Federal Administration of Justice Offense Sentences in the District of New Mexico, FY2016–2025
183 people were sentenced for administration of justice offenses in the District of New Mexico in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. 161 (88%) received a prison term, and the median prison term was 11 months. For all 94 federal districts together, 72% were sent to prison and the median was 12 months.
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › Federal Sentences in the District of New Mexico, FY2016–2025 › Administration of Justice Offense: District of New Mexico
In brief: 183 people were sentenced for administration of justice offenses in the District of New Mexico in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. 161 (88%) received a prison term, and the median prison term was 11 months. For all 94 federal districts together, 72% were sent to prison and the median was 12 months.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 183 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. Acquittals and dismissals come from a second source, the Federal Judicial Center's records of 753,808 federal defendants whose cases ended in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. It is part of the Federal Prosecution Analysis series, which builds on Military Moves Toward Sentencing Guidelines to Mirror the Federal System. How the numbers were built: How the Federal Comparison Data Was Built.
Obstructing Officers Is the Largest Guideline Group
Administration of Justice is an offense type in the U.S. Sentencing Commission's data. It groups several primary guidelines. §2A2.4 (Obstructing or Impeding Officers) was listed for 132 cases.
§2X4.1 (Misprision of Felony) was listed for 36. §2J1.2 (Obstruction of Justice) was listed for 5, and §2J1.4 (Impersonation) for 4. These cases were less than 1% of the 29,766 people sentenced in the district.
Prison Rates Here and Nationwide
In this district, 88% were sent to prison, and 16 people (9%) received probation only. Nationally, 6,448 people were sentenced in this type, and 72% were sent to prison.
Among those sent to prison here, a quarter received 17.1 months or more, and a quarter received 5.1 months or less. For all offenses in the district, the median prison term was 3.5 months.
Sentences Within the Guideline Range
61% of the 182 people with this information (111) were sentenced within the guideline range. 15% (27) were below it at the government's request, and 21% (39) were below it without a government request. 5 people (3%) were above it.
Nationally, 48% of sentences in this type were within the range. For all offenses in this district, the share was 59%.
Almost Every Case Ended in a Guilty Plea
181 people (99%) pleaded guilty, and 2 were convicted after a trial. The median prison term was 11 months after a guilty plea and 16.5 months after a trial. The trial figure comes from only 2 people.
Among guilty pleas, 78% had a written plea agreement and 22% were straight pleas. Nationally, 93% of people in this type pleaded guilty. A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 2 of the 183 people (1%).
Supervised Release, Money Orders, and Criminal History
142 people (78%) were ordered to serve supervised release after prison, with a median term of 24 months. A fine was ordered for 10 (5%), and restitution for 5 (3%).
57% were in criminal history category I, the lowest, and 8% were in category VI, the highest. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.
Yearly Counts Are Modest
79 people were sentenced in fiscal years 2016 to 2019, and 104 in fiscal years 2020 to 2025. A fiscal year starts on October 1 and ends the following September.
Yearly counts run from 8 in 2024 to 26 in 2019 and 2021. The yearly median was 2.4 months in 2016 and between 8.7 and 12 months in every later year. These groups are small enough that single years do not show a trend.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 13 | 2.4 months | 100% |
| 2017 | 18 | 10 months | 100% |
| 2018 | 22 | 9.9 months | 100% |
| 2019 | 26 | 12 months | 100% |
| 2020 | 16 | 8.7 months | 100% |
| 2021 | 26 | 12 months | 96% |
| 2022 | 21 | 10.5 months | 100% |
| 2023 | 21 | 12 months | 95% |
| 2024 | 8 | 12 months | 8 of 8 |
| 2025 | 12 | 11.5 months | 100% |
What Lies Outside the Data
Cannon AFB, Holloman AFB, and Kirtland AFB are in this district. Courts-martial are tried in military courts, and this post covers federal cases only. People who were acquitted or whose cases were dismissed are not counted, and terms are those imposed, not time served.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in the District of New Mexico (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "New Mexico") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Administration of Justice" (183). Offense types are the Commission's OFFGUIDE categories.
Federal fiscal years run from October 1 to September 30. No person, judge, or lawyer is identified in any of these records.
What to Keep in Mind
No parole in federal prison; credit for good conduct. Federal prison has no parole for crimes committed on or after November 1, 1987. A federal prisoner can earn up to 54 days of good conduct credit for each year of the sentence the judge imposed, which is about 15%. Some federal prisoners can also earn First Step Act time credits, but many offenses make a person ineligible. The numbers in this post are the sentences judges imposed, not the time people actually served.
Federal supervised release. Most federal prison sentences are followed by a term of supervised release that the judge sets as part of the sentence. A person who violates it can be sent back to prison. A court-martial cannot sentence anyone to supervision after release. Military parole and mandatory supervised release are decided later by a board, not by the judge at trial.
Who decides the sentence, and under what rules. Federal judges sentence every federal case. They must calculate the Sentencing Guidelines range, which is advisory, and must impose any mandatory minimum the statute requires unless an exception applies. In courts-martial, the accused could choose sentencing by members until the rules changed. For cases in which every guilty finding is for an offense committed after December 27, 2023, a military judge sentences alone, within sentencing parameters. Courts-martial tried in 2024 and later include both old-rule and new-rule cases, and the data cannot tell them apart.
Time periods. Federal numbers are by federal fiscal year (October 1 to September 30), based on the sentencing date. The military numbers are by trial date. Neither source has the date of the offense, so a change in law shows up in either data set gradually.
How life sentences and "time served" are counted. In the federal numbers, a life sentence is counted as 470 months, and any other sentence longer than 470 months is counted as just under 470 months. A sentence of "time served" is counted as one day (0.03 months). Averages are affected by these rules; medians much less.
Mandatory minimum sentences. Many federal statutes on drugs, images of child exploitation, child sex abuse, and firearms carry mandatory minimum prison terms. The UCMJ has mandatory minimums only for a few offenses (a dishonorable discharge or dismissal for rape and sexual assault, and life for premeditated murder). Federal sentences for these offenses are partly set by Congress, not by the judge.
Related Analysis
- Military Moves Toward Sentencing Guidelines to Mirror the Federal System (the background article)
- Federal Prosecution Analysis (all federal posts)
- How the Federal Comparison Data Was Built (sources and method)
- Federal Sentences in the District of New Mexico, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- Federal Immigration Offense Sentences in the District of New Mexico, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the District of New Mexico, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Firearms Sentences in the District of New Mexico, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Assault Sentences in the District of New Mexico, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- U.S. Sentencing Commission, Individual Offender Datafiles (source)
- Federal Judicial Center, Integrated Database (criminal defendants) (source)
About the author. Jocelyn C. Stewart is a retired Army JAG with more than 24 years of trying courts-martial and more than 200 jury trials. She hosts Where All The Bodies Are Buried and runs the Law Office of Jocelyn C. Stewart. This analysis is for education and information only. It is not legal advice, and every case is different.