> ## 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 New York, FY2016–2025 - URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-administration-of-justice-sentences-southern-district-of-new-york/ - Published: 2026-11-04T10:31:51.000Z - Updated: 2026-11-04T10:31:51.000Z - Description: 115 people were sentenced for administration of justice offenses in the Southern District of New York in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. 88% received a prison term, with a median of 9 months, compared with 72% sent to prison and a 12-month median across all 94 federal districts. No mandatory minimum appl - 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 New York, FY20](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-district-southern-district-of-new-york/) › Administration of Justice Offense: Southern District of New York **In brief:** 115 people were sentenced for administration of justice offenses in the Southern District of New York in fiscal years 2016 to 2025\. 88% received a prison term, with a median of 9 months, compared with 72% sent to prison and a 12-month median across all 94 federal districts. No mandatory minimum applied to any of the 111 people with that information recorded. 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 115 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/). ## Obstruction, Misprision, and Failure to Appear "Administration of Justice" is the U.S. Sentencing Commission's offense type for this group. The most common primary guideline was §2J1.2 (Obstruction of Justice), with 47 people. Next was §2X4.1 (Misprision of Felony) with 24 people. §2A2.4 (Obstructing or Impeding Officers) applied to 14 people, and §2J1.6 (Failure to Appear by Defendant) applied to 13 people. These cases were less than 1% of the 12,035 people sentenced in the district. ## Prison Terms 101 of the 115 people (88%) received a prison term, and 9 (8%) received probation only. The median prison term was 9 months. A quarter received 18 months or more, and a quarter received 0.3 months or less. For all offenses in this district, the median was 33 months. Terms are sentences imposed, which can differ from time served. ## Guilty Pleas and Trial Convictions 108 people (94%) pleaded guilty, and 7 were convicted after a trial. Across all 94 districts, 93% pleaded guilty, and for all offenses in this district the rate was 95%. The median prison term after a guilty plea was 7.1 months. After a trial it was 27 months, based on 7 people. Plea agreements in writing covered 83% of the guilty pleas, and 17% were straight pleas. ## Sentences Against the Guideline Range For each person, the Commission's rules produce a guideline range. 44 sentences (39%) were within it, and 6 (5%) were above it. 8 (7%) were below it at the government's request, and 56 (49%) were below it without one. Across all 94 districts, 48% of sentences were within the range. For all offenses in this district, the share was 22%. ## Supervised Release, Fines, and Criminal History Supervised release followed prison for 97 people (84%), and the median term was 24 months. 21 people (18%) were fined, and 12 (10%) were ordered to pay restitution. 66% of the people were in the lowest criminal history category (Category I), and 3% were in the highest (VI). The military records on this site have no criminal history measure to compare. ## Counts by Year The district sentenced 53 people in this offense type in fiscal years 2016 to 2019 and 62 in fiscal years 2020 to 2025\. Fiscal year 2018 had the most, with 25 people, and fiscal years 2017, 2023, and 2025 had 7 each. Medians in the table range from 2 months in fiscal year 2020 to 18 months in fiscal years 2023 and 2024\. The groups are small, and the table does not show a trend. Each fiscal year starts October 1. | Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty | | ----------- | ---------------- | ------------- | -------------- | | 2016 | 9 | 3 months | 8 of 9 | | 2017 | 7 | 8.5 months | 7 of 7 | | 2018 | 25 | 15 months | 92% | | 2019 | 12 | 6 months | 100% | | 2020 | 9 | 2 months | 9 of 9 | | 2021 | 12 | 6 months | 100% | | 2022 | 14 | 12 months | 86% | | 2023 | 7 | 18 months | 7 of 7 | | 2024 | 13 | 18 months | 92% | | 2025 | 7 | 7.7 months | 6 of 7 | ## What the Records Cannot Show The data does not include acquittals or dismissals, only sentenced people. The records do not describe the underlying case that an obstruction or failure to appear was connected to. ### How We Counted Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Southern District of New York (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "New York South") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Administration of Justice" (115). 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 Southern District of New York, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-district-southern-district-of-new-york/) (overview) - [Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Southern District of New York, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-drug-trafficking-sentences-southern-district-of-new-york/) (same district, other offense type) - [Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Southern District of New York, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-fraud-theft-embezzlement-sentences-southern-district-of-new-york/) (same district, other offense type) - [Federal Firearms Sentences in the Southern District of New York, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-firearms-sentences-southern-district-of-new-york/) (same district, other offense type) - [Federal Robbery Sentences in the Southern District of New York, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-robbery-sentences-southern-district-of-new-york/) (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.