Federal Assault Sentences in the Eastern District of Virginia, FY2016–2025
In fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 108 people were sentenced for the Commission's offense type "Assault" in the Eastern District of Virginia. After a guilty plea the median prison term was 37.5 months, and after a trial it was 240 months. 28 people (26%) received probation only.
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › Federal Sentences in the Eastern District of Virginia, FY201 › Assault: Eastern District of Virginia
In brief: In fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 108 people were sentenced for the Commission's offense type "Assault" in the Eastern District of Virginia. After a guilty plea the median prison term was 37.5 months, and after a trial it was 240 months. 28 people (26%) received probation only.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 108 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.
Plea and Trial Sentences Differ Widely
89 of the 108 people (82%) pleaded guilty, and 19 were convicted after a trial. The median prison term was 37.5 months after a guilty plea and 240 months after a trial. The trial figure is based on 18 people sentenced to prison.
The records do not show why these medians differ, and the data cannot separate trial from other features of the cases.
Among the guilty pleas, 44% had a written plea agreement, and 54% were straight pleas with no agreement. For all offenses in this district, 96% pleaded guilty, and for assault in all districts the rate was 93%.
Prison and Probation Results
76 people (70%) received a prison term, and 28 (26%) received probation only. The median prison term was 60 months (5 years). A quarter received 180 months or more, and a quarter received 12 months or less.
That is a wide range. Across all districts, 7,573 people were sentenced for assault, 90% were sent to prison, and the median prison term was 42 months. For all offenses in this district, the median was 46 months. Terms are those imposed, not time served.
Assault Guidelines
Assault is a Commission category that groups several guidelines. §2A2.1 (Assault with Intent to Commit Murder) was the primary guideline for 30 people. §2A2.2 (Aggravated Assault) applied to 27, §2A2.3 (Assault) to 5, and §2X3.1 (Accessory After the Fact) to 2.
These cases were 1% of the 10,381 people sentenced in the district. A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 19 of the 68 people with that information recorded (28%).
The Guideline Range
53% of sentences (57) were within the guideline range. 6% (6) were below it at the government's request, and 37% (40) were below it without a government request. 4% (4) were above it.
The comparison figures are 48% within the range for assault in all districts and 60% for all offenses in this district.
Counts by Fiscal Year
The sheet splits the total by period. Fiscal years 2016 to 2019 account for 56 people, and fiscal years 2020 to 2025 account for 52. Each fiscal year runs from October 1 through the following September.
In the table, fiscal year 2018 has the most people (20), and fiscal year 2022 has the fewest (2) and no median. The other medians run from 15 months to 228 months. Groups this small do not show a trend.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 10 | 210 months | 100% |
| 2017 | 13 | 64.5 months | 100% |
| 2018 | 20 | 15 months | 95% |
| 2019 | 13 | 36.5 months | 85% |
| 2020 | 10 | 38 months | 90% |
| 2021 | 10 | 228 months | 60% |
| 2022 | 2 | n/a | 2 of 2 |
| 2023 | 14 | 70 months | 64% |
| 2024 | 11 | 120 months | 64% |
| 2025 | 5 | 24 months | 3 of 5 |
Fines, Supervised Release, and Limits
A fine was ordered for 25 people (23%), and restitution for 34 (31%). 62 people (57%) were ordered to serve supervised release after prison, with a median term of 36 months.
Criminal history category I, the lowest, applied to 53% of the people, and category VI, the highest, applied to 6%. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.
Virginia installations in this site's court-martial data lie within the district's area: Fort Lee, Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Marine Corps Base Quantico, and Norfolk. Military courts, not this federal court, try courts-martial. Anyone acquitted or whose case was dismissed is missing from the federal figures.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Eastern District of Virginia (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Virginia East") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Assault" (108). 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 Virginia, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Eastern District of Virginia, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Other Offense Sentences in the Eastern District of Virginia, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Eastern District of Virginia, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Firearms Sentences in the Eastern District of Virginia, 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.