Overview of Federal Criminal Cases

Fiscal Year 2017

UNITED STATES SENTENCING COMMISSION
United States Sentencing Commission

One Columbus Circle, N.E. Suite 2-500

Washington, DC 20002

www.ussc.gov

William H. Pryor Jr. 

Acting Chair

Rachel E. Barkow

Commissioner

Charles R. Breyer

Commissioner

Danny C. Reeves

Commissioner

J. Patricia Wilson Smoot

Ex Officio

Zachary C. Bolitho

Ex Officio

Kenneth P. Cohen 

Staff Director

Glenn R. Schmitt

Director

Office of Research and Data

June 2018
Overview of Federal Criminal Cases — Fiscal Year 2017

1

Overview of Federal Criminal Cases

Fiscal Year 2017

The United States Sentencing Commission1 received 

information on 67,004 federal criminal cases in which 

the offender was sentenced in fiscal year 2017.2 Among 

these cases, 66,873 involved an individual offender and 

131 involved a corporation or other “organizational” 

offender. Most of these cases were felony offenses.3 The 

Commission also received information on 5,243 cases 

in which the court resentenced the offender or modified 

the sentence that had been previously imposed. This 

publication provides an overview of those cases.

The Caseload at a Glance

The 66,873 individual original cases reported to the Commission in fiscal year 

2017 represent a decrease of 869 cases, or 1.3 percent, from the previous year. 

Between fiscal year 2011, the year in which the largest number of offenders 

were sentenced,4 and fiscal year 2017, the number of offenders sentenced in 

the federal courts has fallen each year, for a total decrease of 22.4 percent. 

However, the decrease last year was the smallest of any of the previous six 

years.

Fewer cases were reported for 

most offense types in fiscal year 

2017 than in the prior fiscal 

year. The largest decreases 

occurred in drug possession 

cases and fraud cases. 

However, the number of cases 

involving kidnapping/hostage 

taking, sexual abuse, firearms, 

embezzlement, racketeering/

extortion, immigration, prison 

offenses, and administration 

of justice offenses increased. 

Most notable was the increase 

in firearms cases, an increase of 

759 cases, or 10.4 percent, from 

the preceding year.

Glenn R. Schmitt, J.D., M.P.P.

Director

Office of Research & Data

Cassandra Syckes, M.A. 

Research Associate

Office of Research & Data

Number

 0

 20,000

 40,000

 60,000

 80,000

 100,000

2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

76,478 81,372 83,946 86,201 84,173

80,035

75,836

71,003 67,742 66,873

Figure 1. Number of Offenders Over Time

 Fiscal Years 2008-2017
United States Sentencing Commission

2

Five judicial districts accounted for more than one-third (37.9%) of all 

individual offenders. The Southern District of Texas and the Western District 

of Texas each reported almost ten percent (9.9%) of the total number of 

individual offenders sentenced in fiscal year 2017. The next highest districts 

were the District of Arizona (8.1%), the District of New Mexico (5.7%), and the 

Southern District of California (4.3%). 

For more than a decade, four offenses—drugs, immigration, fraud, and 

firearms cases—have constituted the vast majority of federal felonies and 

Class A misdemeanors. This trend continued in fiscal year 2017, as these 

crimes accounted for 82.4 percent of all cases reported to the Commission. 

Figure 2. Offenders in Each Primary Offense Category

Fiscal Year 2017

Non-Fraud White Collar

3.0% 

Drugs

30.8 %

Child Pornography

2.7%

Firearms

12.1%

Fraud

9.0%

Racketeering/Extortion

1.4%

Administration of Justice

1.6%

Other

8.8%

Methamphetamine 34.6%

Other 6.8%

Listed Chemicals 0.1%

Marijuana 18.7%

Immigration 

30.5%

Powder Cocaine 19.3%

Crack Cocaine 7.3%

Heroin 13.2%
Overview of Federal Criminal Cases — Fiscal Year 2017

3

Drug cases continued to be the most common type of federal case. The 20,607 

drug cases in fiscal year 2017 accounted for 30.8 percent of all cases reported 

to the Commission that year, almost the same percentage as their portion of 

the caseload the preceding year. Most of those cases (92.4%) involved drug 

trafficking.

