Federal Other Drug Trafficking Sentences, Fiscal Year 2020
Of the 1,845 people sentenced for federal trafficking in the other drug category in fiscal year 2020, 1,691 (92%) received a prison term. Their median term was 42 months (3.5 years). A mandatory minimum applied to 781 people, or 42%, compared with 23% for this category across fiscal years 2016 to 20
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › Drug Distribution and Importation › Other Drug: FY2020
In brief: Of the 1,845 people sentenced for federal trafficking in the other drug category in fiscal year 2020, 1,691 (92%) received a prison term. Their median term was 42 months (3.5 years). A mandatory minimum applied to 781 people, or 42%, compared with 23% for this category across fiscal years 2016 to 2025.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 1,845 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 Was the Usual Sentence
In fiscal year 2020, 92% of the people in this group were sentenced to prison. Only 112 people (6%) received probation alone, meaning no prison or other confinement.
The median prison term was 42 months. A quarter of the prison terms were 80 months or longer, and a quarter were 18 months or shorter. Life sentences went to 4 people.
Mandatory Minimums Applied More Often
A mandatory minimum is a minimum prison term required by statute. It applied to 781 of the 1,845 people in fiscal year 2020, or 42%.
Across fiscal years 2016 to 2025, a mandatory minimum applied to 23% of people in this category, a lower share. In the full §2D1.1 group for fiscal year 2020, every drug included, the share was 70%, higher than in the other drug category.
What Counts as Other Drug
The U.S. Sentencing Commission assigns a primary drug type to each case sentenced under guideline §2D1.1. This post covers the cases where the assigned type was other. The data used does not identify the specific substances.
Fiscal year 2020 started on October 1, 2019, and ended on September 30, 2020. The data counts people who were convicted and sentenced, and no one else.
A Long Median After Trial
57 people were convicted after a trial. Each of them was sent to prison, and their median prison term was 180 months.
The other 1,788 people (97%) pleaded guilty. Their median prison term was 41 months. Of the guilty pleas, 91% included a written plea agreement and 9% did not.
The trial group is small. Its cases were not selected to match the plea cases, and the records do not show how the charges or drug amounts compared.
Sentences and the Guideline Range
All 1,845 cases had a recorded position against the guideline range. Below the range at the government's request led at 36% (659).
Within-range sentences made up 32% (595). Below the range without a government request made up 29% (534). Above the range made up 3% (57).
Supervised Release, Fines, and Restitution
Supervised release followed prison for 1,665 people (90%). The median supervision term was 36 months, and 1 person (less than 1%) received it for life.
Fines were part of 148 sentences (8%), and restitution was part of 76 (4%). By criminal history, 46% were in category I and 11% in category VI.
Fiscal Year 2020 Against Other Years and Drugs
For every drug sentenced under §2D1.1 in fiscal year 2020, 15,965 people were counted, with a median prison term of 60 months. The 42-month median in the other drug category was lower.
Over fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 10,564 people were sentenced in this category, with a median of 40 months. The table lists every 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% |
Limits on What the Data Shows
There is no court-martial comparison. Military records do not record drug type in a form that can be counted, and they have no criminal history field. Military drug distribution cases are covered in the drug distribution posts.
The Commission's records show sentences, not the reasons behind them, and cannot show why the mandatory minimum share was higher in 2020.
How We Counted
People sentenced in fiscal year 2020 whose primary guideline was §2D1.1 and whose primary drug type was other (1,845), 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 2019 (previous or next year)
- Federal Other Drug 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 Marijuana Trafficking Sentences, Fiscal Year 2020 (same year, other drug)
- Federal Crack Cocaine 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.