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# Federal Administration of Justice Offense Sentences in the Northern District of Mississippi, FY2016–2025
- URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-administration-of-justice-sentences-northern-district-of-mississippi/
- Published: 2026-11-04T11:14:58.000Z
- Updated: 2026-11-04T11:14:58.000Z
- Description: The Northern District of Mississippi sentenced 15 people for administration of justice offenses in fiscal years 2016 to 2024. 9 (60%) were sent to prison, with a median of 27 months (2.2 years), and 6 (40%) received probation only. Every one of the 15 pleaded guilty.
- 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 Northern District of Mississippi, F](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-district-northern-district-of-mississippi/) › Administration of Justice Offense: Northern District of Mississippi

**In brief:** The Northern District of Mississippi sentenced 15 people for administration of justice offenses in fiscal years 2016 to 2024\. 9 (60%) were sent to prison, with a median of 27 months (2.2 years), and 6 (40%) received probation only. Every one of the 15 pleaded guilty.

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 15 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/).

## Misprision of Felony Was the Most Common Guideline

"Administration of Justice" is one of the categories the U.S. Sentencing Commission uses to group sentenced people, based on the main guideline in each case. In this district, §2X4.1 (Misprision of Felony) was that guideline for 8 people, §2J1.2 (Obstruction of Justice) for 4, and §2A2.4 (Obstructing or Impeding Officers) for 3.

The 15 people were less than 1% of the 1,573 sentenced in the district across fiscal years 2016 to 2025.

## How Prison Rates and Terms Compare

60% of this group went to prison. Across all 94 districts the share was 72%. The probation-only share was 40% here.

The median term for the 9 people sent to prison was 27 months. The upper quarter started at 33 months, and the lower quarter ended at 14 months. Nationally the median was 12 months, which is lower, and the district's median for all offenses was 36 months, which is higher.

A term of 27 months is the term imposed, not time served, and 9 people is too few for the median to be firm.

## Plea Agreements

No one in the group went to trial. All 15 pleaded guilty, matching the 93% national share for this offense type and falling just under the district's 98% for all offenses.

In 93% of the guilty pleas there was a written agreement, and in 7% the plea was a straight plea.

## Inside, Below, and Above the Range

8 people (53%) were sentenced within the guideline range. 5 (33%) were sentenced below it without a government request, and 2 (13%) above it. No one was sentenced below the range at the government's request.

Nationally 48% were within the range for this offense type. For all offenses in the district, the figure was 45%. No mandatory minimum was recorded for any of the 15.

## Supervised Release, Money Orders, and Prior Record

8 people (53%) were ordered to serve supervised release, with a median term of 36 months. 1 person (7%) was ordered to pay a fine, and 2 (13%) restitution.

Criminal history was mostly Category I: 80% were in that lowest category, and 0% were in the highest, Category VI. Court-martial records do not include this field.

## The Years in the Table

8 people were sentenced in fiscal years 2016 to 2019, and 7 in fiscal years 2020 to 2025\. The busiest year was fiscal year 2018, with 5 people, and a median of 14 months.

The latest year, fiscal year 2024, had 4 people and a median of 33 months. Years with an n/a median had no prison sentence to measure. Counts this small do not show a trend.

| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
| ----------- | ---------------- | ------------- | -------------- |
| 2016        | 1                | 36 months     | 1 of 1         |
| 2018        | 5                | 14 months     | 5 of 5         |
| 2019        | 2                | 3.2 months    | 2 of 2         |
| 2020        | 1                | n/a           | 1 of 1         |
| 2021        | 1                | n/a           | 1 of 1         |
| 2023        | 1                | 27 months     | 1 of 1         |
| 2024        | 4                | 33 months     | 4 of 4         |

## Where the Records Fall Short

Acquittals and dismissals are missing from this data, as are the facts of the underlying cases. A reader cannot tell from it what felony or proceeding each case concerned.

Columbus AFB, Mississippi, lies inside the district. Its court-martial cases are heard in military courts, separately from these federal sentences.

### How We Counted

Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Northern District of Mississippi (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Mississippi North") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Administration of Justice" (15). 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 Northern District of Mississippi, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-district-northern-district-of-mississippi/) (overview)
- [Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Northern District of Mississippi, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-drug-trafficking-sentences-northern-district-of-mississippi/) (same district, other offense type)
- [Federal Firearms Sentences in the Northern District of Mississippi, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-firearms-sentences-northern-district-of-mississippi/) (same district, other offense type)
- [Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Northern District of Mississippi, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-fraud-theft-embezzlement-sentences-northern-district-of-mississippi/) (same district, other offense type)
- [Federal Obscenity and Other Sex Offense Sentences in the Northern District of Mississippi, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-obscenity-other-sex-offenses-sentences-northern-district-of-mississippi/) (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.