Federal Arson Sentences in the Southern District of Texas, FY2016–2025
All 11 people sentenced for arson in the Southern District of Texas received a prison term, with a median of 60 months (5 years). The records cover fiscal years 2018 to 2023 for this offense type. A mandatory minimum applied to 8 of the 11 people (73%).
· Understanding Trends in Military Practice · 6 min read
Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › Federal Sentences in the Southern District of Texas, FY2016– › Arson: Southern District of Texas
In brief: All 11 people sentenced for arson in the Southern District of Texas received a prison term, with a median of 60 months (5 years). The records cover fiscal years 2018 to 2023 for this offense type. A mandatory minimum applied to 8 of the 11 people (73%).
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 11 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 Were Common
A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 8 of the 11 people with that information recorded (73%). A mandatory minimum is a prison term set by statute that a judge must impose unless a specific exception applies.
The records do not say which statutes applied. Most of the cases, 10, used the primary guideline §2K1.4 (Arson).
Prison Terms
All 11 people (100%) were sentenced to prison, and 0 received probation only. The median prison term was 60 months. A quarter received 75 months or more, and a quarter received 36 months or less.
Across all 94 federal districts, 96% of people sentenced for arson were sent to prison, and the median was also 60 months. That national group has 742 people.
Pleas and the Trial
10 people (91%) pleaded guilty, and 1 was convicted after a trial. After a guilty plea, the median prison term was 60 months. After the trial, it was 294 months, based on 1 person.
A single trial case cannot show how trials compare with pleas. Of the guilty pleas, 40% had a written plea agreement and 60% had none.
How Arson Compares With the District's Other Cases
All offenses in this district together had 71,026 people, with a median prison term of 13 months. The median of 60 months for arson is higher than that district-wide figure.
These 2 numbers do not count the same group. The district-wide figure is dominated by other offense types, and arson cases were less than 1% of the people sentenced.
Guilty pleas also differ. More than 99% of all people sentenced in this district pleaded guilty, compared with 91% for arson. For all 94 districts, the arson plea rate was 93%.
The Guideline Range
The range was recorded for 11 people. 6 (55%) were sentenced within it. One person (9%) was below the range at the government's request, 2 (18%) were below it without a request, and 2 (18%) were above it.
Nationally, 45% of arson sentences were within the range. For all offenses in this district, 58% were.
Supervised Release, Restitution, and Criminal History
All 11 people (100%) were ordered to serve supervised release, with a median term of 36 months. Restitution was ordered for 7 (64%), and a fine for 1 (9%).
In criminal history, 36% were in the lowest category I and 0% in the highest (VI). Court-martial records have no criminal history field.
Year Counts and Limits
Fiscal years 2016 to 2019 had 3 people, and fiscal years 2020 to 2025 had 8. The table lists 6 years with cases. The most people in one year was 4, in fiscal year 2023, with a median of 71.5 months.
One year shows a median of 0 months for 1 person. Medians based on 1 or 2 people should not be read as a pattern. Arson cases were less than 1% of the 71,026 people sentenced in this district, and the data counts only people convicted and sentenced.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | 1 | 78 months | 1 of 1 |
| 2019 | 2 | 153 months | 1 of 2 |
| 2020 | 1 | 60 months | 1 of 1 |
| 2021 | 2 | 35.6 months | 2 of 2 |
| 2022 | 1 | 0 months | 1 of 1 |
| 2023 | 4 | 71.5 months | 4 of 4 |
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Southern District of Texas (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Texas South") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Arson" (11). 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 Southern District of Texas, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- Federal Immigration Offense Sentences in the Southern District of Texas, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Southern District of Texas, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Firearms Sentences in the Southern District of Texas, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Southern District of Texas, 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.