Immigration cases were the next most common offense type, accounting for 

30.5 percent of the total federal caseload. Most of those cases (81.5%) involved 

illegal reentry offenders. From fiscal year 2011, when immigration cases were 

the most common federal crime, to fiscal year 2016, the number of immigration 

cases steadily declined. However, that 

trend ended in fiscal year 2017, when 

the 20,421 immigration cases reported 

to the Commission represented a 1.8 

percent increase from fiscal year 2016. 

Even with this increase, the number 

of immigration cases was 31.3 percent 

less than it was in fiscal year 2011. 

There were 8,064 firearms cases 

in fiscal year 2017. These cases 

accounted for 12.1 percent of the 

caseload, about the same portion of the 

overall caseload that they represented 

in fiscal year 2005 (11.9%). The 8,648 

firearms cases that year were the 

most reported to the Commission in 

any one year. However, the 8,064 cases reported in fiscal year 2017 were a 

10.4 percent increase from the number of those cases reported in fiscal year 

2016 (7,305 cases). 

Finally, there were 6,029 fraud cases in fiscal year 2017, which accounted 

for 9.0 percent of the total federal caseload. This number represents a 7.5 

percent reduction from the year before. Fraud cases have fallen by 30.2 

percent from the high of 8,634 cases in fiscal year 2012, when they accounted 

for 10.3 percent of the overall caseload.

Figure 3. Immigration Offenders Over Time

 Fiscal Years 2008-2017

Number

 0

 10,000

 20,000

 30,000

 40,000

 50,000

2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

21,429

25,927

28,504 29,717

26,548 24,972

22,238 20,771 20,051 20,421
United States Sentencing Commission

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Individual Offender Characteristics

Most offenders were men, and their proportion of the total offender population 

has remained constant for more than a decade. In fiscal year 2017, 86.6 

percent of all offenders were men, compared with 86.5 percent in fiscal year 

2013, and 87.2 percent in fiscal year 2008. Among female offenders, the 

most common crime was drug trafficking (committed by 34.7% of all women 

offenders sentenced in fiscal year 2017). 

Embezzlement continued to be the only crime 

for which female offenders outnumbered male 

offenders (51.9% to 48.1%), although the 

number of these cases (395) was small when 

compared to other offense types. 

In fiscal year 2017, 53.2 percent of all federal 

offenders were Hispanic, while 21.5 percent 

were White, and 21.1 percent were Black.5

 The 

race of offenders varied widely across offense 

types and in different ways. For example, most 

Hispanic offenders (82.4%) were sentenced for 

one of two types of offenses—immigration or 

drug trafficking crimes. Among immigration 

offenders, most were Hispanic, while among 

drug offenders, racial and ethnic background 

varied depending on the type of drug involved 

in the crime. 

A majority of federal offenders were United 

States citizens (59.3%). The majority of 

non-citizen offenders were sentenced for an 

immigration offense (68.6%). The next most 

common offense type among non-citizen 

offenders was drug trafficking (18.7%). 

The average age of offenders in fiscal year 

2017 was 37 years, a slight increase from the 

average age of 36 for offenders sentenced in 

fiscal year in 2013 and the average age of 35 

in fiscal year 2008. Almost half of all federal 

offenders sentenced in fiscal year 2017 (46.2%) 

had not completed high school, and only 6.1 

percent of offenders had completed college. 

Figure 4. Gender, Race, & Citizenship of Offenders

 Fiscal Year 2017

Male

86.6%

Female

13.4%

White

21.5%

Black

21.1%

Hispanic

53.2%

Other

4.2%

U.S. Citizen

59.3%

Non-U.S. Citizen

40.7%
Overview of Federal Criminal Cases — Fiscal Year 2017

5

Case Disposition

In fiscal year 2017, the vast majority of offenders (97.2%) pleaded guilty. 

