Federal Assault Sentences in the District of Colorado, FY2016–2025
In the District of Colorado, 127 people were sentenced for assault offenses in fiscal years 2016 to 2025, and 105 of them (83%) received a prison term. The median prison term was 46 months (3.8 years), compared with 42 months for assault in all 94 districts. Sentences were within the guideline range
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › Federal Sentences in the District of Colorado, FY2016–2025 › Assault: District of Colorado
In brief: In the District of Colorado, 127 people were sentenced for assault offenses in fiscal years 2016 to 2025, and 105 of them (83%) received a prison term. The median prison term was 46 months (3.8 years), compared with 42 months for assault in all 94 districts. Sentences were within the guideline range for 53%, compared with 48% for all districts.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 127 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.
Who Was Sentenced for Assault, and to What
The District of Colorado sentenced 127 people for assault offenses in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. These cases were 3% of the 4,231 people sentenced in the district. A prison term went to 105 of them (83%), and 22 (17%) received probation only.
Across all districts, 90% of people sentenced for assault were sent to prison. The share sent to prison in Colorado was lower than the share for all districts.
The Median Prison Term
Among those sent to prison, the median prison term was 46 months. A quarter received 96 months or more, and a quarter received 24 months or less. For assault in all districts the median was 42 months, and for all offenses in the District of Colorado it was 36 months.
These terms are those imposed by the court, not time served.
Which Guidelines Were Used
"Assault" is the U.S. Sentencing Commission's name for an offense type. The most common primary guideline was §2A2.2 (Aggravated Assault), with 82 people. Next came §2A2.1 (Assault with Intent to Commit Murder), with 17, and §2A2.3 (Assault), with 14. One person was sentenced under §2X3.1 (Accessory After the Fact).
The records do not describe the facts of individual cases, so the guideline names are the best available description of what the cases involved.
Pleas, Trials, and Plea Agreements
Of the 127 people, 120 (94%) pleaded guilty and 7 were convicted after a trial. For all districts, 93% pleaded guilty.
The median prison term after a guilty plea was 44.5 months. After a trial, it was 150 months. The trial figure is based on 7 people, so it comes from a small group.
Among guilty pleas, 98% had a written plea agreement, and 2% were straight pleas with no agreement.
Position Against the Guideline Range
The guideline range is the sentencing range calculated under the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines. The records show this for 121 people. A sentence within the range was given to 64 (53%). A sentence below the range at the government's request was given to 24 (20%), and one below the range without such a request to 25 (21%). A sentence above the range was given to 8 (7%).
A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 7 of the 123 people with that information recorded (6%).
Supervised Release, Fines, Restitution, and Criminal History
Supervised release after prison was ordered for 84 people (66%), and the median term was 36 months. A fine was ordered for 4 (3%), and restitution for 13 (10%).
In criminal history, 29% were in the lowest category, Category I, and 26% were in the highest, Category VI. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.
Year-by-Year Counts
The district sentenced 38 people for assault in fiscal years 2016 to 2019 and 89 people in fiscal years 2020 to 2025. The fiscal year runs from October 1 through the end of the following September.
Yearly counts range from 7 to 20 people. With so few people in each year, the medians in the table, from 24 months in 2024 to 120 months in 2016, do not show a trend.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 7 | 120 months | 6 of 7 |
| 2017 | 9 | 40 months | 8 of 9 |
| 2018 | 14 | 41 months | 100% |
| 2019 | 8 | 78 months | 8 of 8 |
| 2020 | 19 | 40 months | 95% |
| 2021 | 10 | 39 months | 100% |
| 2022 | 20 | 48 months | 90% |
| 2023 | 14 | 54 months | 93% |
| 2024 | 8 | 24 months | 8 of 8 |
| 2025 | 18 | 39 months | 94% |
Limits of the Records
The Commission's data counts only people who were convicted and sentenced. Acquittals and dismissals are not in it.
Buckley SFB, Fort Carson, Peterson SFB, and the U.S. Air Force Academy are in this district and appear in this site's court-martial data. Courts-martial are tried in military courts, not in this federal district court, and the federal assault cases here are not linked to those installations.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in the District of Colorado (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Colorado") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Assault" (127). 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 District of Colorado, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the District of Colorado, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Firearms Sentences in the District of Colorado, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Immigration Offense Sentences in the District of Colorado, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the District of Colorado, 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.