Which offenses are excluded from First Step Act credits?
A federal prisoner cannot earn First Step Act time credits if they are serving a sentence for a conviction listed in 18 U.S.C. § 3632(d)(4)(D) — roughly 60 statutory categories covering most violent, terrorism, espionage, and sex offenses. What controls is the statute of conviction, not the underlying conduct or the case's facts. Some exclusions are conditional: certain drug convictions exclude only when death or serious bodily injury resulted, or when a leadership enhancement applied.
Reviewed against 18 U.S.C. § 3632(d)(4)(D). Last updated .
How do I check whether a conviction is excluded?
- Find the exact statute of conviction on the judgment (form AO 245B, first page) — e.g. "21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1), (b)(1)(C)".
- Compare it against the list in § 3632(d)(4)(D). The subsection matters: § 111(a) assault is not excluded while § 111(b) is.
- For conditional entries, check the judgment and plea agreement for the qualifying finding — death/serious bodily injury, or an organizer/leader enhancement combined with specific offense subsections.
- If any count of the current sentence is excluded, BOP treats the person as ineligible to earn credits on the whole sentence.
What about the conditional drug exclusions?
The drug exclusions are the ones families most often misread. A conviction under 21 U.S.C. § 841 or § 960 is excluded only when the judgment reflects death or serious bodily injury resulting from the offense, or (for § 841(b)(1)(A)/(B) counts) when the person was an organizer, leader, manager, or supervisor under the sentencing guidelines. A garden-variety § 841(b)(1)(C) conviction with neither finding earns credits.
Continuing criminal enterprise under 21 U.S.C. § 848 is excluded outright.
Excluded from earning vs. blocked from applying — the difference
| Situation | Can earn credits? | Can apply credits? |
|---|---|---|
| Offense on the § 3632(d)(4)(D) list | No | No |
| Final order of removal (§ 3632(d)(4)(E)) | Yes | No |
| High or medium PATTERN at application time | Yes | Not until min/low or warden approval (§ 3624(g)) |
| Eligible offense, min/low PATTERN | Yes | Yes |
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Open the federal release date calculatorFrequently asked questions
Is a § 924(c) gun charge excluded from FSA credits?
Yes. 18 U.S.C. § 924(c) (using or carrying a firearm during a crime of violence or drug trafficking) is on the § 3632(d)(4)(D) exclusion list, and it makes the whole current sentence ineligible to earn credits.
Does an excluded offense also take away Good Conduct Time?
No. Good Conduct Time under 18 U.S.C. § 3624(b) is separate and applies to nearly all federal sentences longer than a year. The FSA exclusion list only affects earned time credits.
My person's offense conduct was violent but the conviction statute isn't listed — are they excluded?
Eligibility turns on the statute of conviction, not the conduct. If the conviction statute isn't on the § 3632(d)(4)(D) list, the person can earn credits (their PATTERN score may still be affected by the conduct).
Primary sources
Everything on this page is drawn from the statutes, regulations, and BOP program statements below — read them directly:
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Estimates, not promises
This page describes federal law and Bureau of Prisons policy in general terms for education. It is not legal advice, it doesn't account for the facts of any individual case, and no attorney–client relationship is created by reading it. The BOP makes all final release-date determinations. Have an attorney review anything before you file it. Built by OutDate, the federal release date calculator.