What is the guideline range?

The guideline range comes from two numbers: the offense level, which measures the crime, and the criminal history category, which measures the past. The sentencing table turns the pair into a range of months.¹1 U.S. Sent’g Comm’n, Guidelines Manual, ch. 5, pt. A (Sentencing Table) (Nov. 2025); unchanged by the amendments effective Nov. 1, 2026 (§5A1.1(c)). This tool does the arithmetic around that table.

Step 1: the offense level. Find it in the plea agreement or the presentence report. A plea agreement usually lists the base level, each adjustment, then a line for “acceptance of responsibility” and a total. Pleading guilty normally takes 2 levels off, and 1 more when the level before that reduction is 16 or higher and the government asks for it.²2 USSG §3E1.1(a) (2 levels), (b) (1 more level, on the government’s motion, if the level before (a) is 16 or greater). Tell the tool whether your number comes before or after that line, and it shows both ranges: one if they plead guilty and one if they go to trial.

Step 2: the criminal history. If you know the category, pick it. If not, count the prior sentences the way the guidelines do: 3 points for each sentence of more than 1 year and 1 month, 2 for each sentence of at least 60 days, 1 for each other sentence (4 at most), and 1 for certain crimes of violence that were counted together as one sentence (3 at most).³3 USSG §4A1.1(a)–(d) (Nov. 2025). One more point, the “status point”, is added only when those come to 7 or more and the new offense happened while they were on probation, parole or supervised release, in custody, or on escape.⁴4 USSG §4A1.1(e) (Nov. 2025) (1 point, only with 7 or more points under (a) through (d)). Old sentences drop off: generally after 15 years for prison sentences over 1 year and 1 month, and after 10 years for the rest.⁵5 USSG §4A1.2(e)(1)–(2).

The zero-point reduction. Someone with no criminal history points at all can get 2 more levels off if every one of 11 conditions is met, such as no violence or threats, no gun, no leadership role, and not a sex offense.⁶6 USSG §4C1.1(a) (the 11 conditions; 2 levels off the offense level from Chapters Two and Three). Tick it only if the plea agreement or the lawyer says it applies.

Mandatory minimums and maximums. If a statute sets a minimum above the whole range, the minimum becomes the guideline sentence. If the statute’s maximum is below the range, the maximum does. Either one can also cut off part of a range.⁷7 USSG §5G1.1(a)–(c). Enter them in months if the charge carries them.

How to use it. When you aren’t sure an enhancement applies, count it. The book’s advice is to estimate the way the government will argue, so the number you plan around isn’t the best case.

• This is not their sentence. The range is advisory: the judge has to work it out and consider it, then can go below or above it.⁸8 United States v. Booker, 543 U.S. 220, 245–46 (2005); 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a)(4). The sentencing statistics show how often judges did that in 2025.
• It can’t find the offense level for you. That number comes from the guideline for the crime, the amount of drugs or loss, each enhancement, and how several counts combine. The presentence report does that work, and the judge rules on the objections.
• It counts points simply. The real rules about which old sentences count, juvenile cases, and sentences that are grouped together run for pages (USSG §4A1.2). Use the category in the presentence report once you have it.
• It leaves out the career offender and armed career criminal rules, which can set the level and the category on their own (USSG §§4B1.1, 4B1.4).
• The trial column changes only the reduction for pleading guilty. A trial can change other things too.
• Next: put the range into the time served calculator (choose “Not sentenced yet”) to see what each end of it means in real time.