33% had a written plea agreement and 58% were straight pleas with no agreement. Straight pleas were the larger group.
Most Sentences Were Within the Range
The sentence position is known for 2,034 people. Within the guideline range was 84% (1,704), and above the range was 15% (296).
Below the range at the government's request was less than 1% (9), and below the range without a government request was 1% (25). Sentences above the range were the second most common result after within the range.
Supervised Release, Fines, and Restitution
A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 3 people (less than 1%).
Supervised release after prison was ordered for 714 people (35%), with a median term of 12 months.
A fine was ordered for 1,035 people (51%), and restitution for 83 (4%). Fines were the most common financial penalty here.
In criminal history, 81% were in category I, the lowest, and 2% were in category VI, the highest.
Changes Over the Years
The count was 749 people in fiscal years 2016 to 2019 and 1,288 in fiscal years 2020 to 2025. The median prison term was 3 months in both periods.
Yearly medians moved widely, from 7 months in 2023 to 0.3 months in 2024 and 0.1 months in 2025. The number sentenced was 339 in 2023, the highest in the table. The records cannot show why any of these years differ.
The table lists each year.
| 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 Records Cannot Show
The approved crosswalk lists no close court-martial counterpart for this guideline. The data also does not say which misdemeanor each person was convicted of, since the guideline applies when no other specific guideline covers the offense. It counts only people who were convicted and sentenced.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2X5.2 (2,037), from the U.S. Sentencing Commission's 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)
- §2X4.1 Misprision of Felony: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025 (same guideline chapter part)
- §2X3.1 Accessory After the Fact: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025 (same guideline chapter part)
- §2X1.1 Attempt, Solicitation, or Conspiracy (Not Covered by a Specific Offense Guideline): Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025 (same guideline chapter part)
- §2X7.2 Submersible and Semi-Submersible Vessels: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025 (same guideline chapter part)
- 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.