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# Federal Administration of Justice Offense Sentences in the Eastern District of Michigan, FY2016–2025
- URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-administration-of-justice-sentences-eastern-district-of-michigan/
- Published: 2026-11-04T10:34:57.000Z
- Updated: 2026-11-04T10:34:57.000Z
- Description: The Eastern District of Michigan sentenced 116 people for administration of justice offenses in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. Of them, 78 (67%) received a prison term and 33 (28%) received probation only. The median prison term was 12 months, the same as for all 94 federal districts.
- Author: Jocelyn C. Stewart
- Tags: Understanding Trends, Federal

[Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/) › [Federal Prosecution Analysis](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal/) › [Federal Sentences in the Eastern District of Michigan, FY201](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-district-eastern-district-of-michigan/) › Administration of Justice Offense: Eastern District of Michigan

**In brief:** The Eastern District of Michigan sentenced 116 people for administration of justice offenses in fiscal years 2016 to 2025\. Of them, 78 (67%) received a prison term and 33 (28%) received probation only. The median prison term was 12 months, the same as for all 94 federal districts.

Updated November 4, 2026 · Sources: U.S. Sentencing Commission and Federal Judicial Center, fiscal years 2016–2025

This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 116 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](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal/) series, which builds on [Military Moves Toward Sentencing Guidelines to Mirror the Federal System](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/military-sentencing-guidelines-federal-system/). How the numbers were built: [How the Federal Comparison Data Was Built](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-data-methodology/).

## Prison and Probation Split

Of the 116 people, 78 (67%) received a prison term. Another 33 (28%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement. For all 94 districts, 72% were sent to prison, so prison was less common here.

Among those sent to prison, the median term was 12 months. A quarter received 21 months or more, and a quarter received 0.1 months or less. For all offenses in this district, the median was 36 months.

## The Most Common Guidelines

"Administration of Justice" is the U.S. Sentencing Commission's offense type, set by the primary guideline. The most common in this district was §2X4.1 (Misprision of Felony), with 38 people.

Next came §2J1.2 (Obstruction of Justice), with 33, §2A2.4 (Obstructing or Impeding Officers), with 25, and §2J1.6 (Failure to Appear by Defendant), with 13\. The prison terms are not broken out by guideline in these records, and the category mixes unlike offenses.

## Guilty Pleas Were Nearly Universal

Guilty pleas accounted for 112 people (97%), and 4 were convicted after a trial. For all 94 districts, 93% pleaded guilty. For all offenses in this district, 96% did.

The median prison term after a guilty plea was 12 months. After a trial, it was 36 months, based on 2 people sent to prison. A group of 2 cannot support a comparison.

Among guilty pleas, 89% had a written plea agreement and 11% were straight pleas.

## Guideline Range

The Commission recorded the position for 113 people. Within the range were 48% (54). Below the range at the government's request were 14% (16), and below the range without a government request were 37% (42). Above the range was less than 1% (1).

For all 94 districts, 48% were within the range, the same share as here. For all offenses in this district, 38% were within the range.

## Release, Fines, and Criminal History

No mandatory minimum prison term applied (0 of 115 with that information). Supervised release after prison was ordered for 63 people (54%), with a median term of 24 months.

A fine was ordered for 13 people (11%) and restitution for 16 (14%). In criminal history, 59% were in the lowest category (category I) and 7% in the highest (category VI). Court-martial records have no criminal history field.

## Fewer Cases in Recent Years

There were 82 people sentenced in fiscal years 2016 to 2019 and 34 in fiscal years 2020 to 2025\. Administration of justice cases were 2% of the 7,508 people sentenced in the district. Fiscal years begin on October 1.

The table shows 24 people in 2016 and 3 in 2020\. The records do not show why counts fell, and the yearly medians, from 0 months in 2024 to 21 months in 2022, rest on small groups.

| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
| ----------- | ---------------- | ------------- | -------------- |
| 2016        | 24               | 11 months     | 96%            |
| 2017        | 16               | 15 months     | 100%           |
| 2018        | 23               | 1 months      | 100%           |
| 2019        | 19               | 14 months     | 95%            |
| 2020        | 3                | 18 months     | 3 of 3         |
| 2021        | 5                | 13.5 months   | 5 of 5         |
| 2022        | 9                | 21 months     | 9 of 9         |
| 2023        | 5                | 16.5 months   | 4 of 5         |
| 2024        | 7                | 0 months      | 7 of 7         |
| 2025        | 5                | 14 months     | 4 of 5         |

## What Is Not in the Data

Only people convicted and sentenced are counted. Acquittals and dismissals are not included. Prison terms are the terms imposed, not time served.

### How We Counted

Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Eastern District of Michigan (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Michigan East") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Administration of Justice" (116). 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](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/military-sentencing-guidelines-federal-system/) (the background article)
- [Federal Prosecution Analysis](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal/) (all federal posts)
- [How the Federal Comparison Data Was Built](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-data-methodology/) (sources and method)
- [Federal Sentences in the Eastern District of Michigan, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-district-eastern-district-of-michigan/) (overview)
- [Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Eastern District of Michigan, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-drug-trafficking-sentences-eastern-district-of-michigan/) (same district, other offense type)
- [Federal Firearms Sentences in the Eastern District of Michigan, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-firearms-sentences-eastern-district-of-michigan/) (same district, other offense type)
- [Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Eastern District of Michigan, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-fraud-theft-embezzlement-sentences-eastern-district-of-michigan/) (same district, other offense type)
- [Federal Immigration Offense Sentences in the Eastern District of Michigan, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-immigration-sentences-eastern-district-of-michigan/) (same district, other offense type)
- [U.S. Sentencing Commission, Individual Offender Datafiles](https://www.ussc.gov/research/datafiles/commission-datafiles?ref=bodiesburied.com) (source)
- [Federal Judicial Center, Integrated Database (criminal defendants)](https://www.fjc.gov/research/idb?ref=bodiesburied.com) (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](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/?ref=bodiesburied.com). This analysis is for education and information only. It is not legal advice, and every case is different.