Published on: Monday, March 15, 2021

On Monday, the U.S. Sentencing Commission released its 2020 Annual Report and Sourcebook of Federal Sentencing Statistics.

The Sourcebook contains descriptive statistics on the application of the federal sentencing guidelines and provides selected district, circuit, and national sentencing data for fiscal year 2020 (October 1, 2019, through September 30, 2020, hereinafter “2020”).

FY20 Fast Facts

The Sourcebook presents information on the 64,565 federal offenders sentenced in FY20—a sentencing caseload that decreased by nearly 12,000 cases from the previous fiscal year.

  • Immigration, drug trafficking, firearms, and fraud crimes together comprised 86% of the federal sentencing caseload in FY20.  
  • Immigration was the most common federal crime type sentenced, accounting for 41% of the caseload (up from 38% in FY19). 
  • Methamphetamine continued to be the most common drug type in the federal system, and a steadily growing portion of the drug caseload (up from 31% in FY16 and 42% in FY19 to 46% in FY20).
  • Methamphetamine trafficking continued to be the most severely punished federal drug crime (holding steady at an average sentence of 95 months).
  • Average sentences across all other major drug types (crack cocaine, powder cocaine, heroin, and marijuana) decreased. 
  • Two-thirds (67%) of drug offenders were convicted of an offense carrying a mandatory minimum penalty, up slightly from the previous year (66%).
  • Three-quarters (74%) of federal offenders were sentenced under the Guidelines Manual in FY20.