> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.bodiesburied.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Federal Other Drug Trafficking Sentences, Fiscal Year 2019 - URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-other-drug-trafficking-sentences-fy2019/ - Published: 2026-11-03T06:12:05.000Z - Updated: 2026-11-03T06:12:05.000Z - Description: Federal courts sentenced 1,984 people for trafficking in the other drug category in fiscal year 2019, the highest yearly count in the Commission's table for fiscal years 2016 to 2025. The median prison term was 48 months (4 years), and a mandatory minimum applied to 698 people (35%). - Author: Jocelyn C. Stewart - Tags: Understanding Trends, Federal [Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/) › [Federal Prosecution Analysis](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal/) › [Drug Distribution and Importation](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-drug-distribution-importation-vs-article-112a/) › Other Drug: FY2019 **In brief:** Federal courts sentenced 1,984 people for trafficking in the other drug category in fiscal year 2019, the highest yearly count in the Commission's table for fiscal years 2016 to 2025\. The median prison term was 48 months (4 years), and a mandatory minimum applied to 698 people (35%). Updated November 3, 2026 · Sources: U.S. Sentencing Commission and Federal Judicial Center, fiscal years 2016–2025 This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 1,984 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2019\. 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](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal/) series, which builds on [Military Moves Toward Sentencing Guidelines to Mirror the Federal System](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/military-sentencing-guidelines-federal-system/). How the numbers were built: [How the Federal Comparison Data Was Built](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-data-methodology/). ## The Largest Year in the Table The yearly table for this drug category runs from fiscal year 2016 to fiscal year 2025\. No year in it has more people sentenced than fiscal year 2019, with 1,984\. Its median prison term of 48 months is also the highest in the table. The count covers people sentenced under guideline §2D1.1 whose primary drug type the U.S. Sentencing Commission coded as other. The Commission's files used here do not name the substances behind that code. | 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% | ## Prison Terms for the 1,783 People Sent to Prison A prison term was imposed on 1,783 of the 1,984 people, or 90%. Their median term was 48 months. At the upper end, a quarter received 86 months or more. At the lower end, a quarter received 18.5 months or less. 5 people received a life sentence. Probation only, without prison or other confinement, went to 154 people (8%). ## How the Year Compared With All Drugs In fiscal year 2019, 19,463 people were sentenced under §2D1.1 for every drug combined. Their median prison term was 60 months, higher than the other drug median of 48 months. A mandatory minimum applied to 69% of the all-drug group. In the other drug category it applied to 698 people, or 35%. Over fiscal years 2016 to 2025, the category's share was 23%, lower than the 2019 share. ## Plea Agreements and Trials Most people in this group pleaded guilty: 1,927 of 1,984 (97%). Trial convictions numbered 57. The median prison term was 46 months after a guilty plea and 150.5 months after a trial. The trial median rests on the 56 trial defendants who were sent to prison. Plea and trial cases can differ in drug amount and prior record, and the records do not adjust for that. Written plea agreements were part of 91% of the guilty pleas. Straight pleas, with no agreement, made up 9%. ## Where Sentences Fell Against the Recommended Range For all 1,984 people, the Commission recorded the sentence's position against the guideline range. Below the range at the government's request was the most common result, 37% (727). Sentences within the range were 32% (629), and sentences below the range without a government request were 29% (577). The remaining 3% (51) were above the range. ## Conditions Beyond the Prison Term Supervised release was ordered for 1,758 people (89%). The median term was 36 months. 6 people (less than 1%) were ordered to supervised release for life. A fine appeared in 140 sentences (7%) and restitution in 111 (6%). Criminal history category I, the lowest, covered 48% of the group, and category VI, the highest, covered 11%. ## Gaps in the Data These numbers count sentenced people only. Acquittals and dismissals are not part of the Commission's data. Fiscal year 2019 began on October 1, 2018, and ended on September 30, 2019. No court-martial figure is given. Military records lack a countable drug type field and a criminal history field, and military drug distribution cases are compared in the drug distribution posts. The records also cannot show why more people were sentenced in this category in 2019 than in other years. ### How We Counted People sentenced in fiscal year 2019 whose primary guideline was §2D1.1 and whose primary drug type was other (1,984), 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](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/military-sentencing-guidelines-federal-system/) (the background article) - [Federal Prosecution Analysis](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal/) (all federal posts) - [How the Federal Comparison Data Was Built](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-data-methodology/) (sources and method) - [Drug Distribution and Importation: Federal vs. Court-Martial Sentences, 2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-drug-distribution-importation-vs-article-112a/) (overview) - [Federal Other Drug Trafficking Sentences, Fiscal Year 2018](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-other-drug-trafficking-sentences-fy2018/) (previous or next year) - [Federal Other Drug Trafficking Sentences, Fiscal Year 2020](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-other-drug-trafficking-sentences-fy2020/) (previous or next year) - [Federal Methamphetamine Trafficking Sentences, Fiscal Year 2019](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-methamphetamine-trafficking-sentences-fy2019/) (same year, other drug) - [Federal Powder Cocaine Trafficking Sentences, Fiscal Year 2019](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-powder-cocaine-trafficking-sentences-fy2019/) (same year, other drug) - [Federal Heroin Trafficking Sentences, Fiscal Year 2019](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-heroin-trafficking-sentences-fy2019/) (same year, other drug) - [Federal Marijuana Trafficking Sentences, Fiscal Year 2019](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-marijuana-trafficking-sentences-fy2019/) (same year, other drug) - [Federal Crack Cocaine Trafficking Sentences, Fiscal Year 2019](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-crack-cocaine-trafficking-sentences-fy2019/) (same year, other drug) - [Drug Distribution Sentences Since the 2023 Military Sentencing Reform: What the Data Shows So Far](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-drug-distribution-2023-sentencing-reform-so-far/) - [Drug Distribution Charges: How Often Federal Trials and Courts-Martial End in Acquittal](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-drug-distribution-acquittal-rate-vs-courts-martial/) - [§2D1.1 Unlawful Manufacturing, Importing, Exporting, or Trafficking (Including Possession with Intent to Commit These Offenses): Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2d1-1-unlawful-manufacturing-importing-exporting-or-trafficking-including/) (court-martial data) - [Army Article 112a Cases by the Numbers, 2021–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/army-article-112a-trend-2021-2025/) (court-martial data) - [Are Air Force Drug Courts-Martial Disappearing? Article 112a, 2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/air-force-article-112a-trend-2016-2025/) (court-martial data) - [Is Navy-Marine Corps Drug Prosecution Rising or Falling? Article 112a, 2017–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/navy-marine-corps-article-112a-trend-2017-2025/) (court-martial data) - [Article 112a (Wrongful Use, Possession of Controlled Substances): Court-Martial Data and Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/article-112a-courts-martial/) (court-martial data) - [Article 112a UCMJ Drug Offenses and Positive Urinalysis](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/ucmj/article-112a-drug-offenses/?ref=bodiesburied.com) (law firm reference page) - [U.S. Sentencing Commission, Individual Offender Datafiles](https://www.ussc.gov/research/datafiles/commission-datafiles?ref=bodiesburied.com) (source) - [Federal Judicial Center, Integrated Database (criminal defendants)](https://www.fjc.gov/research/idb?ref=bodiesburied.com) (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](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/?ref=bodiesburied.com). This analysis is for education and information only. It is not legal advice, and every case is different.