Federal Other Drug Trafficking Sentences, Fiscal Year 2018
A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 292 of the 1,376 people sentenced for other drug trafficking in fiscal year 2018, or 21%. The median prison term was 46 months (3.8 years). Of the 1,376, 1,210 (88%) were sent to prison.
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In brief: A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 292 of the 1,376 people sentenced for other drug trafficking in fiscal year 2018, or 21%. The median prison term was 46 months (3.8 years). Of the 1,376, 1,210 (88%) were sent to prison.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 1,376 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 Fiscal Year 2018
Some federal drug statutes set a minimum prison term that a judge generally must impose. In fiscal year 2018, such a minimum applied to 292 people in the other drug category. That was 21% of the group.
For this category over fiscal years 2016 to 2025, the share was 23%, so the 2018 figure was about the same. Across every drug sentenced under §2D1.1 in fiscal year 2018, a mandatory minimum applied to 61%, a higher share.
How the Group Is Defined
The U.S. Sentencing Commission tags each trafficking case with a primary drug type. Here, that tag was other rather than a named drug. The records used for this post do not say which substances the tag includes.
Only sentenced people are counted. Cases that ended in an acquittal or a dismissal are outside the data. Fiscal year 2018 covers October 1, 2017, to September 30, 2018.
What Prison Terms Looked Like
For the 1,210 people sent to prison, the median term was 46 months. One quarter of them received 87 months or more. Another quarter received 23 months or less.
Life sentences were imposed on 4 people. Probation only, with no prison or other confinement, was imposed on 112 people (8%).
Compared with all drugs that year, the 46-month median was lower: every §2D1.1 trafficking case in fiscal year 2018 combined had a median of 60 months, across 18,404 people. Compared with this category's 40-month median over fiscal years 2016 to 2025, it was higher.
Trial Convictions Were Few
Of the 1,376 people, 60 were convicted after a trial. The other 1,316 (96%) pleaded guilty, and 91% of those pleas were made under a written plea agreement. The remaining 9% pleaded guilty with no agreement.
The median prison term after a trial was 150.5 months, based on all 60 trial defendants, each of whom was sent to prison. After a guilty plea, the median was 42 months. The data does not show whether the trial cases involved larger drug amounts or other differences.
Below, Within, or Above the Guideline Range
The Commission recorded a guideline position for all 1,376 sentences. The most frequent was below the range at the government's request, at 37% (504).
Within the range accounted for 32% (439). Below the range without a government request accounted for 30% (406). Above the range accounted for 2% (27).
Supervision, Fines, Restitution, and Prior Record
Courts ordered supervised release for 1,195 people (87%), with a median term of 36 months. 1 person (less than 1%) received supervised release for life.
Fines were ordered for 128 people (9%). Restitution was ordered for 85 (6%).
In criminal history category I, the lowest, the Commission placed 50% of the group. Category VI, the highest, held 11%.
Fiscal Year 2018 in the Yearly Table
In all, 10,564 people were sentenced in this category from fiscal year 2016 through fiscal year 2025. The table gives the count, median prison term, and plea rate for each year.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 1,276 | 37 months | 97% |
| 2017 | 1,295 | 37 months | 96% |
| 2018 | 1,376 | 46 months | 96% |
| 2019 | 1,984 | 48 months | 97% |
| 2020 | 1,845 | 42 months | 97% |
| 2021 | 597 | 33 months | 97% |
| 2022 | 675 | 32.3 months | 97% |
| 2023 | 577 | 36.5 months | 95% |
| 2024 | 514 | 36 months | 96% |
| 2025 | 425 | 43 months | 95% |
What Cannot Be Measured
Courts-martial do not record drug type in a way that can be counted and have no criminal history field, so no military figure is given here. The drug distribution posts make the military comparison.
The records also cannot explain why the mandatory minimum share in this category differed from year to year.
How We Counted
People sentenced in fiscal year 2018 whose primary guideline was §2D1.1 and whose primary drug type was other (1,376), 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 Other Drug Trafficking Sentences, Fiscal Year 2017 (previous or next year)
- Federal Other Drug 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 Heroin 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)
- 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.