Federal Heroin Trafficking Sentences, Fiscal Year 2018
A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 1,455 of the 2,565 people sentenced for federal heroin trafficking in fiscal year 2018 (57%). The median prison term was 60 months (5 years), the same as the median for all federal drug trafficking that year. 2,503 (98%) pleaded guilty.
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In brief: A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 1,455 of the 2,565 people sentenced for federal heroin trafficking in fiscal year 2018 (57%). The median prison term was 60 months (5 years), the same as the median for all federal drug trafficking that year. 2,503 (98%) pleaded guilty.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 2,565 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2018. 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.
Mandatory Minimums in Heroin Cases, Fiscal Year 2018
A mandatory minimum is a floor set by statute. In drug cases it usually depends on the drug and the amount. For heroin in fiscal year 2018, one applied in 1,455 cases, or 57%.
That rate was lower than the 61% for all §2D1.1 trafficking cases that year. It was about the same as the 56% for heroin across fiscal years 2016 to 2025.
Median and Range of Prison Terms
Of the 2,565 people sentenced, 2,495 (97%) went to prison. 45 (2%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement.
The median prison term was 60 months. A quarter of those in prison received 96 months or more. A quarter received 27 months or less. 5 received a life sentence.
The every-drug median for fiscal year 2018 was also 60 months, across 18,404 people.
Who Pleaded Guilty and Who Went to Trial?
Guilty pleas accounted for 2,503 cases (98%). Trials ended in conviction for 62 people.
After a guilty plea, the median prison term was 57 months. After a trial, it was 174 months, counting the 62 people convicted at trial and sent to prison. The records do not show what drove that gap, and trial cases may differ from plea cases in many ways.
91% of guilty pleas were made under a written plea agreement. 9% were straight pleas without one.
Where Judges Set the Sentence
The Commission recorded the sentence's position against the guideline range for 2,563 people. The guideline range is the span of months the guidelines recommend for the offense and the person's record.
37% (951) were sentenced within the range. 34% (880) were sentenced below it at the government's request. 25% (652) were sentenced below it with no government request. 3% (80) received a sentence above the range.
Supervised Release, Fines, Restitution, and Criminal History
2,449 people (95%) were ordered to serve supervised release after prison, with a median term of 36 months.
Fines were ordered for 104 people (4%). Restitution was ordered for 55 (2%).
Criminal history category I, the lowest, covered 39%. Category VI, the highest, covered 15%. Court-martial records have no matching criminal history field.
Heroin Sentencing by Fiscal Year
The table gives the number sentenced, the median prison term, and the guilty plea rate for heroin in each fiscal year from 2016 to 2025. Over all those years, 17,665 people were sentenced, with a median prison term of 54 months.
Fiscal year 2018 and fiscal year 2019 share the highest median in the table, 60 months.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 2,772 | 48 months | 98% |
| 2017 | 2,661 | 51 months | 98% |
| 2018 | 2,565 | 60 months | 98% |
| 2019 | 2,484 | 60 months | 97% |
| 2020 | 1,857 | 53.7 months | 97% |
| 2021 | 1,771 | 48 months | 99% |
| 2022 | 1,598 | 57 months | 98% |
| 2023 | 1,005 | 54 months | 97% |
| 2024 | 597 | 48 months | 97% |
| 2025 | 355 | 51 months | 99% |
What Cannot Be Read From These Numbers
Only people convicted and sentenced appear in Sentencing Commission data. Acquittals and dismissals do not. Each fiscal year starts October 1 and ends September 30.
The drug label is the primary drug type the Commission entered for the case. Military records do not count drug type, so courts-martial are compared in the drug distribution posts instead. The data cannot show the reasons behind any sentence or any change between years.
How We Counted
People sentenced in fiscal year 2018 whose primary guideline was §2D1.1 and whose primary drug type was heroin (2,565), U.S. Sentencing Commission.
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.
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.
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)
- Drug Distribution and Importation: Federal vs. Court-Martial Sentences, 2016–2025 (overview)
- Federal Heroin Trafficking Sentences, Fiscal Year 2017 (previous or next year)
- Federal Heroin Trafficking Sentences, Fiscal Year 2019 (previous or next year)
- Federal Methamphetamine Trafficking Sentences, Fiscal Year 2018 (same year, other drug)
- Federal Powder Cocaine Trafficking Sentences, Fiscal Year 2018 (same year, other drug)
- Federal Marijuana Trafficking Sentences, Fiscal Year 2018 (same year, other drug)
- Federal Crack Cocaine Trafficking Sentences, Fiscal Year 2018 (same year, other drug)
- Federal Other Drug Trafficking Sentences, Fiscal Year 2018 (same year, other drug)
- Drug Distribution Sentences Since the 2023 Military Sentencing Reform: What the Data Shows So Far
- Drug Distribution Charges: How Often Federal Trials and Courts-Martial End in Acquittal
- §2D1.1 Unlawful Manufacturing, Importing, Exporting, or Trafficking (Including Possession with Intent to Commit These Offenses): Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025 (court-martial data)
- Army Article 112a Cases by the Numbers, 2021–2025 (court-martial data)
- Are Air Force Drug Courts-Martial Disappearing? Article 112a, 2016–2025 (court-martial data)
- Is Navy-Marine Corps Drug Prosecution Rising or Falling? Article 112a, 2017–2025 (court-martial data)
- Article 112a (Wrongful Use, Possession of Controlled Substances): Court-Martial Data and Trends (court-martial data)
- Article 112a UCMJ Drug Offenses and Positive Urinalysis (law firm reference page)
- 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.