Federal Administration of Justice Offense Sentences in the Eastern District of North Carolina, FY2016–2025
Of the 38 people sentenced for administration of justice offenses in the Eastern District of North Carolina in fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 26 (68%) received a prison term and 10 (26%) received probation only. The median prison term was 12 months, the same as the median for all 94 federal districts.
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In brief: Of the 38 people sentenced for administration of justice offenses in the Eastern District of North Carolina in fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 26 (68%) received a prison term and 10 (26%) received probation only. The median prison term was 12 months, the same as the median for all 94 federal districts.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 38 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.
Pleas, Prison, and Probation
Administration of justice is the U.S. Sentencing Commission's offense type for crimes tied to law enforcement and court proceedings. Cases are placed in a type by their primary sentencing guideline.
In this district, 36 of the 38 people (95%) pleaded guilty, and 2 were convicted after a trial. Prison was imposed on 68%, compared with 72% across all 94 districts. Probation only was the sentence for 10 people, with no prison or other confinement.
Length of Prison Terms
Among the 26 people sent to prison, the median prison term was 12 months. A quarter received 21 months or more, and a quarter received 6 months or less.
The median was 12 months after a guilty plea and 10.5 months after a trial. The trial figure rests on 2 people, so it cannot support a comparison. For all offenses in this district, the median prison term was 60 months, which is much longer than for this offense type.
Which Guidelines Applied
The most common primary guideline was §2A2.4 (Obstructing or Impeding Officers), used for 11 people. Next were §2J1.2 (Obstruction of Justice) for 10 and §2X4.1 (Misprision of Felony) for 6. §2J1.4 (Impersonation) was used for 4.
These 38 cases were less than 1% of the 7,801 people sentenced in the district over the period.
Where Sentences Fell Against the Guideline Range
The range was recorded for 37 people. Of those, 46% (17) were sentenced within the range. Another 43% (16) were below it without a government request, and 11% (4) were below it at the government's request. None were above it.
For all districts, 48% of sentences for this offense type were within the range. For all offenses in this district, 56% were. The records do not show the reasons for sentences below the range.
Mandatory Minimums, Supervised Release, and Other Terms
A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 0 of the 36 people with that information recorded (0%).
Supervised release after prison was ordered for 26 people (68%), with a median term of 24 months. A fine was ordered for 5 (13%) and restitution for 3 (8%). Among guilty pleas, 83% had a written plea agreement and 17% were straight pleas with no agreement.
In criminal history, 49% were in the lowest category I and 8% in the highest category VI. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.
Year-by-Year Counts
Fiscal years 2016 to 2019 had 21 people, and fiscal years 2020 to 2025 had 17. The table shows that no year had more than 9 people, and fiscal year 2025 had 1, with no median listed.
Counts this small do not show a trend. Each yearly median rests on a handful of people.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 8 | 15 months | 8 of 8 |
| 2017 | 9 | 9 months | 7 of 9 |
| 2018 | 4 | 9.5 months | 4 of 4 |
| 2020 | 4 | 7.5 months | 4 of 4 |
| 2021 | 7 | 14 months | 7 of 7 |
| 2022 | 2 | 18 months | 2 of 2 |
| 2023 | 1 | 30 months | 1 of 1 |
| 2024 | 2 | 16.5 months | 2 of 2 |
| 2025 | 1 | n/a | 1 of 1 |
Limits of These Numbers
The data counts only people who were convicted and sentenced. Dismissals and acquittals are not included, and the terms are those imposed, not time served.
Camp Lejeune, Fort Bragg, Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, and Seymour Johnson AFB are in this district. Courts-martial are tried in military courts, not in the federal district court.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Eastern District of North Carolina (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "N Carolina East") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Administration of Justice" (38). 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 North Carolina, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Eastern District of North Carolina, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Firearms Sentences in the Eastern District of North Carolina, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Other Offense Sentences in the Eastern District of North Carolina, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Eastern District of North Carolina, 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.