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# Federal Arson Sentences in the District of Nevada, FY2016–2025
- URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-arson-sentences-district-of-nevada/
- Published: 2026-11-04T11:08:54.000Z
- Updated: 2026-11-04T11:08:54.000Z
- Description: 10 people were sentenced in the District of Nevada for arson in fiscal years 2017 to 2023. All 10 received a prison term, with a median of 40.5 months (3.4 years). The median for arson in all 94 federal districts together was 60 months.
- 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 District of Nevada, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-district-district-of-nevada/) › Arson: District of Nevada

**In brief:** 10 people were sentenced in the District of Nevada for arson in fiscal years 2017 to 2023\. All 10 received a prison term, with a median of 40.5 months (3.4 years). The median for arson in all 94 federal districts together was 60 months.

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 10 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/).

## Prison Terms for Arson in Nevada

All 10 people (100%) received a prison term, and 0 received probation only. In all districts, 96% of people sentenced for arson were sent to prison.

Among those sent to prison in Nevada, the median prison term was 40.5 months (3.4 years). A quarter received 60 months or more, and a quarter received 24 months or less. The median for all districts was 60 months, which is higher than the Nevada median. For all offenses in the District of Nevada, the median was 33 months. Terms are those imposed, not time served.

## A Mandatory Minimum Applied in 5 of 10 Cases

A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 5 of the 10 people with that information recorded (50%). A mandatory minimum is a prison term set by statute that a judge must impose unless a legal exception applies.

The records do not show which of the sentences below the guideline range involved a mandatory minimum, so sentence position and mandatory minimums cannot be linked.

## Where Sentences Fell Against the Guideline Range

Below the guideline range at the government's request: 70% (7 people). Within the range: 20% (2). Above the range: 10% (1). Below the range without a government request: 0% (0).

For arson in all districts, 45% were sentenced within the range, and for all offenses in this district the figure was 33%. Sentences within the range were less common in Nevada arson cases than in either comparison group.

## Pleas

All 10 people (100%) pleaded guilty, and none was convicted after a trial. Guilty pleas were 93% for arson in all districts and 96% for all offenses in this district. Every guilty plea (100%) had a written plea agreement.

With no trials, the data cannot compare trial and plea sentences for this group.

## Supervised Release, Restitution, and Criminal History

9 people (90%) were ordered to serve supervised release after prison, with a median term of 36 months. Restitution was ordered for 8 (80%), and no fine was ordered.

By criminal history, 20% were in the lowest category I and 10% in the highest (VI). Court-martial records have no criminal history field.

## One Guideline and Uneven Years

All 10 people had §2K1.4 (Arson) as the primary guideline. These cases were less than 1% of the 3,640 people sentenced in the District of Nevada in fiscal years 2016 to 2025.

3 people were sentenced in fiscal years 2016 to 2019, and 7 in fiscal years 2020 to 2025\. A federal fiscal year starts on October 1 and ends in September. 5 of the 10 were sentenced in 2022, with a median of 24 months, while the other years have 1 or 2 people. The table does not show a trend.

| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
| ----------- | ---------------- | ------------- | -------------- |
| 2017        | 2                | 69 months     | 2 of 2         |
| 2019        | 1                | 60 months     | 1 of 1         |
| 2020        | 1                | 60 months     | 1 of 1         |
| 2022        | 5                | 24 months     | 5 of 5         |
| 2023        | 1                | 8 months      | 1 of 1         |

## Limits and Context

The data counts only people who were convicted and sentenced, and it gives no case facts. It cannot show what property was involved or what harm resulted.

The district includes Creech AFB and Nellis AFB, both in the site's court-martial data. Their courts-martial are military trials, and these federal arson counts do not include them.

### How We Counted

Everyone sentenced in federal court in the District of Nevada (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Nevada") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Arson" (10). 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 District of Nevada, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-district-district-of-nevada/) (overview)
- [Federal Firearms Sentences in the District of Nevada, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-firearms-sentences-district-of-nevada/) (same district, other offense type)
- [Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the District of Nevada, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-drug-trafficking-sentences-district-of-nevada/) (same district, other offense type)
- [Federal Immigration Offense Sentences in the District of Nevada, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-immigration-sentences-district-of-nevada/) (same district, other offense type)
- [Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the District of Nevada, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-fraud-theft-embezzlement-sentences-district-of-nevada/) (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.