> ## 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 2025 - URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-other-drug-trafficking-sentences-fy2025/ - Published: 2026-11-03T06:12:07.000Z - Updated: 2026-11-03T06:12:07.000Z - Description: The median prison term for federal trafficking in the other drug category was 43 months (3.6 years) in fiscal year 2025. That was higher than the 40-month median for this category across fiscal years 2016 to 2025. The year had 425 people sentenced, the fewest of any year in the table, and 371 of the - 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: FY2025 **In brief:** The median prison term for federal trafficking in the other drug category was 43 months (3.6 years) in fiscal year 2025\. That was higher than the 40-month median for this category across fiscal years 2016 to 2025\. The year had 425 people sentenced, the fewest of any year in the table, and 371 of them (87%) went to prison. 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 425 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2025\. 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/). ## A Median Above the Figure for All Years Among the 371 people sent to prison in fiscal year 2025, the median term was 43 months. A quarter of them received 90 months or more. A quarter received 16.5 months or less. The category's median for fiscal years 2016 to 2025 as a whole was 40 months, which is lower. The yearly table shows the median for each year, from 32.3 months to 48 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% | ## The Smallest Yearly Count The U.S. Sentencing Commission recorded 425 people in this category for fiscal year 2025\. Every earlier year in the table had more. Over fiscal years 2016 to 2025, the category included 10,564 people. The records count sentencings only. They do not show how many cases were charged, dismissed, or still pending, so they cannot explain the lower count. ## Defining Other Drug Each case sentenced under guideline §2D1.1 carries one primary drug type in the Commission's records. The cases in this post carry the type other. The data used does not break that type down by substance. Fiscal year 2025 ran from October 1, 2024, to September 30, 2025\. Acquittals and dismissals are not part of the data. ## All Drugs in Fiscal Year 2025 For every drug sentenced under §2D1.1 in fiscal year 2025, the Commission counted 15,950 people. The median prison term for that full group was 72 months, higher than in the other drug category. A mandatory minimum applied to 58% of the full group. In the other drug category it applied to 77 people, or 18%, compared with 23% for the category over fiscal years 2016 to 2025. ## Trial Convictions and Guilty Pleas 404 people pleaded guilty, which is 95% of the 425\. 21 people were convicted after a trial. The median prison term after a guilty plea was 41 months. The median after a trial was 87 months, based on the 18 trial defendants who were sent to prison. That is a small group of cases. Of the guilty pleas, 94% included a written plea agreement. Straight pleas with no agreement were 6%. ## Sentences Against the Guideline Range All 425 sentences had a recorded guideline position. Below the range at the government's request was the most common, at 38% (163). Below the range without a government request followed at 33% (141). Within-range sentences were 25% (108). Above-range sentences were 3% (13). ## Probation, Supervision, and Other Terms Probation only, with no prison or other confinement, was ordered for 45 people (11%). Supervised release was ordered for 365 people (86%), with a median term of 36 months. A fine was ordered for 47 people (11%) and restitution for 25 (6%). Of the group, 56% were in criminal history category I, the lowest, and 8% were in category VI, the highest. ## What Remains Unknown Court-martial records do not record drug type in a form that can be counted and have no criminal history field. No military figure appears here, and military drug distribution cases are compared in the drug distribution posts. The federal data cannot show what drugs or amounts were involved, or why the median was higher in fiscal year 2025. ### How We Counted People sentenced in fiscal year 2025 whose primary guideline was §2D1.1 and whose primary drug type was other (425), 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 2024](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-other-drug-trafficking-sentences-fy2024/) (previous or next year) - [Federal Methamphetamine Trafficking Sentences, Fiscal Year 2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-methamphetamine-trafficking-sentences-fy2025/) (same year, other drug) - [Federal Powder Cocaine Trafficking Sentences, Fiscal Year 2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-powder-cocaine-trafficking-sentences-fy2025/) (same year, other drug) - [Federal Heroin Trafficking Sentences, Fiscal Year 2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-heroin-trafficking-sentences-fy2025/) (same year, other drug) - [Federal Fentanyl Trafficking Sentences, Fiscal Year 2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-fentanyl-trafficking-sentences-fy2025/) (same year, other drug) - [Federal Marijuana Trafficking Sentences, Fiscal Year 2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-marijuana-trafficking-sentences-fy2025/) (same year, other drug) - [Federal Crack Cocaine Trafficking Sentences, Fiscal Year 2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-crack-cocaine-trafficking-sentences-fy2025/) (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.