What Are Statutory Maximum Sentences and Probation Length?

Federal statutory maximum sentences are the hard ceilings Congress sets on how long a person can be imprisoned, how long they can be supervised, and how much they can be fined for a given offense. The numbers depend on the offense class. A Class A felony can carry life; an infraction tops out at five days. Judges can sentence anywhere up to those limits but never beyond them, and a sentence that crosses the line is illegal and must be corrected on appeal.

Prison Caps by Offense Class

Under 18 U.S.C. § 3581, federal felonies carry these maximum prison terms:

Class A felony: life imprisonment, or any lesser term
Class B felony: up to 25 years
Class C felony: up to 12 years
Class D felony: up to 6 years
Class E felony: up to 3 years

Misdemeanors and infractions sit well below the felony tier. A Class A misdemeanor allows up to one year, a Class B misdemeanor up to six months, a Class C misdemeanor up to 30 days, and an infraction up to five days.¹

Not every criminal statute assigns a letter grade. When the statute defining the offense is silent, 18 U.S.C. § 3559 classifies it by its authorized maximum prison term. An offense carrying ten years or more but less than 25 defaults to Class C, and the rest of the grid works the same way.²

These ceilings are absolute. If the maximum is 12 years, a sentence of 12 years and one day is unlawful. A judge who finds the facts of a case particularly serious can sentence at the top of the range. Not above it.

Probation Length Limits

Federal probation is an alternative to prison, not an add-on. A defendant on probation serves the term in the community under court supervision instead of entering a federal facility. Under 18 U.S.C. § 3561, the caps are:

Felony: at least one year and no more than five years
Misdemeanor: no more than five years
Infraction: no more than one year

The felony floor means a judge cannot impose less than 12 months of probation on a felony conviction.³

Probation has a definite end date. A court cannot extend it past the statutory cap because restitution is unpaid or community service unfinished. Violations have to be addressed within the existing term or through revocation.

Supervised Release Caps

Supervised release is often confused with probation, but the two run on different tracks. Supervised release follows a prison sentence; it does not replace one. The clock starts the day the defendant leaves the facility.

Under 18 U.S.C. § 3583, the maximum supervised release terms are:

Class A or B felony: up to 5 years
Class C or D felony: up to 3 years
Class E felony or misdemeanor: up to 1 year

These limits sit alongside the prison cap, not inside it.⁴ A defendant sentenced to the full prison maximum can still receive a full term of supervised release on top. Someone convicted of a Class B felony could serve 25 years and then face up to 5 additional years of supervised release, 30 years of government control in total. Neither clock eats into the other.

Fine Ceilings

Fines have their own set of caps under 18 U.S.C. § 3571, and they differ for individuals and organizations. For individuals, the maximum fine is the greatest of three figures: the amount specified in the statute defining the crime, the alternative amount described below, or these default caps by offense class:

Felony or misdemeanor resulting in death: $250,000
Class A misdemeanor (no death): $100,000
Class B or C misdemeanor (no death): $5,000
Infraction: $5,000

Organizations face higher defaults: $500,000 for a felony or misdemeanor resulting in death, $200,000 for a Class A misdemeanor, and $10,000 for lesser misdemeanors and infractions.⁵

The alternative fine provision can push past every one of these defaults. When a defendant profits from a crime or a victim suffers a financial loss, the court can impose up to twice the gross gain or twice the gross loss, whichever is greater. A fraud that netted $2 million could produce a fine of up to $4 million even if the default cap for the offense class would have been $250,000. The court can skip this calculation only if figuring out gain or loss would unreasonably delay sentencing.⁵

Mandatory Minimums Set the Floor

Statutory maximums describe the ceiling. Mandatory minimums describe the floor, and for many defendants the floor is where the real pressure sits. A judge cannot sentence below a mandatory minimum regardless of the circumstances. Two areas of federal law lean on them heavily.

Drug Quantities

Federal drug mandatory minimums under 21 U.S.C. § 841 turn on the type and weight of the substance. The five-year floor applies to quantities like 100 grams of heroin, 500 grams of powder cocaine, 28 grams of crack cocaine, or 5 grams of pure methamphetamine. The ten-year floor roughly doubles those amounts: 1 kilogram of heroin, 5 kilograms of powder cocaine, 280 grams of crack, or 50 grams of pure methamphetamine. For fentanyl, the ten-year minimum kicks in at 400 grams of a mixture or 100 grams of an analogue.⁶

Firearms

Using a firearm during a violent crime or drug trafficking offense triggers separate mandatory minimums under 18 U.S.C. § 924(c) that stack on top of the sentence for the underlying crime. Possessing a firearm during the offense adds at least 5 years. Brandishing it adds at least 7. Firing it adds at least 10. These terms cannot run concurrently with the underlying sentence, and probation is unavailable.⁷

A narrow escape hatch exists for low-level drug defendants. The safety valve at 18 U.S.C. § 3553(f) lets a judge sentence below the mandatory minimum when the defendant meets five conditions covering criminal history, lack of violence or weapons, no death or serious injury, no leadership role, and full cooperation. It applies only to specific drug offenses under the Controlled Substances Act and related import/export statutes.⁸

How Prior Convictions Raise the Ceiling

A defendant’s record can reset both the floor and the ceiling. Enhancement statutes don’t just nudge a judge toward a higher number inside the existing range. They reclassify the offense, producing a new maximum and often a new minimum.

Federal drug sentencing shows how. Under 21 U.S.C. § 841, a defendant with one qualifying prior facing a ten-year mandatory minimum sees that floor jump to 15 years. Two qualifying priors produce a 25-year minimum. Life imprisonment is now reserved for cases where the offense caused death or serious bodily injury. These figures reflect the First Step Act of 2018, which lowered the two-strike minimum from 20 years to 15 and replaced the three-strike life sentence with the 25-year floor. The Act also tightened eligibility: the prior conviction must now be a “serious drug felony” or “serious violent felony,” rather than any “felony drug offense.”⁶

The prosecution has to file a formal notice under 21 U.S.C. § 851 before trial or before a guilty plea, listing the prior convictions it intends to use. Without that notice, the enhancement cannot apply. The requirement gives the defendant a chance to challenge whether the priors actually qualify.⁹

What a Supervised Release Violation Can Cost

Violating supervised release can send a defendant back to prison, and that revocation sentence has its own ceiling. Under 18 U.S.C. § 3583(e)(3), the maximum prison term on revocation depends on the class of the original offense:

Class A felony: up to 5 years
Class B felony: up to 3 years
Class C or D felony: up to 2 years
All other cases: up to 1 year

After serving the revocation prison term, the court can impose a new supervised release term. That new term is capped at the original supervised release maximum minus whatever prison time was imposed on revocation. If someone had five years of supervised release for a Class B felony and was sent back for three years on a violation, any further supervised release is capped at two.⁴

1
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 3581 – Sentence of Imprisonment
2
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 3559 – Sentencing Classification of Offenses
3
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 3561 – Sentence of Probation
4
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 3583 – Inclusion of a Term of Supervised Release After Imprisonment
5
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 3571 – Sentence of Fine
6
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 21 USC 841 – Prohibited Acts A
7
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 924 – Penalties
8
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 3553 – Imposition of a Sentence
9
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 21 USC 851 – Proceedings to Establish Prior Convictions