Federal Administration of Justice Offense Sentences in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, FY2016–2025
The Eastern District of Pennsylvania sentenced 39 people for administration of justice offenses in fiscal years 2016 to 2025, which is less than 1% of its 5,462 people. 29 (74%) received a prison term, and the median was 12 months, the same as in all 94 federal districts.
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › Federal Sentences in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, F › Administration of Justice Offense: Eastern District of Pennsylvania
In brief: The Eastern District of Pennsylvania sentenced 39 people for administration of justice offenses in fiscal years 2016 to 2025, which is less than 1% of its 5,462 people. 29 (74%) received a prison term, and the median was 12 months, the same as in all 94 federal districts.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 39 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.
A Small Group With a Median of 12 Months
Of the 39 people sentenced, 29 (74%) received a prison term and 6 (15%) received probation only. The median prison term was 12 months. A quarter received 3 months or less, and a quarter received 30 months or more.
In all districts, 6,448 people were sentenced in this offense type, 72% were sent to prison, and the median was 12 months. For all offenses in this district, the median was 42 months.
Which Offenses Are Included?
"Administration of Justice" is an offense type used by the U.S. Sentencing Commission, assigned from each case's primary guideline. It groups offenses that interfere with courts and law enforcement.
17 cases used §2J1.2 (Obstruction of Justice), and 15 used §2A2.4 (Obstructing or Impeding Officers). 4 used §2J1.3 (Perjury or Subornation of Perjury), and 1 used §2J1.6 (Failure to Appear by Defendant).
Trials Were Rare and the Group Is Small
35 people (90%) pleaded guilty, and 4 were convicted after a trial. The median prison term after a guilty plea was 15 months. After a trial it was 0.1 months, based on 4 people.
Groups this small cannot be compared with confidence. Among the guilty pleas, 77% had a written plea agreement and 23% were straight pleas with no agreement.
Position Against the Guideline Range
The guideline range is the sentence range calculated under the Sentencing Guidelines. 38% of sentences (15) were within it. 31% (12) were below it at the government's request, and 23% (9) were below it without a government request. 8% (3) were above the range.
In all districts, 48% of sentences in this offense type were within the range. For all offenses in this district, 34% were. No mandatory minimum applied to any of the 38 people with that information recorded.
Supervised Release, Fines, and Criminal History
27 people (69%) were ordered to serve supervised release after prison, with a median term of 36 months. A fine was ordered for 8 (21%), and restitution for 6 (15%).
69% were in the lowest criminal history category, category I, and 8% were in the highest, category VI.
Counts by Fiscal Year
Fiscal years 2016 to 2019 had 20 people, and fiscal years 2020 to 2025 had 19. No year has more than 8 people, and the table has no row for 2024. Yearly medians range from 0.1 months in 2022 to 27.9 months in 2025.
These counts are small and do not show a trend. The records cannot show why a median changed.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 8 | 10 months | 8 of 8 |
| 2017 | 3 | 16.5 months | 3 of 3 |
| 2018 | 5 | 27 months | 4 of 5 |
| 2019 | 4 | 10 months | 4 of 4 |
| 2020 | 2 | 6 months | 2 of 2 |
| 2021 | 5 | 18 months | 5 of 5 |
| 2022 | 4 | 0.1 months | 1 of 4 |
| 2023 | 4 | 18 months | 4 of 4 |
| 2025 | 4 | 27.9 months | 4 of 4 |
What the Records Cannot Show
Only people who were convicted and sentenced are counted. Acquittals and dismissals are not in the data, and prison terms are the terms imposed, not time served.
The records do not describe the facts of any case.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Penn. East") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Administration of Justice" (39). 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 Pennsylvania, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Firearms Sentences in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Immigration Offense Sentences in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, 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.