This high rate has been consistent for more than 15 years. Among those 

offenders who pleaded guilty, 47.9 percent received a sentence below the 

applicable sentencing guideline range. Almost 

60 percent (59.4%) of these below range 

sentences were requested by the government, 

usually because the defendant had provided 

substantial assistance to the government or 

had agreed to have his or her case handled 

as part of an Early Disposition Program 

(EDP).6 In comparison, in the 2.8 percent of 

cases where the offender did not plead guilty, 

48.0 percent received a sentence below the 

guideline range, although only 11.3 percent of 

those below range sentences were requested 

by the government. 

Most federal offenders convicted of a felony 

or Class A misdemeanor received a sentence of incarceration. In fiscal year 

2017, an imprisonment sentence was imposed on 88.0 percent of all offenders. 

Another 3.0 percent were sentenced to a combination of imprisonment and 

community confinement, such as in a half-way house or home confinement.7

The remaining nine percent of offenders received some type of probation 

sentence. Of them, 6.9 percent received a sentence of “straight” probation 

(i.e., where no type of confinement was imposed), a rate that has decreased 

over time from a high of 15.3 percent in 1990.8 The remaining 2.1 percent of 

offenders were sentenced to probation that was conditioned on the offender 

also serving some type of confinement (e.g., intermittent confinement, 

community confinement, or home detention).

The sentences imposed in federal cases 

vary greatly depending on the type of the 

offense and the criminal history of the 

offender. Offenders committing kidnapping/

hostage taking received the longest terms of 

confinement in fiscal year 2017, at 230 months 

on average. Environmental and wildlife 

offenses were punished least severely, with 

offenders receiving confinement sentences of 

three months, on average.9

Figure 5. Type of Sentence Imposed

Fiscal Year 2017

Prison Only

88.0%

Probation Only

6.9%

Probation /Confinement

2.1%

Prison/Community Split

3.0%

Figure 6. Average Length of Imprisonment

Fiscal Year 2017

Less than 5 years

70.7%

Life

0.3%

20 years to less than life

2.4%

10 to less than 20 years

10.2%

5 to less than 10 years

16.3%
United States Sentencing Commission

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Overall, 70.7 percent of offenders received a sentence of less than five years, 

16.3 percent of offenders received a sentence of five years or longer but less 

than ten years, and 12.9 percent received a sentence of ten years or longer. 

In fiscal year 2017, 156 federal offenders (0.3%) were sentenced to life 

imprisonment and one offender was sentenced to death. 

Fines were imposed in 7.9 percent of all cases in 

which an individual offender was sentenced in 

fiscal year 2017, either as the sole punishment 

or combined with some other sanction. This was 

a slight decrease over the 8.3 percent of cases 

in fiscal year 2016 in which a fine was imposed. 

Fines were most commonly imposed in antitrust (67.7%) and environmental 

(55.0%) cases. When the offender was an organization, courts imposed a fine 

in a majority of the cases (74.8%).

Courts ordered restitution to be paid to the victim of the crime in 14.9 percent 

of all cases in which an individual was the offender, similar to the rate of 

15.3percent in fiscal year 2016. Restitution was most commonly ordered in 

cases involving embezzlement (85.4%), tax (84.1%), arson (77.5%), robbery 

(77.1%), fraud (76.3%), and burglary (75.8%). Restitution was ordered in 29.0 

percent of the cases where the offender was an organization. 

Most offenders sentenced to imprisonment also were sentenced to serve a 

period of supervised release following the completion of that confinement. In 

fiscal year 2017, 83.8 percent of offenders sentenced to incarceration also were 

sentenced to serve a period of supervised release. However, in immigration 

cases, supervised release was not imposed in 37.8 percent of the cases, 

reflecting the fact that many immigration offenders are ordered deported 

from the United States once they complete their incarceration sentence. In 

contrast, supervised release was ordered in 94.1 percent of cases not involving 

an immigration offense. The average length of supervised release imposed for 

all cases was 46 months, and the median length was 36 months. 

The Most Common Crimes

Drugs

Drug offenses were the most common federal crimes in fiscal year 2017. Most 

of the 20,607 drug cases involved the manufacture, sale, or transportation 

of a drug,10 while 1,301 of those cases involved a conviction for the simple 

possession of a drug.

Fines were most commonly imposed 

in antitrust and environmental cases. 
Overview of Federal Criminal Cases — Fiscal Year 2017

7

The total number of drug cases reported to the Commission fell for the 

fifth consecutive year, a decrease of 3.6 percent from fiscal year 2016. 

