Federal Arson Sentences in the Western District of Washington, FY2016–2025
The Western District of Washington sentenced 12 people for arson offenses from fiscal year 2019 to fiscal year 2025, and all 12 (100%) pleaded guilty. A prison term was imposed on 11 (92%), with a median of 48 months, which is 4 years. For all 94 federal districts, the median arson prison term was 6
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › Federal Sentences in the Western District of Washington, FY2 › Arson: Western District of Washington
In brief: The Western District of Washington sentenced 12 people for arson offenses from fiscal year 2019 to fiscal year 2025, and all 12 (100%) pleaded guilty. A prison term was imposed on 11 (92%), with a median of 48 months, which is 4 years. For all 94 federal districts, the median arson prison term was 60 months.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 12 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.
How Long Were the Prison Terms?
Among the 11 people sent to prison, the median prison term was 48 months (4 years). A quarter received 63 months or more, and a quarter received 22 months or less.
The gap between those figures is wide. This matches the yearly table, where the median in a single year was as low as 6 months and as high as 102 months.
In all 94 districts together, the median arson prison term was 60 months, and 96% of people were sent to prison. In this district, 92% were sent to prison, and none received probation only.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 1 | 6 months | 1 of 1 |
| 2020 | 1 | 30 months | 1 of 1 |
| 2021 | 1 | 20 months | 1 of 1 |
| 2022 | 4 | 24 months | 4 of 4 |
| 2023 | 1 | 60 months | 1 of 1 |
| 2024 | 2 | 57 months | 2 of 2 |
| 2025 | 2 | 102 months | 2 of 2 |
Guilty Pleas Were Universal in This District
All 12 people (100%) pleaded guilty, and none was convicted after a trial. Across all 94 districts, 93% of arson cases ended in a guilty plea.
Every one of the pleas had a written plea agreement. None was a straight plea with no agreement.
Because nobody went to trial, the records here have no trial sentences to compare with plea sentences.
Mandatory Minimums and the Guideline Range
A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 4 of the 12 people (33%). A mandatory minimum is a sentence floor set by statute, and a judge generally cannot go below it.
Only 1 sentence (8%) was within the guideline range. In 7 cases (58%), the sentence was below the range at the government's request, and in 4 cases (33%) it was below the range without a government request. None was above the range.
For all 94 districts, 45% of arson sentences were within the range.
What Else the Courts Ordered
Supervised release after prison was ordered for 11 people (92%), with a median term of 36 months. Restitution was ordered for 10 (83%), and no fine was ordered for anyone.
Criminal history varied. In all, 50% were in the lowest criminal history category I, and 25% were in the highest, category VI.
The Guideline Behind These Cases
The offense type "Arson" is the Sentencing Commission's category, which groups cases by the primary guideline. All 12 cases used §2K1.4 (Arson).
Arson was less than 1% of the 3,992 people sentenced in this district in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. For all offenses in the district, the median prison term was 30 months, which is lower than the arson median of 48 months here.
Why the Counts Are Small
The sheet lists 1 person in fiscal years 2016 to 2019 and 11 people in fiscal years 2020 to 2025. With counts this small, a single case can move a yearly median, so the yearly figures should not be read as a trend.
The data counts only people who were convicted and sentenced. Acquittals and dismissals are not in it, and the prison terms are the terms imposed, not time served.
Military Courts Are Separate
The installations in this district appear in this site's court-martial data: Bremerton, Washington, and Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington. Courts-martial are tried in military courts, not in this federal district court. The federal numbers on this page are reported on their own, and the records give no link between them and any installation.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Western District of Washington (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Washington West") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Arson" (12). 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 Western District of Washington, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Western District of Washington, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Other Offense Sentences in the Western District of Washington, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Western District of Washington, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Firearms Sentences in the Western District of Washington, 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.