U.S. Sentencing Commission proposes single rule to simplify multiple-count sentencing calculations

The United States Sentencing Commission voted on Dec. 12, 2025, to publish for public comment a proposed amendment that would simplify how courts compute a single offense level in cases involving multiple counts, Commission research associate David Rutter said in a data presentation.

Rutter said the proposal would replace five current rules in Chapter 3, Part D of the Sentencing Guidelines with a single Section 3D1.1 containing four subsections that set out when to aggregate conduct, when to compute counts separately and apply a count-based adjustment, how to select the controlling offense level across different guidelines, and which convictions are excluded.

The Commission framed the amendment as intended to simplify an often-complicated application of the current rules and to address observed application errors that can lead to sentencing disparities. "The proposed amendment would replace the 5 guidelines in chapter 3, part d of the guideline manual with a single guideline at Section 3 d 1.1…