News Release
March 6, 2025
Press@ussc.gov

 

U.S. Sentencing Commission Reports on 
Overdoses in Federal Drug Trafficking Crimes 
Examines Five Years of Overdose Outcomes, Offense Conduct, and Sentences Imposed 

WASHINGTON, D.C. ― Today the U.S. Sentencing Commission released a new study of Overdoses in Federal Drug Trafficking Crimes covering a five-year period from fiscal year 2019 to 2023. Key takeaways from the Commission’s report:

Prevalence and Outcomes

  • Overdoses were involved in less than 2% of the federal drug trafficking cases studied but their prevalence increased by 44% from fiscal years 2019 to 2023.
  • Fentanyl and its analogues were involved in 80% of the overdose cases studied.
  • Nearly two-thirds (65%) of the victims in this study suffered a fatal overdose. 

Conduct and Awareness

  • Most individuals in the study who sold drugs, as well as those who overdosed, were unaware of the exact substances involved in the transaction.
    • 79% of victims who overdosed on fentanyl did not know they were taking it.
    • 92% of victims who overdosed on a fentanyl analogue were similarly unaware.
    • 5% of sentenced individuals knowingly misrepresented the drugs they sold.

Function and Sentences Imposed 

  • Over half (55%) of the sentenced individuals in this study functioned as street-level dealers and nearly one-quarter (24%) functioned as wholesalers.
  • Federal courts imposed an average sentence of 149 months in drug trafficking cases that involved an overdose—approximately double the average sentence when no overdose was reported (76 months) but sentences imposed in cases with an overdose varied by offense conduct.  

Visit the Commission’s full report for more detailed information and other new findings.

 

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