Federal Powder Cocaine Trafficking Sentences, Fiscal Year 2022
Of the 3,303 people sentenced in federal court for powder cocaine trafficking in fiscal year 2022, 3,225 (98%) pleaded guilty, and 91% of those pleas came with a written plea agreement. The median prison term was 60 months (5 years) overall. It was 60 months after a plea and 144 months after a trial
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In brief: Of the 3,303 people sentenced in federal court for powder cocaine trafficking in fiscal year 2022, 3,225 (98%) pleaded guilty, and 91% of those pleas came with a written plea agreement. The median prison term was 60 months (5 years) overall. It was 60 months after a plea and 144 months after a trial.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 3,303 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.
Plea Agreements Were the Usual Path
The U.S. Sentencing Commission counted 3,303 people sentenced under guideline §2D1.1 in fiscal year 2022 whose primary drug was powder cocaine. Of these, 3,225 entered a guilty plea.
A written plea agreement accompanied 91% of the guilty pleas. Straight pleas, where the person pleads guilty with no agreement with the prosecution, were 8%.
Trials produced 78 convictions. That is a small number next to the plea total. A median built on a group this size can change noticeably from year to year.
Plea and Trial Medians
After a guilty plea, the median prison term was 60 months. After a trial conviction, it was 144 months. The trial median is based on 77 people who were convicted at trial and sent to prison.
These figures compare a group of plea cases with a group of trial cases. They do not show the result of a choice made by any one person. Charges, drug amounts, and prior records can differ between the groups, and the data here does not hold those things constant.
Below-Range Sentences Requested by the Government
For 3,302 sentences, the records show where the term fell against the guideline range, the span of months the guidelines recommend. The most common result was a sentence below the range at the government's request: 1,221 (37%).
Within-range sentences numbered 1,061 (32%). Below-range sentences with no government request numbered 972 (29%). Sentences above the range numbered 48 (1%).
Prison, Probation, and Mandatory Minimums
Prison was ordered for 3,216 people (97%). Probation only, with no prison or other confinement, was ordered for 66 (2%). Life sentences were given to 3 people.
Among people sent to prison, a quarter received 96 months or more, and a quarter received 30 months or less. The median for the year matched the 60-month median for all drugs.
A mandatory minimum term applied to 2,463 people (75%). For all §2D1.1 trafficking sentences that year, totaling 19,612 people across every drug, a mandatory minimum applied to 67%, and the median prison term was 60 months.
After Release From Prison
Courts ordered supervised release for 3,126 people (95%). The median length of that supervision was 48 months.
Fines appeared in 150 sentences (5%), and restitution in 20 (less than 1%).
A person's criminal history category is based on prior convictions, on a scale from category I to category VI. Criminal history scores put 62% in category I, the lowest, and 6% in category VI, the highest.
The Series From 2016 to 2025
The yearly table covers fiscal years 2016 to 2025, when 32,561 people in all were sentenced for powder cocaine trafficking. Their median prison term was 60 months. A mandatory minimum applied to 69% of them.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 3,642 | 60 months | 97% |
| 2017 | 3,796 | 60 months | 97% |
| 2018 | 3,523 | 60 months | 97% |
| 2019 | 3,430 | 60 months | 97% |
| 2020 | 2,519 | 57 months | 98% |
| 2021 | 2,763 | 60 months | 98% |
| 2022 | 3,303 | 60 months | 98% |
| 2023 | 3,347 | 60 months | 98% |
| 2024 | 3,323 | 60 months | 98% |
| 2025 | 2,915 | 60 months | 98% |
Questions the Records Cannot Answer
Sentencing Commission data contains only people who were convicted and sentenced. People who were acquitted, or whose charges were dismissed, are not counted. Fiscal year 2022 ran from October 1, 2021, to September 30, 2022.
The data cannot show what terms were offered during plea talks or why any agreement was reached. Court-martial records do not record drug type in a way that can be counted, so this post offers no military comparison. Drug distribution courts-martial are compared in the drug distribution posts.
How We Counted
People sentenced in fiscal year 2022 whose primary guideline was §2D1.1 and whose primary drug type was cocaine (3,303), 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 Powder Cocaine Trafficking Sentences, Fiscal Year 2021 (previous or next year)
- Federal Powder Cocaine Trafficking Sentences, Fiscal Year 2023 (previous or next year)
- Federal Methamphetamine 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)
- Federal Other Drug 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.