Federal Administration of Justice Offense Sentences in the Northern District of Illinois, FY2016–2025
In the Northern District of Illinois, 54 people were sentenced for administration of justice offenses in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. Of them, 42 (78%) received a prison term, with a median of 11 months, and 9 (17%) received probation only. The median across all 94 districts was 12 months.
· Understanding Trends in Military Practice · 6 min read
Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › Federal Sentences in the Northern District of Illinois, FY20 › Administration of Justice Offense: Northern District of Illinois
In brief: In the Northern District of Illinois, 54 people were sentenced for administration of justice offenses in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. Of them, 42 (78%) received a prison term, with a median of 11 months, and 9 (17%) received probation only. The median across all 94 districts was 12 months.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 54 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.
Obstruction Was the Most Common Guideline
"Administration of Justice" is the U.S. Sentencing Commission's offense type, and it covers more than one kind of conduct. The most common primary guideline was §2J1.2 (Obstruction of Justice), used for 31 of the 54 people.
Next was §2A2.4 (Obstructing or Impeding Officers), used for 6, and §2J1.6 (Failure to Appear by Defendant), used for 5. Another 4 people were sentenced under §2J1.3 (Perjury or Subornation of Perjury).
These cases were less than 1% of the 6,211 people sentenced in the district.
Prison Terms Compared With Other Measures
The median prison term among the 42 people sent to prison was 11 months. A quarter received 19.5 months or more, and a quarter received 3.2 months or less.
The all-district median was 12 months, which is about the same. The median for all offenses in this district was 42 months, which is higher. In all districts, 72% of people in this offense type were sent to prison.
No mandatory minimum prison term applied to any of the 54 people (0%).
Guideline Range Results
Within the guideline range were 22 sentences (41%). Below the range without a request from the government were 20 (37%), and below it at the government's request were 9 (17%). Above the range were 3 (6%).
In all districts, 48% of sentences for this offense type were within the range. For all offenses in this district, the share was 29%.
Guilty Pleas and the Trial Group
Of the 54 people, 50 (93%) pleaded guilty, and 4 were convicted after a trial. The all-district plea rate was 93%, and so was the rate for all offenses in this district.
The median prison term after a guilty plea was 10 months. After a trial it was 24 months, but that figure rests on a single person sent to prison. It cannot support a comparison.
Among the guilty pleas, 96% had a written plea agreement, and 4% were straight pleas.
Supervised Release, Fines, and Criminal History
Supervised release followed prison for 32 people (59%), with a median term of 24 months. A fine was ordered for 17 (31%), and restitution for 6 (11%).
In criminal history, 70% were in the lowest category (Category I), and 2% were in the highest (Category VI).
Counts by Fiscal Year
Fiscal years 2016 to 2019 have 25 people, and fiscal years 2020 to 2025 have 29 people. Fiscal years 2019 and 2024 have the most, with 9 people each.
Yearly medians range from 4 months in fiscal year 2018 to 18 months in fiscal year 2017. Every year has 9 people or fewer, so the table does not show a trend. The fiscal year runs from October 1 through the end of September.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 4 | 8 months | 3 of 4 |
| 2017 | 7 | 18 months | 7 of 7 |
| 2018 | 5 | 4 months | 4 of 5 |
| 2019 | 9 | 11.5 months | 9 of 9 |
| 2020 | 4 | 10 months | 3 of 4 |
| 2021 | 4 | 14.5 months | 4 of 4 |
| 2022 | 3 | 12 months | 3 of 3 |
| 2023 | 4 | 9.5 months | 3 of 4 |
| 2024 | 9 | 12 months | 9 of 9 |
| 2025 | 5 | 12 months | 5 of 5 |
Installation Note and Data Limits
Great Lakes, Illinois, is a military installation in this district. Courts-martial are tried in military courts, not in this federal court.
Acquittals and dismissals are not part of this data. It lists convicted and sentenced people and gives no case details, and the prison terms are imposed terms, not time served.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Northern District of Illinois (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Illinois North") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Administration of Justice" (54). 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 Northern District of Illinois, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Northern District of Illinois, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Northern District of Illinois, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Firearms Sentences in the Northern District of Illinois, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Robbery Sentences in the Northern District of Illinois, 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.