NCJ Number
147721
Date Published
1994
Length
107 pages
Annotation
Information from the computerized records used by the United States Sentencing Commission and the Bureau of Prisons was studied to determine the characteristics and sentencing of drug offenders.
Abstract
The analysis considered the offenders' criminal histories, violence in the current offense, nature of the current offense, and sentencing. Results revealed that a substantial number of Federal inmates can be classified as low-level in that they have no prior criminal history, committed an offense that did not involve sophisticated criminal activity, and did not use violence in the offense. Drug offenders with no criminal history amounted to 28.2 percent of all drug offenders in the prison system and 16.6 percent of all sentenced prisoners. The average sentence of the low-level drug offender was 81.5 months; under guideline sentencing, these will serve an average of more than 5 years before release. Two-thirds of the sample received mandatory minimum sentences. Forty-two percent were couriers or played peripheral roles in drug trafficking. The most significant determinant of the sentence was drug quantity; the defendant's role in the offense had only a small influence on the length of the eventual sentence. Findings also confirmed that Federal drug offenders, including those with minor or no past criminal behavior, are receiving much longer sentences than they were before the 1986 Anti-Drug Abuse Act. Tables