Federal Assault Sentences in the Middle District of North Carolina, FY2016–2025
The 56 people sentenced for assault in the Middle District of North Carolina in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 all received a prison term. The median prison term was 119.5 months (10 years), compared with 42 months for assault in all 94 districts. Assault cases were 1% of the district's 3,816 sentences.
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In brief: The 56 people sentenced for assault in the Middle District of North Carolina in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 all received a prison term. The median prison term was 119.5 months (10 years), compared with 42 months for assault in all 94 districts. Assault cases were 1% of the district's 3,816 sentences.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 56 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.
Prison Terms Far Longer Than the National Median
Every one of the 56 people (100%) was sentenced to prison, and none received probation only. The median prison term was 119.5 months. A quarter received 180 months or more, and a quarter received 95.8 months or less.
For assault cases in all 94 districts, 90% were sent to prison, and the median was 42 months. For all offenses in this district, the median was 60 months. The assault median here is higher than both figures.
The yearly medians in the table ranged from 77 months to 225 months, but most years had fewer than 10 people. The table is better read as a list of small groups than as a trend.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 3 | 77 months | 2 of 3 |
| 2017 | 4 | 120 months | 4 of 4 |
| 2018 | 1 | 119 months | 1 of 1 |
| 2019 | 1 | 168 months | 1 of 1 |
| 2020 | 5 | 108 months | 3 of 5 |
| 2021 | 8 | 107 months | 8 of 8 |
| 2022 | 9 | 95 months | 8 of 9 |
| 2023 | 11 | 225 months | 100% |
| 2024 | 8 | 117.5 months | 8 of 8 |
| 2025 | 6 | 132 months | 6 of 6 |
Which Guidelines Applied
"Assault" is the U.S. Sentencing Commission's offense type, assigned from the primary guideline. The most common was §2A2.1 (Assault with Intent to Commit Murder), with 46 people.
Next were §2A2.2 (Aggravated Assault) with 9 people and §2X3.1 (Accessory After the Fact) with 1. The records name only the guideline, not the facts of each case.
Pleas and Trials
Of the 56 people, 52 (93%) pleaded guilty and 4 were convicted after a trial. The median prison term after a guilty plea was 118.5 months. After a trial, it was 240 months.
The trial group is only 4 people, and the cases may differ in their facts, so the figures do not show what a trial does to a sentence. Among the guilty pleas, 85% had a written plea agreement and 15% were straight pleas with no agreement.
Across all 94 districts, 93% of assault cases ended in a guilty plea.
Guideline Range and Mandatory Minimums
The guideline range is the sentencing range calculated under the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines. In this district, 27 sentences (48%) were within the range, compared with 48% for all 94 districts.
Below the range at the government's request were 10 (18%). Below the range without a government request were 13 (23%), and above the range were 6 (11%).
A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 9 of the 56 people (16%).
Supervised Release, Restitution, and Criminal History
All 56 people (100%) were ordered to serve supervised release after prison, with a median term of 36 months. Restitution was ordered for 8 (14%), and no fine was ordered for anyone.
In criminal history, 5% were in the lowest category, category I, and 29% were in the highest, category VI.
Few Cases Before 2020
The district sentenced 9 people for assault in fiscal years 2016 to 2019 and 47 people in fiscal years 2020 to 2025. The records do not show why the count was higher in the later period.
Limits of the Data
Only people who were convicted and sentenced are included, so acquittals and dismissals are not counted. Prison terms are the terms imposed, not time served, and the records do not describe any injuries or circumstances in the cases.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Middle District of North Carolina (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "N Carolina Mid") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Assault" (56). 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 Middle District of North Carolina, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- Federal Firearms Sentences in the Middle District of North Carolina, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Middle District of North Carolina, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Robbery Sentences in the Middle District of North Carolina, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Immigration Offense Sentences in the Middle District of North Carolina, 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.