Federal Administration of Justice Offense Sentences in the Middle District of North Carolina, FY2016–2025
In fiscal years 2016 to 2025, the Middle District of North Carolina sentenced 16 people in the administration of justice offense type. A prison term went to 11 (69%), and 4 (25%) received probation only. The median prison term was 21 months, longer than the 12 months for all 94 districts.
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In brief: In fiscal years 2016 to 2025, the Middle District of North Carolina sentenced 16 people in the administration of justice offense type. A prison term went to 11 (69%), and 4 (25%) received probation only. The median prison term was 21 months, longer than the 12 months for all 94 districts.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 16 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.
Several Different Offenses Share One Category
The Sentencing Commission groups these cases by primary guideline, and the group is broad. In this district, 6 people were sentenced under §2J1.6 (Failure to Appear by Defendant) and 4 under §2J1.2 (Obstruction of Justice).
Another 3 were sentenced under §2X4.1 (Misprision of Felony), and 3 under §2J1.4 (Impersonation). Together the 16 people were less than 1% of the 3,816 sentenced in the district.
Prison Sentences and Probation
Among the 11 people who went to prison, the median term was 21 months. A quarter got 28 months or more, and a quarter got 19 months or less.
Nationally, 72% of people in this offense type went to prison, with a median of 12 months. District-wide, across every offense, the median was 60 months.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 2 | 20 months | 2 of 2 |
| 2017 | 3 | 24 months | 3 of 3 |
| 2018 | 2 | 16.5 months | 2 of 2 |
| 2019 | 1 | n/a | 1 of 1 |
| 2020 | 1 | 16 months | 1 of 1 |
| 2021 | 2 | 24 months | 2 of 2 |
| 2023 | 1 | 18 months | 1 of 1 |
| 2024 | 2 | 27 months | 1 of 2 |
| 2025 | 2 | 57 months | 1 of 2 |
Trials Among 16 Cases
A guilty plea ended 14 of the 16 cases (88%), against 93% nationally. The other 2 people were convicted at trial.
Plea cases had a median prison term of 21 months, and the 2 trial cases had a median of 32.5 months. A group of 2 people is too small to say anything about trials in general.
Written plea agreements covered 93% of the pleas, and 7% were straight pleas.
Comparing Sentences With the Guideline Range
Judges calculate a range under the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines for each case. In this district, 10 sentences (63%) were inside that range, and the national share was 48%. Across every offense in the district, the share was 53%.
One person (6%) was sentenced below the range at the government's request, 3 (19%) below it without such a request, and 2 (13%) above it. No mandatory minimum applied to any of the 16.
Supervised Release, Fines, and Criminal History
In all, 11 people (69%) were ordered to serve supervised release, with a median term of 36 months. Fines were ordered for 3 people (19%) and restitution for 1 (6%).
On criminal history, 38% were in category I, the lowest, and 6% were in category VI, the highest.
Counts by Year
The district sentenced 8 people in fiscal years 2016 to 2019 and 8 more in fiscal years 2020 to 2025. No single year had more than 3 people.
The yearly medians in the table go from 16 months up to 57 months. Such small groups cannot show a trend, and the records do not explain the differences.
What the Records Omit
Only convictions that led to a sentence are in the data. Acquittals and dismissals are absent, and the prison figures are terms imposed rather than time served. The records also do not show what the underlying case was about, so a failure to appear cannot be tied to any other charge.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Middle District of North Carolina (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "N Carolina Mid") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Administration of Justice" (16). 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 Middle District of North Carolina, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- Federal Firearms Sentences in the Middle District of North Carolina, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Middle District of North Carolina, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Robbery Sentences in the Middle District of North Carolina, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Immigration Offense Sentences in the Middle 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.