However, this overall trend did not extend to all drug types. Cases involving 

methamphetamines increased by 8.5 percent and cases involving powder 

cocaine increased by 3.3 percent over the number of those cases reported in 

fiscal year 2016. 

Methamphetamine offenses continued to be the most common drug cases. 

The 7,136 methamphetamine cases represented 34.6 percent of all drug 

crimes. The number of methamphetamine cases has increased substantially 

since 1994, when the 1,063 cases that year 

accounted for only 6.4 percent of all drug cases.

Offenses involving cocaine, in either powder 

form or base (crack) form, were the second 

most common drug crime. The 3,972 powder 

cocaine cases accounted for 19.3 percent of all 

drug cases while the 1,503 crack cocaine cases accounted for 7.3 percent. The 

number of crack cocaine cases has fallen by 74.3 percent since fiscal year 

2008, the year in which the largest number of those cases were reported to 

the Commission. That year, the 5,856 crack cocaine cases represented 23.7 

percent of all drug cases. 

Of the remaining drug cases, marijuana cases accounted for 18.7 percent of 

the cases, heroin for 13.2 percent, and cases involving “other” drugs (mostly 

prescription drugs such as oxycodone) accounted for 6.9 percent of all drug 

offenses. The number of marijuana cases (N=3,854) represents a 25.3 percent 

decline from the year before. Marijuana cases have declined by 45.8 percent 

since fiscal year 2013.

Most drug offenders were United States citizens, although the citizenship of 

drug offenders varied widely depending on the type of drug involved in the 

offense. For example, 97.8 percent of crack cocaine offenders were United 

States citizens, while only 51.3 percent of marijuana offenders were citizens.

The race of drug offenders varied even more widely by the type of drug involved 

in the offense. About half (49.8%) of all drug offenders convicted in federal 

court were Hispanic, while Black offenders constituted 24.6 percent of all 

drug offenders, and White offenders were 22.4 percent of all drug offenders. 

Yet, in crack cocaine cases, 79.7 percent of those convicted were Black, and 

in “other” drug cases 48.6 percent of the offenders were White. In marijuana 

cases, 74.4 percent of those convicted were Hispanic.

Federal marijuana cases have 

declined 45.8% since fiscal year 2013.
United States Sentencing Commission

8

Weapons were involved in 19.4 percent of all drug offenses. As with the other 

aspects of these cases, the rate of weapon involvement varied depending on 

the type of drug involved, ranging from 34.0 percent in crack cocaine cases to 

9.2 percent in marijuana cases.

The length of sentences imposed in drug cases remained relatively steady 

from fiscal year 2016, with varying increases depending on each drug type. 

The largest increase in average sentence length occurred in cases involving 

“other” drugs, where the average length 

of imprisonment increased from 56 

months to 61 months (with a median 

sentence of 41 months), an 8.9 percent 

increase from fiscal year 2016. 

For the third year in a row, 

methamphetamine offenses were the 

most severely punished drug crime, with 

an average length of imprisonment of 

91 months (and a median sentence of 72 

months). Marijuana offenders had the 

lowest average imprisonment in fiscal 

year 2017 at 29 months (with a median 

sentence of 18 months). 

Several factors can affect the sentence imposed in drug offenses, including 

statutory mandatory minimum punishments, the quantity of the drugs 

involved in the case, the prior criminal history of the offender, and whether 

the offender assisted the government in the investigation or prosecution of 

another person. Mandatory minimum sentences enacted by Congress11 play 

a large part in determining the sentence for drug offenders, either outright or 

through the impact of these statutes on the structure of the guidelines.12 In 

fiscal year 2017, just under half (44.2%) of all drug offenders were convicted of 

an offense carrying a mandatory minimum penalty; however, this proportion 

was the lowest since 1993, the year in which the Commission began reporting 

data on the rate at which mandatory minimum penalties were applied in 

federal cases. This significant reduction was due, in large part, to a change in 

the policy of the Department of Justice as to how to charge drug cases which 

took effect in 2013.13 That policy was revised again in May 2017, with the 

effect of undoing the change made in 2013.14 

In fiscal year 2017, powder cocaine offenders and methamphetamine offenders 

were convicted of an offense that provided for the imposition of a mandatory 

minimum sentence at the highest rates among all types of drug offenders 

Figure 7. Average Prison Sentence by Primary Drug Type

Fiscal Year 2017

Months

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

Powder Cocaine Crack Cocaine Heroin Marijuana Methamphetamine Other
Overview of Federal Criminal Cases — Fiscal Year 2017

