> ## 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 Powder Cocaine Trafficking Sentences, Fiscal Year 2025 - URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-powder-cocaine-trafficking-sentences-fy2025/ - Published: 2026-11-03T06:11:48.000Z - Updated: 2026-11-03T06:11:48.000Z - Description: The 2,915 people sentenced in federal court for powder cocaine trafficking in fiscal year 2025 had a median prison term of 60 months (5 years). Across all drug trafficking cases under guideline §2D1.1 that year, the median was 72 months, so powder cocaine terms were lower at the median. People convi - 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/) › Powder Cocaine: FY2025 **In brief:** The 2,915 people sentenced in federal court for powder cocaine trafficking in fiscal year 2025 had a median prison term of 60 months (5 years). Across all drug trafficking cases under guideline §2D1.1 that year, the median was 72 months, so powder cocaine terms were lower at the median. People convicted at trial had a median of 121 months. 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 2,915 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/). ## Fiscal Year 2025 Next to All Drug Types In fiscal year 2025, the U.S. Sentencing Commission recorded 15,950 people sentenced for drug trafficking under §2D1.1, counting every drug. Powder cocaine was the primary drug for 2,915 of them. The all-drug median prison term was 72 months, higher than the 60 months for powder cocaine. A mandatory minimum applied to 58% of the all-drug group and to 1,884 powder cocaine cases (65%). A mandatory minimum is a prison term set by statute as the least a court may usually impose. ## Sentences Imposed Prison terms were ordered for 2,828 people, or 97%. Another 77 people (3%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement. Among people sent to prison, the median term was 60 months. Terms of 94.2 months or more made up the top quarter. Terms of 30 months or less made up the bottom quarter. The sheet lists no life sentences for this year. ## Trial Verdicts and Guilty Pleas Trials ended in conviction for 63 people. Guilty pleas accounted for the other 2,852 (98%). The median prison term was 60 months for a guilty plea and 121 months for a trial conviction. Every one of the 63 people convicted at trial was sent to prison. These medians come from different sets of cases, and the trial set is small. They do not show what sentence any person would have received by choosing differently. Most guilty pleas, 90%, were made under a written plea agreement. Straight pleas made up 10%. ## How Sentences Compared With the Guideline Range The guideline range is the recommended sentence in months under the federal sentencing guidelines. Of the 2,913 sentences with range information, 1,063 (36%) were within it. Below-range sentences requested by the government numbered 1,037 (36%). Below-range sentences without a government request numbered 746 (26%). Above-range sentences numbered 67 (2%). Within-range sentences and government-requested below-range sentences had the same share in fiscal year 2025, 36% each. The records note whether the government made a request but not its basis. ## Supervision, Fines, and Restitution Supervised release, the court supervision that follows a prison term, was ordered for 2,737 people (94%). Its median length was 36 months. Lifetime supervision was ordered for 9 people (less than 1%). Fines were ordered for 179 people (6%). Restitution was ordered for 11 (less than 1%). By prior record, 66% were in criminal history category I and 6% in category VI. ## Powder Cocaine Sentences From 2016 to 2025 Over fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 32,561 people were sentenced for powder cocaine trafficking. The median prison term across those years was 60 months, and a mandatory minimum applied to 69%. Fiscal year 2025 is the final row in the table. | 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% | ## What These Numbers Cannot Tell The data counts only people convicted and sentenced. It leaves out acquittals and dismissals. Fiscal year 2025 ran from October 1, 2024, to September 30, 2025. Courts-martial do not record drug type in a way that allows counting, so the post has no military comparison. Military drug distribution cases are compared in the drug distribution posts. The federal records also do not explain the reasons for any sentence. ### How We Counted People sentenced in fiscal year 2025 whose primary guideline was §2D1.1 and whose primary drug type was cocaine (2,915), 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 Powder Cocaine Trafficking Sentences, Fiscal Year 2024](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-powder-cocaine-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 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) - [Federal Other Drug Trafficking Sentences, Fiscal Year 2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-other-drug-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.