Published: 2026-08-18 · Prepared by the Sentencing Guidelines Research Desk

Overview of Federal Sentencing Guidelines

The federal sentencing guidelines are the rules issued by the United States Sentencing Commission for calculating sentencing ranges in federal criminal cases. The Commission is a creature of statute:

“There is established as an independent commission in the judicial branch of the United States a United States Sentencing Commission which shall consist of seven voting members and one nonvoting member. The President, after consultation with”

Source: 28 U.S.C. § 991(a) — Legal Information Institute (Cornell Law School)

The Purposes of the Commission

“The purposes of the United States Sentencing Commission are to— (1) establish sentencing policies and practices for the Federal criminal justice system that— (A) assure the meeting of the purposes of sentencing as set forth in section 3553(a)(2) of title 18 , United States Code; (B) provide certainty and fairness in meeting the purposes of sentencing, avoiding unwarranted sentencing disparities among defendants with similar records who have been found guilty of similar criminal conduct while maintaining sufficient flexibility to permit individualized sentences when warranted by mitigating or aggravating factors n”

Source: 28 U.S.C. § 991(b) — Legal Information Institute (Cornell Law School)

How a Guideline Range Is Calculated

A guideline range is calculated in two steps. First, the court determines the offense level from Chapter Two of the Guidelines Manual, beginning with a base offense level and applying specific offense characteristics — for example, the loss amount under U.S.S.G. § 2B1.1. Second, the court determines the defendant’s criminal history category from Chapter Four. The two are combined on the sentencing table in Chapter Five to produce the guideline range.

The Guidelines Are Advisory

Since United States v. Booker, 543 U.S. 220 (2005), the guidelines are advisory, not mandatory. The court must calculate the guideline range, but the sentence must also satisfy the statutory factors:

“The court shall impose a sentence sufficient, but not greater than necessary, to comply with the purposes set forth in paragraph (2) of this subsection. The court, in determining the particular sentence to be imposed, shall consider— (1) the nature and circumstances of the offense and the history an”

Source: 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a) — Legal Information Institute (Cornell Law School)

Further Reading

How Federal Sentencing Works: Guidelines, 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a), and the Safety Valve

The Role of U.S.S.G. § 2B1.1

The Loss Table in U.S.S.G. § 2B1.1: How It Works

Primary Sources

“The purposes of the United States Sentencing Commission are to— (1) establish sentencing policies and practices for the Federal criminal justice system that— (A) assure the meeting of the purposes of sentencing as set forth in section 3553(a)(2) of title 18 , United States Code; (B) provide certainty and fairness in meeting the purposes of sentencing, avoiding unwarranted sentencing disparities among defendants with similar records who have been found guilty of similar criminal conduct while maintaining sufficient flexibility to permit individualized sentences when warranted by mitigating or aggravating factors n”

Source: 28 U.S.C. § 991(b) — Legal Information Institute (Cornell Law School)

“The court shall impose a sentence sufficient, but not greater than necessary, to comply with the purposes set forth in paragraph (2) of this subsection. The court, in determining the particular sentence to be imposed, shall consider— (1) the nature and circumstances of the offense and the history an”

Source: 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a) — Legal Information Institute (Cornell Law School)

Guideline text: United States Sentencing Commission, Guidelines Manual (2025), Chapter Two.