Federal Administration of Justice Offense Sentences in the Eastern District of California, FY2016–2025
106 people were sentenced for administration of justice offenses in the Eastern District of California in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. 75 of them (71%) received a prison term, with a median of 8 months, compared with 12 months across all 94 federal districts.
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › Federal Sentences in the Eastern District of California, FY2 › Administration of Justice Offense: Eastern District of California
In brief: 106 people were sentenced for administration of justice offenses in the Eastern District of California in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. 75 of them (71%) received a prison term, with a median of 8 months, compared with 12 months across all 94 federal districts.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 106 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.
Shorter Median Prison Term Than the National Figure
75 of the 106 people (71%) were sent to prison, and 24 (23%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement. Among those sent to prison, the median prison term was 8 months. A quarter received 21 months or more, and a quarter received 0.3 months or less.
For all 94 districts together, "Administration of Justice" had 6,448 people, 72% sent to prison, and a median of 12 months. The median here was lower, and the share sent to prison was about the same. For all offenses in this district, the median was 48 months.
Misprision of Felony Led the Guidelines
Administration of justice is the U.S. Sentencing Commission's category. The most common primary guidelines were §2X4.1 (Misprision of Felony) with 64 people, §2A2.4 (Obstructing or Impeding Officers) with 15, §2J1.6 (Failure to Appear by Defendant) with 11, and §2J1.2 (Obstruction of Justice) with 6.
These cases were 2% of the 4,546 people sentenced in the district.
Sentences in Relation to the Guideline Range
49% of sentences (51 people) were within the guideline range, which is the range the Commission's guidelines calculate. 29% (30 people) were below it without a government request. 19% (20 people) were below it at the government's request, and 4% (4 people) were above it.
Nationwide, 48% of sentences for this offense type fell within the range, about the same as here. The district's share for all offenses was 40%.
Plea Rates and Trial Sentences
100 of 106 people (94%) pleaded guilty, and 6 were convicted after a trial. The median prison term was 6.6 months after a guilty plea and 24 months after a trial, based on 5 people.
91% of the guilty pleas had a written plea agreement, and 8% were straight pleas with no agreement. A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 0 of the 105 people with that information recorded (0%).
Supervised Release, Fines, and Criminal History
Supervised release after prison was ordered for 67 people (63%), with a median term of 12 months. Fines were ordered for 13 people (12%) and restitution for 19 (18%).
Criminal history category I, the lowest, applied to 65% of the people, and category VI, the highest, applied to 5%. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.
Counts and Medians by Year
The table covers 10 fiscal years. 58 people were sentenced in fiscal years 2016 to 2019, and 48 in fiscal years 2020 to 2025. The count was 24 in 2016 and 5 in both 2021 and 2024.
Medians in the table run from 0.4 months in 2022 to 30 months in 2024. Counts of 5 to 11 people in most years make these medians unstable, and the table does not show a trend.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 24 | 1.2 months | 96% |
| 2017 | 19 | 3.7 months | 89% |
| 2018 | 6 | 15.2 months | 5 of 6 |
| 2019 | 9 | 12 months | 8 of 9 |
| 2020 | 9 | 8 months | 8 of 9 |
| 2021 | 5 | 21 months | 5 of 5 |
| 2022 | 9 | 0.4 months | 9 of 9 |
| 2023 | 9 | 14.5 months | 9 of 9 |
| 2024 | 5 | 30 months | 5 of 5 |
| 2025 | 11 | 21 months | 100% |
What the Records Cannot Show
Anyone whose case ended without a conviction is not counted, so acquittals and dismissals cannot be read from this data.
The terms shown are those ordered by the court, and release dates or time served are not included.
The installations in the data, Beale AFB, Edwards AFB, and Travis AFB, are in the district. Their courts-martial are tried in military courts, and these federal totals stand alone.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Eastern District of California (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "California East") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Administration of Justice" (106). 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.
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 Eastern District of California, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Eastern District of California, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Firearms Sentences in the Eastern District of California, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Eastern District of California, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Immigration Offense Sentences in the Eastern District of California, 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.