9

—57.9 percent in powder cocaine cases and 51.9 percent in methamphetamine 

cases.15 Mandatory minimum penalties were least common in drug cases 

involving “other” drugs (which were mostly prescription drugs) and marijuana, 

accounting for 7.6 percent and 24.7 percent, respectively, of those cases. 

Many offenders convicted of an offense carrying a mandatory minimum 

penalty were able to obtain relief from that penalty through the “safety valve” 

exception to such sentences, which requires courts to sentence the offender 

without regard to any otherwise applicable mandatory minimum punishment 

when certain conditions are met.16 Marijuana offenders obtained relief from a 

mandatory minimum sentence through the use of the safety valve most often, 

in 53.0 percent of all marijuana cases in which a mandatory minimum penalty 

applied. In contrast, only 5.5 percent of crack cocaine offenders obtained this 

relief. 

This difference is due largely to the differing criminal histories of powder 

cocaine and crack cocaine offenders. In fiscal year 2017, 63.8 percent of 

powder cocaine offenders were assigned to Criminal History Category (CHC) I 

(offenders with a criminal history score under the sentencing guidelines of zero 

or one) while just 17.7 percent of crack cocaine offenders were assigned to that 

category. Only offenders assigned to CHC I are eligible to receive the benefit 

of the safety valve.

Overall, crack cocaine offenders continue to have, on average, a more serious 

riminal history than any other type of drug offender.17 More than one-quarter 

(27.3%) of all crack cocaine offenders were assigned to the most serious Criminal 

History Category (CHC VI). In contrast, just 6.3 percent of powder cocaine 

offenders were assigned to CHC VI. By comparison, 17.2 percent of heroin 

offenders were assigned to CHC VI, and 14.6 percent of methamphetamine 

offenders were assigned to CHC VI. Offenders convicted of marijuana offenses 

generally had the least serious criminal histories, with 63.3 percent assigned 

to CHC I and only 3.7 percent to CHC VI. 

An offender’s role in the offense also can affect the guideline range the judge 

considers when imposing a sentence.18 In fiscal year 2017, the otherwise 

applicable guideline range was reduced in 21.0 percent of all drug cases because 

of the offender’s minor or minimal role in the offense. In marijuana cases, 

this adjustment to the guideline range occurred in 39.9 percent of the cases, 

a 2.2 percent increase from fiscal year 2016. In contrast, such an adjustment 

applied in only 4.5 percent of crack cocaine cases. In 7.2 percent of all drug 

cases, the applicable guideline range was increased because of the offender’s 

role as an organizer, leader, manager, or supervisor. 
United States Sentencing Commission

10

Immigration

Immigration offenses19 were the second most common federal crime in fiscal 

year 2017, representing 30.5 percent of the cases reported to the Commission. 

This number represents a 1.8 percent increase from fiscal year 2016. The 

majority of these offenses (81.5%) involved the illegal reentry into the 

United States. Another 14.2 percent were alien smuggling offenses. The 

average sentence in immigration cases in fiscal year 2017 was 12 months 

imprisonment, a decrease of one month from fiscal year 2016.

Offenders sentenced under the immigration guidelines differ from other 

federal offenders in several ways. For example, although United States 

citizens committed the majority of all federal crimes (59.3%) in fiscal year 

2017, the overwhelming majority (90.4%) of immigration offenses were 

committed by non-citizens.20 Similarly, while Hispanics accounted for only 

33.5 percent of non-immigration offenders, they accounted for 96.0 percent 

of immigration offenders. Also, immigration offenders had significantly less 

education than other offenders. Almost 80 percent (79.7%) of immigration 

offenders had less than a high school education, compared with 32.5 percent 

of offenders convicted of other crimes. While men committed most federal 

crimes other than immigration (83.9%), men committed an even higher 

proportion of immigration crimes (93.3%). 

