Federal Administration of Justice Offense Sentences in the Southern District of Indiana, FY2016–2025
All 32 people sentenced for administration of justice offenses in the Southern District of Indiana in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 pleaded guilty. 24 of them (75%) received a prison term and 8 (25%) received probation only. The median prison term was 12 months.
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › Federal Sentences in the Southern District of Indiana, FY201 › Administration of Justice Offense: Southern District of Indiana
In brief: All 32 people sentenced for administration of justice offenses in the Southern District of Indiana in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 pleaded guilty. 24 of them (75%) received a prison term and 8 (25%) received probation only. The median prison term was 12 months.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 32 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.
Prison or Probation?
24 of the 32 people (75%) received a prison term. The other 8 (25%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement. For all 94 federal districts, 72% of people in this offense type were sent to prison.
Among those sent to prison, the median prison term was 12 months, the same as the median for all 94 districts. A quarter received 32.2 months or more, and a quarter received 5.8 months or less. For all offenses in this district, the median was 70 months.
The Offense Type and Its Guidelines
The Commission uses the label "Administration of Justice" for crimes that interfere with courts, investigations, or officers. The most common primary guideline was §2X4.1 (Misprision of Felony), with 11 people. Next were §2A2.4 (Obstructing or Impeding Officers) with 8, §2J1.3 (Perjury or Subornation of Perjury) with 5, and §2J1.2 (Obstruction of Justice) with 5.
The records do not show what felony was involved in a misprision case.
Where Sentences Fell Against the Guideline Range
47% of sentences (15 people) were within the advisory guideline range. 34% (11 people) were below the range at the government's request, and 16% (5 people) were below it without a government request. 3% (1 person) was above the range.
For all 94 districts, 48% of sentences in this offense type were within the range. For all offenses in this district, it was 43%.
No Trials
All 32 people (100%) pleaded guilty, and none were convicted after a trial. For all 94 districts, 93% pleaded guilty. With no trials in the group, plea and trial sentences cannot be compared.
Among those who pleaded guilty, 91% had a written plea agreement and 9% were straight pleas. No mandatory minimum prison term applied to any of the 32 people (0%).
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 4 | 23.3 months | 4 of 4 |
| 2017 | 4 | 10.1 months | 4 of 4 |
| 2018 | 6 | 8 months | 6 of 6 |
| 2019 | 7 | 14 months | 7 of 7 |
| 2020 | 2 | 9.9 months | 2 of 2 |
| 2021 | 2 | 18 months | 2 of 2 |
| 2022 | 1 | n/a | 1 of 1 |
| 2023 | 3 | 19 months | 3 of 3 |
| 2024 | 1 | 7 months | 1 of 1 |
| 2025 | 2 | 17 months | 2 of 2 |
Supervision, Fines, and Criminal History
Supervised release after prison was ordered for 17 people (53%). The median term was 12 months. A fine was ordered for 10 people (31%), and restitution for 5 (16%).
50% of the group had the lowest criminal history score, category I, and 13% had the highest, category VI. A court-martial record has no matching field.
More Cases Early in the Period
21 people were sentenced in fiscal years 2016 to 2019 and 11 in fiscal years 2020 to 2025. Yearly counts range from 1 to 7 people, so the table cannot support a trend.
These cases were less than 1% of the 4,205 people sentenced in this district in fiscal years 2016 to 2025.
What the Records Cannot Show
Only convictions appear in this data set, so acquittals and dismissals are missing. A listed prison term is the sentence imposed and may differ from time actually served.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Southern District of Indiana (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Indiana South") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Administration of Justice" (32). 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 Southern District of Indiana, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Southern District of Indiana, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Firearms Sentences in the Southern District of Indiana, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Southern District of Indiana, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Robbery Sentences in the Southern District of Indiana, 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.