> ## Content Index
> Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.bodiesburied.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further.

# Federal Administration of Justice Offense Sentences in the Middle District of Pennsylvania, FY2016–2025
- URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-administration-of-justice-sentences-middle-district-of-pennsylvania/
- Published: 2026-11-04T11:01:07.000Z
- Updated: 2026-11-04T11:01:07.000Z
- Description: In the Middle District of Pennsylvania, 60 people were sentenced for administration of justice offenses in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. Of those, 47 (78%) received a prison term, and the median prison term was 15.4 months. Across all 94 federal districts, the median prison term for this offense type w
- 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 Middle District of Pennsylvania, FY](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-district-middle-district-of-pennsylvania/) › Administration of Justice Offense: Middle District of Pennsylvania

**In brief:** In the Middle District of Pennsylvania, 60 people were sentenced for administration of justice offenses in fiscal years 2016 to 2025\. Of those, 47 (78%) received a prison term, and the median prison term was 15.4 months. Across all 94 federal districts, the median prison term for this offense type was 12 months.

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 60 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/).

## What Sentences Looked Like in This District

The U.S. Sentencing Commission groups federal cases into offense types. "Administration of Justice" is one of its categories. This post counts everyone in the Middle District of Pennsylvania whose case fell in that category and who was sentenced in fiscal years 2016 to 2025\. The count is 60 people.

Of the 60, 47 (78%) received a prison term. Another 9 (15%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement. Among those sent to prison, the median prison term was 15.4 months. A quarter received 28.5 months or more, and a quarter received 10.7 months or less.

The data counts only people who were convicted and sentenced. Acquittals and dismissals are not in it. The prison terms are the terms imposed, not time served.

## How This District Compares With All 94 Districts

For the same offense type, all 94 federal districts together sentenced 6,448 people. In that group, 72% were sent to prison and the median prison term was 12 months. The Middle District of Pennsylvania had a higher share sent to prison (78%) and a higher median prison term (15.4 months).

Guilty pleas were 93% across all districts. In this district they were 90%: 54 of 60 people pleaded guilty, and 6 were convicted after a trial. Sentences within the guideline range were 48% across all districts and 50% here.

## Which Guidelines Applied

A primary guideline is the section of the Sentencing Guidelines Manual that drives a case's sentencing range. The most common ones here were §2A2.4 (Obstructing or Impeding Officers) with 29 people and §2J1.2 (Obstruction of Justice) with 15 people.

Smaller groups followed. §2J1.3 (Perjury or Subornation of Perjury) had 7 people, and §2X4.1 (Misprision of Felony) had 4 people. The remaining cases fall under other guidelines.

## Pleas and Trials

Among guilty pleas, 89% had a written plea agreement and 11% were straight pleas with no agreement. The median prison term after a guilty plea was 15 months. After a trial it was 24 months.

The trial figure is based on only 5 people who were convicted at trial and sent to prison. A group that small cannot support a firm comparison between pleas and trials.

## Where Sentences Fell Against the Guideline Range

Of the 60 people, 30 (50%) were sentenced within the guideline range. Another 10 (17%) were below the range at the government's request. A further 19 (32%) were below the range without a government request. Only 1 (2%) was above the range.

A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 0 of the 53 people with that information recorded. Supervised release after prison was ordered for 30 (50%), with a median term of 24 months. A fine was ordered for 13 (22%), and restitution for 2 (3%).

## Year by Year and Against All Cases in the District

The yearly counts are small, from 1 to 9 people in each fiscal year. The fiscal year runs October 1 to September 30\. Fiscal years 2016 to 2019 had 26 people, and fiscal years 2020 to 2025 had 34 people. Counts this small do not show a trend.

Administration of Justice cases were 1% of the 4,067 people sentenced in this district over the full period. For all offenses in the district, the median prison term was 46 months, which is higher than the 15.4 months here. Guilty pleas were 95% for all offenses in the district.

In criminal history, 37% of these cases were in the lowest criminal history category and 17% were in the highest. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.

| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
| ----------- | ---------------- | ------------- | -------------- |
| 2016        | 6                | 18.7 months   | 6 of 6         |
| 2017        | 8                | 16 months     | 7 of 8         |
| 2018        | 5                | 34.5 months   | 3 of 5         |
| 2019        | 7                | 14 months     | 7 of 7         |
| 2020        | 7                | 13.7 months   | 7 of 7         |
| 2021        | 3                | 0 months      | 3 of 3         |
| 2022        | 8                | 16.5 months   | 6 of 8         |
| 2023        | 1                | 0 months      | 1 of 1         |
| 2024        | 9                | 30 months     | 8 of 9         |
| 2025        | 6                | 16 months     | 6 of 6         |

## What the Records Cannot Show

The records do not show the facts of any case or why a sentence fell where it did. They do not show time actually served. They also do not cover people who were acquitted or whose cases were dismissed. This post reports federal numbers on their own.

### How We Counted

Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Middle District of Pennsylvania (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Penn. Mid") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Administration of Justice" (60). 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 Middle District of Pennsylvania, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-district-middle-district-of-pennsylvania/) (overview)
- [Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Middle District of Pennsylvania, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-drug-trafficking-sentences-middle-district-of-pennsylvania/) (same district, other offense type)
- [Federal Immigration Offense Sentences in the Middle District of Pennsylvania, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-immigration-sentences-middle-district-of-pennsylvania/) (same district, other offense type)
- [Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Middle District of Pennsylvania, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-fraud-theft-embezzlement-sentences-middle-district-of-pennsylvania/) (same district, other offense type)
- [Federal Firearms Sentences in the Middle District of Pennsylvania, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-firearms-sentences-middle-district-of-pennsylvania/) (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.