Firearms and other weapons

Crimes involving firearms21 accounted for 12.1 percent of the total number 

of federal criminal convictions in fiscal year 2017. The 8,064 firearms cases 

reported to the Commission represent an increase of 10.4 percent from the 

prior year. Of all firearms cases, 22.4 percent involved the possession or use 

of a firearm in connection with a crime of violence or drug trafficking crime.22

More than half of firearms cases (57.1%) involved 

the illegal possession of a firearm by a prohibited 

person, usually a convicted felon.23 The average 

sentence imposed in firearms cases was 71 months 

imprisonment, a decrease of four months from the 

average sentence of 75 months in fiscal year 2016. 

In certain other types of cases, the court may consider the possession or use of a 

dangerous weapon when determining the sentence, even when the underlying 

crime (e.g., drug trafficking) does not specifically involve the use of a weapon. 

In fiscal year 2017, the sentences imposed in 9.5 percent of the cases were 

enhanced (either through application of a specific offense characteristic under 

the sentencing guidelines or by statute) because a firearm or other dangerous 

weapon (e.g., knife) was involved in the offense. In drug cases, a weapon was 

Firearms cases increased 10.4%

from fiscal year 2016.
Overview of Federal Criminal Cases — Fiscal Year 2017

11

involved at a rate (19.4%) more than twice that of all cases generally. Among 

drug cases, weapons were present most often in crack cocaine cases (34.0%) 

and least often in marijuana cases (9.2%). 

Fraud

Fraud crimes24 accounted for the fourth largest portion (9.0%) of the total 

federal criminal convictions for fiscal year 2017. The 6,029 fraud cases 

reported to the Commission were a decrease of 7.5 percent from the number of 

fraud cases reported the prior year. Fraud cases have fallen by 30.2 percent 

from the high of 8,634 cases in fiscal year 2012. 

The losses in these cases ranged from no loss (in 170 cases) to more than 

$8 billion (one case), with an average loss amount of $6,100,603 and a median 

loss amount of $246,553. Identity theft crimes25 accounted for 15 percent of 

these cases in fiscal year 2017. The average sentence imposed in fraud cases 

in fiscal year 2017 was 26 months imprisonment, an increase of one month 

from the average sentence in fiscal year 2016.

Organizational Cases

Organizations such as corporations can be prosecuted for violating federal 

criminal law, and 131 organizations were sentenced in fiscal year 2017. This 

number is slightly below the 132 cases reported in fiscal year 2016. It is the 

lowest number of organizational defendants reported since fiscal year 2004 

and continues the decrease in the number of these cases over the past 15 

years. By comparison, in fiscal year 2008, there were 198 offenders and in 

fiscal year 2003, there were 200 organizational offenders. 

Of the 131 organizational offenders, 91.6 percent pled guilty to one or more 

charges in fiscal year 2017. The most common crimes for which organizational 

offenders were convicted were fraud and environmental crimes. In 76 cases, 

a fine was the sole component of the sentence imposed. In an additional 

22 cases, the organization was sentenced to pay restitution to the victim of 

the crime as well as to pay a fine. In 16 cases, the sole component of the 

sentence was the payment of restitution. No fine or restitution was imposed 

in 17 cases, although other sanctions were ordered in some of these cases. 

Additionally, of the 131 organizational offenders, 82 were sentenced to some 

term of probation. In 29 cases the offender was also ordered to implement a 

compliance or ethics program. 
United States Sentencing Commission

12

For More Information

More information on federal sentencing data can be found in the Commission’s 2017 Sourcebook 

of Federal Sentencing Statistics and Guideline Application Frequencies for Fiscal Year 2017. 

The Sourcebook is available in hard copy format through the Commission. Both documents, 

together with other reports on sentencing data, are also available in electronic format on the 

Commission’s website at www.ussc.gov. Additional statistical analyses of these cases can be 

found through the Commission’s “Interactive Sourcebook of Federal Sentencing Statistics” at 

isb.ussc.gov. 

