Introduction

The following four comprehensive data tables provide information on guideline application during Fiscal Year 2016. The Commission received information concerning 67,742 cases in which the offender was sentenced in fiscal year 2016, of which 61,945 contained complete guideline information. "Complete guideline information" means that the Commission received the following sentencing documents for each case: the Judgment and Conviction Order, the Statement of Reasons, and the Presentence Report.

The first table, Use of Guidelines and Specific Offense Characteristics - Guidelines Based Analysis Fiscal Year 2016, details the use of each guideline, alternative base offense level, and specific offense characteristic (SOC) for that year. The second table, Chapter Three Adjustments - Guidelines Based Analysis Fiscal Year 2016, provides the number and percentage of Chapter Three adjustments for each guideline. These tables include information on all guideline applications for the 61,945 cases with complete guideline information. In cases with multiple guideline calculations, each guideline calculation is included separately in the analysis.

The next set of tables provides similar information but on an offender-by-offender basis. Use of Guidelines and Specific Offense Characteristics - Offender Based Fiscal Year 2016, provides an analysis of the primary guideline applied by the court in each case, including any alternative base offense level and SOC for that guideline. In case with more than one guideline calculation, the primary guideline is the guideline that resulted in the final offense level that the court applied when determining the sentence. Data relating to the application of guideline provisions that were not the primary guideline in the case are not included. Chapter Three Adjustments - Offender Based Analysis Fiscal Year 2016, provides the number and percentage of the Chapter Three adjustments for the primary guideline applied in each case.

These tables include information on cases in which the offender was sentenced in fiscal year 2016 but where the court used the 2015 Guidelines Manual or a prior version of the Guidelines Manual. The inclusion of data from multiple versions of the Guidelines Manual occurs because in any fiscal year courts may apply earlier versions of the Guidelines Manual depending on the facts of the case. See USSG §1B1.11 (Use of Guidelines Manual in Effect on Date of Sentencing (Policy Statement)). For example, in 2001, USSG §2F1.1 (Fraud and Deceit) was consolidated into a different guideline and that guideline was deleted from the Guidelines Manual, however, offenders in two cases were sentenced under this guideline in fiscal year 2016.