Federal Other Drug Trafficking Sentences, Fiscal Year 2022
For fiscal year 2022, the U.S. Sentencing Commission counted 675 people sentenced for trafficking in the other drug category. 544 of them (81%) received a prison term, and 107 (16%) received probation only. The median prison term was 32.3 months (2.7 years), the lowest yearly median in the table for
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › Drug Distribution and Importation › Other Drug: FY2022
In brief: For fiscal year 2022, the U.S. Sentencing Commission counted 675 people sentenced for trafficking in the other drug category. 544 of them (81%) received a prison term, and 107 (16%) received probation only. The median prison term was 32.3 months (2.7 years), the lowest yearly median in the table for fiscal years 2016 to 2025.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 675 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2022. 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.
Probation Only for 107 People
In fiscal year 2022, 107 people in this category were sentenced to probation only. They received no prison or other confinement. That was 16% of the 675 people sentenced.
Prison terms went to 544 people, or 81%. The records do not show the reasons a court chose probation over prison in any case.
The Median Prison Term
Among the 544 people sent to prison, the median term was 32.3 months. A quarter were sentenced to 70 months or more, and a quarter to 12 months or less.
Every other year in the yearly table has a higher median. Over fiscal years 2016 to 2025 together, the median for this category was 40 months. Across every drug sentenced under §2D1.1 in fiscal year 2022, which covered 19,612 people, the median was 60 months.
| 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% |
Defining the Group
The Commission records one primary drug type for each case under guideline §2D1.1. This post covers cases where that type was other. The records used here do not list which drugs that includes.
People who were acquitted or whose cases were dismissed are not in the data, which holds only sentenced people. Fiscal year 2022 covered October 1, 2021, through September 30, 2022.
Mandatory Minimum Prison Terms
A statute required a minimum prison term for 93 people, or 14%. For this category across fiscal years 2016 to 2025 the share was 23%. For all drugs in fiscal year 2022 it was 67%.
How the Cases Were Resolved
Guilty pleas resolved 654 of the 675 cases (97%). The other 21 people were convicted after a trial.
Written plea agreements accompanied 94% of the guilty pleas. Straight pleas, without any agreement, were 6%.
The median prison term after a guilty plea was 30 months. After a trial it was 150 months, based on 19 people convicted at trial and sent to prison. Because the trial group is small, its median describes only a few cases.
Sentences Compared With the Guidelines
A position against the guideline range was recorded for all 675 people. The government asked for a sentence below the range in 44% of cases (299), the most common result.
Below-range sentences without a government request were 32% (215). Within-range sentences were 22% (146). Above-range sentences were 2% (15).
Supervised Release, Fines, and Prior Records
Courts ordered supervised release for 537 people (80%). The median supervision term was 36 months.
A fine was ordered for 81 people (12%) and restitution for 40 (6%). By criminal history, 60% were in category I, the lowest, and 4% were in category VI, the highest.
What Is Missing
Military courts-martial do not record drug type in a form that can be counted and have no criminal history field, so there is no military figure here. Military drug distribution cases are compared in the drug distribution posts.
The federal records also do not show the drug amounts involved or the strength of the evidence.
How We Counted
People sentenced in fiscal year 2022 whose primary guideline was §2D1.1 and whose primary drug type was other (675), 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 2021 (previous or next year)
- Federal Other Drug Trafficking Sentences, Fiscal Year 2023 (previous or next year)
- Federal Methamphetamine Trafficking Sentences, Fiscal Year 2022 (same year, other drug)
- Federal Powder Cocaine Trafficking Sentences, Fiscal Year 2022 (same year, other drug)
- Federal Heroin Trafficking Sentences, Fiscal Year 2022 (same year, other drug)
- Federal Fentanyl Trafficking Sentences, Fiscal Year 2022 (same year, other drug)
- Federal Marijuana Trafficking Sentences, Fiscal Year 2022 (same year, other drug)
- Federal Crack Cocaine Trafficking Sentences, Fiscal Year 2022 (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.