Resentencings and Other Modifications of Sentence

In 2017, the Commission received documentation on 5,243 resentencings 

and other modifications of sentence. This represents a 56.3 percent decline 

from fiscal year 2016. The most frequently reported reason given for these 

types of cases was the modification of a term of imprisonment through the 

retroactive application of an amendment to the sentencing guidelines (1,442 

cases; 27.5% of all cases). Almost all cases in which this reason was cited 

involved the retroactive application of the Commission’s 2014 amendment to 

the drug guidelines.26

The second most common type of resentencing was a reduction in sentence 

for substantial assistance27 to the government in investigating or prosecuting 

another person after the offender was sentenced (1,375 cases; 26.2% of all 

cases). The third most common type of resentencing or modification of sentence 

was through a post-conviction motion in the district court (1,122 cases; 21.4% 

of all cases).28 Most of the cases in this last group were resentencings of 

offenders required by the Supreme Court’s decision in Johnson v. United 

States.

29 

Figure 8. Resentencings & Other Modifications of Sentence

Fiscal Year 2017

Restitution

10.9%

Retroactive Amendment

27.5%

Remand by Circuit Court

11.6%

Other

2.4%

Post-Conviction 

District Court Motion

21.4%

Substantial Assistance

26.2%
Overview of Federal Criminal Cases — Fiscal Year 2017

13

1 The United States Sentencing Commission is an independent agency in the 

judicial branch of government. Its principal purposes are (1) to establish sentencing 

policies and practices for the federal courts, including guidelines to be consulted 

regarding the appropriate form and severity of punishment for offenders convicted 

of federal crimes; (2) to advise and assist Congress and the executive branch in the 

development of effective and efficient crime policy; (3) to collect, analyze, research, 

and distribute a broad array of information on federal crime and sentencing issues; 

and (4) to devise and conduct seminars and workshops providing continuing studies 

for persons engaged in the sentencing field.

2 The Commission receives information from the courts on cases in which the 

defendant has been convicted of a felony or a Class A misdemeanor, as the guidelines 

do not apply to petty misdemeanors. The fiscal year for the federal government 

begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the 

calendar year in which it ends.

3 Of the 66,873 individual original cases reported to the Commission, 96.6 

percent involved one or more felony offenses. 

4 In fiscal year 2011, 86,201 individual offenders were sentenced. U.S. 

Sentencing Comm’n, 2011 Sourcebook of Federal Sentencing Statistics iv (2012).

5 Information on race of the offender is obtained from the Presentence 

Investigation Report and recorded in separate categories of race and ethnicity. Race 

data indicate whether the offender is White, Black, Native American or Alaskan 

Native, Asian or Pacific Islander, Multiracial, or “Other”. Ethnicity data indicate 

whether an offender is of Hispanic origin. Offenders whose ethnic background is 

designated as Hispanic are represented as Hispanic in all analyses in this report 

regardless of racial background.

6 For more information on these programs, see generally U.S. Sentencing

Comm’n, Guidelines Manual, §5K3.1 (Nov. 2016) [hereinafter USSG].

7 For more information concerning the use of alternative sentences in the federal 

system, see Courtney Semisch, U.S. Sentencing Comm’n., Alternative Sentences in

the Federal System (2015).

8 See U.S. Sentencing Comm’n, 1990 Annual Report 53 (1991).

Endnotes
United States Sentencing Commission

14

9 Probation sentences are included in the calculation of average sentence as 

zero months. Over half (61.8%) of environmental and wildlife offenders received a 

sentence of probation with no type of confinement, and 55.0 percent of these offenders 

were fined as part of their sentence.

10 This number also includes persons convicted of one or more crimes in addition 

to a drug offense.

11 For more information on the use of mandatory minimum penalties generally, 

see U.S. Sentencing Comm’n, Overview of Mandatory Minimum Penalties in the

Federal Criminal Justice System (2017). For information on the use of mandatory 

minimum penalties in drug cases, see U.S. Sentencing Comm’n, Mandatory Minimum

Penalties for Drug Offenses in the Federal Criminal Justice System (2017).

