Federal Heroin Trafficking Sentences, Fiscal Year 2023
In fiscal year 2023, 1,005 people were sentenced in federal court for trafficking where heroin was the primary drug. The median prison term for those sent to prison was 54 months (4.5 years), lower than the 65 months for all federal drug trafficking. A mandatory minimum applied to 603 of them (60%).
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In brief: In fiscal year 2023, 1,005 people were sentenced in federal court for trafficking where heroin was the primary drug. The median prison term for those sent to prison was 54 months (4.5 years), lower than the 65 months for all federal drug trafficking. A mandatory minimum applied to 603 of them (60%).
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 1,005 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2023. 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.
How Many Heroin Cases Were Sentenced in Fiscal Year 2023?
The Sentencing Commission counted 1,005 heroin trafficking sentences in fiscal year 2023. In fiscal year 2022 the count was 1,598, and in fiscal year 2016 it was 2,772.
The records count sentences, not arrests or drug activity. They cannot show why fewer heroin cases were sentenced.
Heroin Against the All-Drug Totals
All §2D1.1 trafficking in fiscal year 2023 covered 18,640 people, every drug included. Their median prison term was 65 months, and a mandatory minimum applied to 65%.
Heroin cases had a lower median, 54 months, and a lower mandatory minimum rate, 60%. The heroin median for fiscal year 2023 was the same as its median across fiscal years 2016 to 2025, which was also 54 months.
Prison and Probation
967 of the 1,005 (96%) received a prison term, and 28 (3%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement.
The median prison term among those in prison was 54 months. The top quarter received 90 months or more. The bottom quarter received 24 months or less.
Below the Range, Within It, or Above It
The guideline range is the sentencing guidelines' recommended span of months. All 1,005 cases had the sentence's position recorded.
Below-range sentences at the government's request were the largest group: 425 people, or 42%. Within-range sentences covered 308 (31%). Below-range sentences without a government request covered 240 (24%). Above-range sentences covered 32 (3%).
Pleading Guilty Versus Going to Trial
979 of 1,005 people (97%) pleaded guilty. 26 were convicted after a trial.
The median prison term after a guilty plea was 51 months. For the 26 people convicted at trial and sent to prison, it was 153.5 months. A group of 26 is small, and the data does not show how those cases differed from plea cases.
Among guilty pleas, 93% included a written plea agreement and 7% did not.
Supervision, Penalties, and Records
After prison, 950 people (95%) were ordered to serve supervised release, with a median term of 36 months.
A fine was imposed on 53 people (5%). Restitution was ordered for 9 (less than 1%).
In criminal history, 40% were in category I, the lowest, and 15% in category VI, the highest.
Each Year of Heroin Sentencing
The table shows heroin sentencing for fiscal years 2016 through 2025: the count, median prison term, and share pleading guilty. Over the full period, 17,665 people were sentenced and 56% had a mandatory minimum.
| 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% |
Limits on What the Numbers Show
People who were acquitted, or whose cases were dismissed, are not in Commission data. Fiscal year 2023 ran from October 1 to September 30.
The drug is the primary drug type recorded for the case. Courts-martial lack a countable drug type field, and military drug distribution cases are compared in separate posts.
How We Counted
People sentenced in fiscal year 2023 whose primary guideline was §2D1.1 and whose primary drug type was heroin (1,005), 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 2022 (previous or next year)
- Federal Heroin Trafficking Sentences, Fiscal Year 2024 (previous or next year)
- Federal Methamphetamine Trafficking Sentences, Fiscal Year 2023 (same year, other drug)
- Federal Powder Cocaine Trafficking Sentences, Fiscal Year 2023 (same year, other drug)
- Federal Fentanyl Trafficking Sentences, Fiscal Year 2023 (same year, other drug)
- Federal Marijuana Trafficking Sentences, Fiscal Year 2023 (same year, other drug)
- Federal Crack Cocaine Trafficking Sentences, Fiscal Year 2023 (same year, other drug)
- Federal Other Drug Trafficking Sentences, Fiscal Year 2023 (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.