> ## 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 Southern District of Florida, FY2016–2025 - URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-administration-of-justice-sentences-southern-district-of-florida/ - Published: 2026-11-04T10:07:31.000Z - Updated: 2026-11-04T10:07:31.000Z - Description: The Southern District of Florida sentenced 135 people for administration of justice offenses in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. 104 (77%) received a prison term, and 22 (16%) received probation only. The median prison term was 12 months, the same as the median for all 94 federal districts. - 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 Southern District of Florida, FY201](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-district-southern-district-of-florida/) › Administration of Justice Offense: Southern District of Florida **In brief:** The Southern District of Florida sentenced 135 people for administration of justice offenses in fiscal years 2016 to 2025\. 104 (77%) received a prison term, and 22 (16%) received probation only. The median prison term was 12 months, the same as the median for all 94 federal districts. 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 135 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 the Offense Type Includes The U.S. Sentencing Commission's offense type "Administration of Justice" groups offenses that involve obstruction and related conduct. In this district, the most common primary guideline was §2J1.2 (Obstruction of Justice), with 42 people. Next were §2A2.4 (Obstructing or Impeding Officers), with 37 people, and §2J1.6 (Failure to Appear by Defendant), with 30 people. 13 people were sentenced under §2J1.4 (Impersonation). These cases were less than 1% of the 17,081 people sentenced in the district over these fiscal years. ## Prison Terms and Probation Among the 104 people sent to prison, the median prison term was 12 months. A quarter received 18 months or more, and a quarter received 5.8 months or less. Those terms were imposed at sentencing and are not time served. Across all 94 districts, the Commission counted 6,448 people in this offense type. 72% were sent to prison, and the median was 12 months. The district's prison share of 77% was higher than the national share. For all offenses in the district, the median prison term was 32 months. ## Guilty Pleas Compared With Trials A total of 130 of the 135 people (96%) pleaded guilty, and 5 were convicted after a trial. Nationally, 93% pleaded guilty. The median prison term after a guilty plea was 12 months. After a trial it was 13.5 months, based on only 4 people sent to prison. That is too few cases to compare the groups. Among guilty pleas, 69% had a written plea agreement, and 26% were straight pleas with no agreement. ## Within, Below, and Above the Range Guideline information was recorded for 132 people. 70 of them (53%) were sentenced within the range. The government requested a lower sentence in 17 cases (13%), and 33 people (25%) were below the range without that request. 12 people (9%) were above the range. For all 94 districts, 48% of sentences in this offense type were within the range. For all offenses in this district, the share was 55%. A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 6 of the 134 people with that information recorded (4%). ## Supervised Release, Fines, and Criminal History Supervised release was ordered for 98 people (73%), and the median term was 24 months. A fine was ordered for 21 people (16%), and restitution for 16 (12%). By criminal history, 63% were in category I and 2% in category VI. Military records have no criminal history field. ## Yearly Counts Are Small The federal fiscal year begins October 1 and closes the following September. The yearly count ranged from 5 people in fiscal year 2020 to 24 people in fiscal year 2019\. The yearly median prison term ranged from 5.5 months to 16 months. Counts this small do not show a trend, and the table lists each year. | Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty | | ----------- | ---------------- | ------------- | -------------- | | 2016 | 20 | 7.5 months | 95% | | 2017 | 12 | 12 months | 100% | | 2018 | 20 | 12 months | 95% | | 2019 | 24 | 12.5 months | 100% | | 2020 | 5 | 5.5 months | 4 of 5 | | 2021 | 7 | 14 months | 6 of 7 | | 2022 | 12 | 7 months | 100% | | 2023 | 15 | 10 months | 93% | | 2024 | 8 | 16 months | 8 of 8 | | 2025 | 12 | 8 months | 100% | ## What the Records Cannot Show The data does not describe the underlying case that any obstruction or failure to appear was connected to. Acquittals and dismissals are not included. Courts-martial are handled by military courts and are separate from these numbers. ### How We Counted Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Southern District of Florida (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Florida South") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Administration of Justice" (135). 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. **Mandatory minimum sentences.** Many federal statutes on drugs, images of child exploitation, child sex abuse, and firearms carry mandatory minimum prison terms. The UCMJ has mandatory minimums only for a few offenses (a dishonorable discharge or dismissal for rape and sexual assault, and life for premeditated murder). Federal sentences for these offenses are partly set by Congress, not by the judge. ## 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 Southern District of Florida, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-district-southern-district-of-florida/) (overview) - [Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Southern District of Florida, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-drug-trafficking-sentences-southern-district-of-florida/) (same district, other offense type) - [Federal Immigration Offense Sentences in the Southern District of Florida, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-immigration-sentences-southern-district-of-florida/) (same district, other offense type) - [Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Southern District of Florida, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-fraud-theft-embezzlement-sentences-southern-district-of-florida/) (same district, other offense type) - [Federal Firearms Sentences in the Southern District of Florida, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-firearms-sentences-southern-district-of-florida/) (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.