Federal Arson Sentences in the Eastern District of California, FY2016–2025
A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 10 of the 16 people (63%) sentenced for arson in the Eastern District of California in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. The median prison term was 60 months, the same as for arson in all 94 districts. Trials were more common here than in the district overall.
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › Federal Sentences in the Eastern District of California, FY2 › Arson: Eastern District of California
In brief: A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 10 of the 16 people (63%) sentenced for arson in the Eastern District of California in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. The median prison term was 60 months, the same as for arson in all 94 districts. Trials were more common here than in the district overall.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 16 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.
Mandatory Minimums in Most Arson Cases
The U.S. Sentencing Commission's offense type "Arson" covers 16 people in this district. A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 10 of them (63%). A mandatory minimum is a prison term set by statute that a judge must impose as a floor.
All 16 cases used the same primary guideline: §2K1.4 (Arson). The records do not show which statutes carried the minimums.
A 60-Month Median
A total of 15 of the 16 (94%) received a prison term, and 1 (6%) received probation only. In all districts, 96% were sent to prison.
The median prison term was 60 months (5 years). A quarter received 55.5 months or less, and a quarter received 67.5 months or more. The median for arson in all districts was also 60 months. The median for all offenses in this district was 48 months, so arson terms were higher than the district overall.
Trials and Guilty Pleas
A total of 11 of 16 (69%) pleaded guilty, and 5 were convicted after a trial. Across all districts, 93% pleaded guilty for arson, and across all offenses in this district the rate was 96%.
The median prison term after a guilty plea was 60 months. After a trial it was 72 months, based on 5 people. Among the guilty pleas, 91% had a written plea agreement, and 9% were straight pleas with no agreement.
The groups are small, and the records cannot show whether the trial cases differed in other ways.
Sentences Against the Guideline Range
The guideline range comes from the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines. Of the 16 people, 75% (12) were sentenced within the range. In all districts, 45% were within the range, and for all offenses in this district the share was 40%.
A below-range sentence without a government request applied to 13% (2), and one at the government's request applied to 6% (1). An above-range sentence applied to 6% (1).
Restitution and Supervised Release
Restitution was ordered for 14 of the 16 (88%), and a fine for 1 (6%). All 16 (100%) were ordered to serve supervised release after prison, with a median term of 36 months.
Yearly Counts and Criminal History
Fiscal years 2016 to 2019 had 8 people, and fiscal years 2020 to 2025 had 8 people. The table lists 9 years with 1 to 3 people each, so it does not show a trend. Arson was less than 1% of the 4,546 people sentenced here.
In this group, 50% were in criminal history category I, the lowest, and 0% were in category VI, the highest. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 3 | 180 months | 1 of 3 |
| 2017 | 1 | 60 months | 1 of 1 |
| 2018 | 2 | 56.5 months | 0 of 2 |
| 2019 | 2 | 58.5 months | 1 of 2 |
| 2021 | 1 | 0 months | 1 of 1 |
| 2022 | 2 | 66 months | 2 of 2 |
| 2023 | 1 | 30 months | 1 of 1 |
| 2024 | 2 | 63 months | 2 of 2 |
| 2025 | 2 | 57 months | 2 of 2 |
Installations and Limits
Beale, Edwards, and Travis Air Force Bases are in this district. Courts-martial for service members are held in military courts, not in this federal court.
Acquittals and dismissals are not in the Commission's data, and prison terms shown are those imposed, not time served.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Eastern District of California (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "California East") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Arson" (16). 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 (the background article)
- Federal Prosecution Analysis (all federal posts)
- How the Federal Comparison Data Was Built (sources and method)
- Federal Sentences in the Eastern District of California, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Eastern District of California, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Firearms Sentences in the Eastern District of California, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Eastern District of California, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Immigration Offense Sentences in the Eastern District of California, 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.