Federal Assault Sentences in the Eastern District of California, FY2016–2025
In the Eastern District of California, 47 people were sentenced for assault offenses in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. The median prison term was 33 months, and 85% received a prison term. This is lower than the 42 months for assault in all 94 districts.
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › Federal Sentences in the Eastern District of California, FY2 › Assault: Eastern District of California
In brief: In the Eastern District of California, 47 people were sentenced for assault offenses in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. The median prison term was 33 months, and 85% received a prison term. This is lower than the 42 months for assault in all 94 districts.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 47 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.
What the Assault Cases Look Like
The offense type "Assault" is a category used by the U.S. Sentencing Commission. It covers 47 people in this district over fiscal years 2016 to 2025, or 1% of the 4,546 people sentenced here.
The most common primary guideline was §2A2.2 (Aggravated Assault), with 28 cases. Others were §2A2.3 (Assault) with 7, §2A2.1 (Assault with Intent to Commit Murder) with 4, and §2X3.1 (Accessory After the Fact) with 2.
Prison Terms Compared With All Districts
A total of 40 of the 47 people (85%) received a prison term, and 7 (15%) received probation only. In all 94 districts, 90% of people sentenced for assault were sent to prison.
The median prison term here was 33 months (2.8 years). A quarter received 21 months or less, and a quarter received 99 months or more. The median for all offenses in this district was 48 months, so assault terms were lower than the district overall. Prison terms are the terms imposed, not time served.
Sentences Within the Guideline Range
Of the 46 people with this information, 59% (27) were sentenced within the guideline range. That is higher than the 48% for assault in all districts and the 40% for all offenses in this district.
A below-range sentence without a government request applied to 26% (12), and a below-range sentence at the government's request applied to 4% (2). An above-range sentence applied to 11% (5).
Guilty Pleas and Trials
A total of 40 of 47 (85%) pleaded guilty, and 7 were convicted after a trial. The guilty plea rate was lower than the 93% for assault in all districts and the 96% for all offenses in this district.
The median prison term after a guilty plea was 33 months, and after a trial it was 77 months. Only 7 people were convicted at trial and sent to prison, so the comparison covers a small group.
Among guilty pleas, 80% had a written plea agreement, and 18% were straight pleas with no agreement. A mandatory minimum applied to 0 of the 44 people with that information.
Counts by Fiscal Year
Fiscal years 2016 to 2019 had 21 people, and fiscal years 2020 to 2025 had 26 people. A fiscal year runs from October 1 through the end of September.
The yearly counts are small, from 3 to 7 people, and the table has no row for 2018. The yearly medians range from 13 months in 2024 to 156 months in 2019. With so few people in each year, the table does not show a trend.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 7 | 40 months | 7 of 7 |
| 2017 | 7 | 37 months | 6 of 7 |
| 2019 | 7 | 156 months | 5 of 7 |
| 2020 | 5 | 30 months | 4 of 5 |
| 2021 | 4 | 22 months | 4 of 4 |
| 2022 | 3 | 63 months | 2 of 3 |
| 2023 | 4 | 21 months | 4 of 4 |
| 2024 | 4 | 13 months | 3 of 4 |
| 2025 | 6 | 33 months | 5 of 6 |
Supervision, Fines, Criminal History, and Installations
Supervised release after prison was ordered for 37 (79%), with a median term of 36 months. A fine was ordered for 4 (9%), and restitution for 14 (30%). In this group, 30% were in criminal history category I and 20% in category VI. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.
Beale AFB, Edwards AFB, and Travis AFB, all in California, are in this district. Courts-martial are tried in military courts, not in this federal district court.
Limits of the Data
Only people who were convicted and sentenced are counted. Acquittals and dismissals are not in the Commission's data.
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 "Assault" (47). 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.
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.