12 The Commission’s general practice has been to incorporate statutory minimum 

penalties into the structure of the guidelines. For example, in drug trafficking cases, 

the offense levels that correspond to the drug quantities that trigger the statutory 

mandatory minimum penalties provide for a sentencing range for an offender with no 

prior criminal history that includes the statutory penalty. The remaining sentencing 

ranges are extrapolated upward and downward from the guideline ranges that 

include the mandatory minimum penalties. See generally USSG, supra note 6, at 

App. C, amend. 782.

13 See Memorandum to United States Attorneys and Assistant Attorney General 

for the Criminal Division from Attorney General Eric Holder, Department Policy on 

Charging Mandatory Minimum Sentences and Recidivist Enhancements in Certain 

Drug Cases (Aug. 12, 2013). In fiscal year 2013, the fiscal year that concluded just 

after the Attorney General’s memorandum was issued, 62.1 percent of drug offenders 

were convicted of an offense carrying a mandatory minimum penalty. The portion 

of drug cases carrying a mandatory minimum penalty in fiscal year 2014 was 50.1 

percent. 

14 See Memorandum to All Federal Prosecutors from Attorney General Jeff 

Sessions, Department Charging and Sentencing Policy (May 10, 2017). This new 

policy specifically reversed the policy change announced in the Department’s 2013 

memo, supra. 

15 Some of these offenders received a sentence that was lower than the 

applicable statutory mandatory minimum punishment due to the operation of 

18 U.S.C. §§ 3553(e) or (f). Subsection (e) authorizes courts to impose a sentence that 

is below a statutory mandatory minimum when the offender has provided substantial 

assistance to the government in investigating or prosecuting another offender. 

Subsection (f) requires courts to impose a sentence on a non-violent offender with no 

or limited criminal background without regard to a statutory mandatory minimum 

punishment when certain other conditions are met.

16 See 18 U.S.C. § 3553(f).
Overview of Federal Criminal Cases — Fiscal Year 2017

15

17 Under the guidelines, offenders are assigned to one of six Criminal History 

Categories (CHCs) based on their prior criminal history. The criminal history score 

establishes the CHC for an offender. See USSG, supra note 6, at Ch.4. The CHC, along 

with the final offense level, determines the sentencing range under the guidelines.

18 See USSG, supra note 6, at §§3B1.1, 3B1.2.

19 Immigration offense means, in general, a case in which at least one of the 

statutes of conviction involved trafficking in passports or entry documents; failure 

to surrender naturalization certificates; fraudulently acquiring passports; alien 

smuggling; unlawful entry or reentry into the United States; or fraudulently acquiring 

entry documents.

20 Non-citizens primarily are convicted of immigration crimes. Non-citizens 

were the offenders in only 20.0 percent of all other federal crimes in fiscal year 2017. 

21 Firearms crime includes unlawful possession or transportation of firearms 

or ammunition; unlawful trafficking in explosives; possession of guns or explosives 

in a federal facility, a school, or on an aircraft; the use of fire or explosives to commit 

a felony; and the use of firearms or ammunition during a crime of violence or drug 

trafficking crime.

22 See 18 U.S.C. § 924(c).

23 See 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1).

24 Fraud crime includes theft, embezzlement, receipt of stolen property, property 

destruction, and offenses involving fraud or deceit.

25 Identity theft crimes are those fraud cases in which one or more of the offenses 

of conviction was 18 U.S.C. § 1028(a)(7) or 18 U.S.C. § 1028A. The Commission 

includes these cases with other fraud cases when it reports sentencing statistics.

26 See USSG, supra note 6. See also 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(2) (authorizing courts 

to reduce the term of imprisonment of a defendant who has been sentenced to a term 

of imprisonment based on a sentencing range that has subsequently been lowered by 

the Sentencing Commission).

27 See Fed R. Crim. P. 35(b). For more information about cases involving a 

resentencing for substantial assistance to the government after sentencing, see Kevin

Blackwell and Jill Baisinger, U.S. Sentencing Comm’n, The use of Federal Rule of

Criminal Procedure 35(b) (2016). 

28 See 28 U.S.C. § 2255.

29 Johnson v. United States, 135 S.Ct. 2551 (2015) (holding that part of the 

Armed Career Criminal Act was unconstitutional).