Federal Administration of Justice Offense Sentences in the Western District of Michigan, FY2016–2025
The Western District of Michigan sentenced 45 people in the U.S. Sentencing Commission's "Administration of Justice" offense type in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. Of them, 30 (67%) received a prison term and 11 (24%) received probation only. The median prison term was 15 months, compared with 12 months
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In brief: The Western District of Michigan sentenced 45 people in the U.S. Sentencing Commission's "Administration of Justice" offense type in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. Of them, 30 (67%) received a prison term and 11 (24%) received probation only. The median prison term was 15 months, compared with 12 months across all 94 federal districts.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 45 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.
What the Offense Type Covers
Administration of Justice is the Commission's grouping of cases by the main guideline used at sentencing. It is not one statute. In this district, 19 cases used §2A2.4 (Obstructing or Impeding Officers), and 11 used §2X4.1 (Misprision of Felony).
Another 9 used §2J1.2 (Obstruction of Justice), and 3 used §2J1.3 (Perjury or Subornation of Perjury). Because several different kinds of conduct are grouped together, the totals do not describe one type of case.
These cases were 1% of the 3,034 people sentenced in the district.
Prison Terms
Prison was given to 67% of the district's group, compared with 72% across all districts, where 6,448 people were sentenced in this type.
Among the 30 people sent to prison, a quarter received 23.2 months or more, and a quarter received 9 months or less. The median of 15 months was longer than the national median of 12 months. The district's median for all offenses was 51 months.
The terms are the sentences imposed, not time served.
2 Trials, One Long Median
A total of 43 people (96%) pleaded guilty, and 2 were convicted after a trial. Among the guilty pleas, 88% had a written plea agreement and 9% were straight pleas with no agreement.
The median after a guilty plea was 15 months. After a trial it was 129 months, but that figure rests on only 2 people and cannot support a general comparison.
Guideline Range and Mandatory Minimums
A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 0 of the 44 people with that information recorded.
A sentence within the guideline range was given to 27 people (61%). 1 sentence (2%) was below the range at the government's request, and 13 (30%) were below it without a government request. 3 sentences (7%) were above the range. For all districts, 48% of sentences in this type were within the range.
Supervised Release, Fines, and Criminal History
Supervised release after prison was ordered for 26 people (58%), with a median term of 24 months. A fine was ordered for 14 (31%), and restitution for 10 (22%).
By criminal history, 57% were in the lowest category, category I, and 5% were in the highest, category VI. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.
Counts by Year and Limits of the Data
From fiscal year 2016 to 2019 there were 19 people, and from 2020 to 2025 there were 26. The yearly table shows between 1 and 8 people per year, so the yearly medians rest on very few cases.
The Commission counts only people who were convicted and sentenced, so acquittals and dismissals are not in the data. The records also cannot show why some people received probation and others received prison.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 6 | 18 months | 6 of 6 |
| 2017 | 8 | 12 months | 8 of 8 |
| 2018 | 1 | 6 months | 1 of 1 |
| 2019 | 4 | 25.5 months | 4 of 4 |
| 2020 | 8 | 18 months | 8 of 8 |
| 2021 | 3 | 21 months | 1 of 3 |
| 2022 | 4 | 10.5 months | 4 of 4 |
| 2023 | 2 | 7.5 months | 2 of 2 |
| 2024 | 2 | 19.5 months | 2 of 2 |
| 2025 | 7 | 12 months | 7 of 7 |
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Western District of Michigan (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Michigan West") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Administration of Justice" (45). 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 Western District of Michigan, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Western District of Michigan, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Firearms Sentences in the Western District of Michigan, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Western District of Michigan, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Immigration Offense Sentences in the Western District of Michigan, 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.