Federal Marijuana Trafficking Sentences, Fiscal Year 2020
Federal courts sentenced 1,116 people for marijuana trafficking in fiscal year 2020. Of them, 983 (88%) received a prison term with a median of 21 months, and 99 (9%) received probation only. In 26% of cases (288), the judge sentenced below the guideline range without a government request.
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In brief: Federal courts sentenced 1,116 people for marijuana trafficking in fiscal year 2020. Of them, 983 (88%) received a prison term with a median of 21 months, and 99 (9%) received probation only. In 26% of cases (288), the judge sentenced below the guideline range without a government request.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 1,116 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.
Prison or Probation
The U.S. Sentencing Commission recorded a prison term for 983 of the 1,116 people. It recorded probation only, with no prison or other confinement, for 99.
For those who went to prison, the median term was 21 months. A quarter received 46 months or more. Another quarter received 10 months or less.
Across every drug sentenced under guideline §2D1.1 in fiscal year 2020, the median was 60 months, among 15,965 people. The marijuana median was lower. It was the same as the 21-month marijuana median for fiscal years 2016 to 2025.
Below-Range Sentences Without a Government Request
The guidelines give a range of months for each case. The Commission had the sentence position for 1,115 people in this group.
Judges went below the range on their own, without a government request, in 26% of cases (288). Below-range sentences that the government requested were 24% (270). Sentences inside the range were 48% (533). Above-range sentences were 2% (24).
The records show where each sentence fell. They do not show the reasons stated at sentencing.
A Small Number of Trials
Of the 1,116 people, 1,100 (99%) pleaded guilty. Only 16 were convicted after a trial.
Those 16 people were all sent to prison, and their median term was 95 months. The median after a guilty plea was 21 months. With only 16 trial convictions, the trial median rests on very few cases, and the records do not show how those cases differed from the pleas.
Most guilty pleas, 85%, were made under a written plea agreement. The other 15% were straight pleas with no agreement.
Mandatory Minimums
A mandatory minimum is a prison term set by statute that a judge must impose unless an exception applies. It applied in 449 marijuana cases (40%) in fiscal year 2020.
For all §2D1.1 cases that year, the share was 70%. For marijuana over fiscal years 2016 to 2025, it was 36%.
Yearly Counts
The table lists the number of people sentenced, the median prison term, and the guilty plea rate for each fiscal year from 2016 to 2025. Fiscal year 2020 ran from October 1, 2019, to September 30, 2020.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 3,398 | 18 months | 99% |
| 2017 | 2,730 | 18 months | 98% |
| 2018 | 2,101 | 21 months | 98% |
| 2019 | 1,665 | 24 months | 98% |
| 2020 | 1,116 | 21 months | 99% |
| 2021 | 986 | 23 months | more than 99% |
| 2022 | 796 | 24 months | 98% |
| 2023 | 557 | 25 months | 98% |
| 2024 | 464 | 30 months | more than 99% |
| 2025 | 378 | 30 months | 97% |
Supervised Release, Fines, Restitution, and Prior Record
Supervised release was ordered for 944 people (85%). The median supervised release term was 36 months. A fine was ordered for 75 people (7%), and restitution for 22 (2%).
In criminal history, 66% were in category I, the lowest. 3% were in category VI, the highest. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.
What These Numbers Do Not Cover
Only people convicted and sentenced are counted, so the data holds no acquittals or dismissals. Marijuana is the primary drug the Commission recorded, and some cases may involve other drugs.
Court-martial records do not track drug type in a form that can be counted. Military drug distribution cases are compared with federal cases in other posts.
How We Counted
People sentenced in fiscal year 2020 whose primary guideline was §2D1.1 and whose primary drug type was marijuana (1,116), 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 Marijuana Trafficking Sentences, Fiscal Year 2019 (previous or next year)
- Federal Marijuana Trafficking Sentences, Fiscal Year 2021 (previous or next year)
- Federal Methamphetamine Trafficking Sentences, Fiscal Year 2020 (same year, other drug)
- Federal Powder Cocaine Trafficking Sentences, Fiscal Year 2020 (same year, other drug)
- Federal Heroin Trafficking Sentences, Fiscal Year 2020 (same year, other drug)
- Federal Crack Cocaine Trafficking Sentences, Fiscal Year 2020 (same year, other drug)
- Federal Other Drug Trafficking Sentences, Fiscal Year 2020 (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.