Federal Assault Sentences in the Southern District of Alabama, FY2016–2025
In fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 29 people were sentenced in the Southern District of Alabama in the U.S. Sentencing Commission's "Assault" offense type. The median prison term was 96.5 months (8 years), compared with 42 months for this offense type in all 94 federal districts. None of the 28 people wi
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › Federal Sentences in the Southern District of Alabama, FY201 › Assault: Southern District of Alabama
In brief: In fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 29 people were sentenced in the Southern District of Alabama in the U.S. Sentencing Commission's "Assault" offense type. The median prison term was 96.5 months (8 years), compared with 42 months for this offense type in all 94 federal districts. None of the 28 people with mandatory minimum information recorded had one applied.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 29 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.
Guideline Choice Shapes This Group
The Commission's "Assault" offense type is a category based on the primary sentencing guideline. In this district, the cases fall under 2 guidelines.
The more common one was §2A2.1 (Assault with Intent to Commit Murder), with 17 cases. The other was §2A2.2 (Aggravated Assault), with 12 cases.
Both are serious assault guidelines, so this group should not be read as typical of every assault case in federal court.
Median Prison Terms Compared With Other Groups
Of the 29 people, 28 (97%) received a prison term and 1 (3%) received probation only. Among those sent to prison, the median prison term was 96.5 months. A quarter received 120 months or more, and a quarter received 62.2 months or less.
Across all 94 districts, 7,573 people were sentenced in this offense type, and 90% were sent to prison. All offenses in the Southern District of Alabama together had a median prison term of 41 months. Prison terms here are the terms imposed, not time served.
Pleas, a Single Trial, and Plea Agreements
Guilty pleas were 28 of the 29 cases (97%), and 1 person was convicted after a trial. The median prison term after a guilty plea was 93 months. The one trial conviction came with a prison term of 360 months.
A single case cannot show how trial and plea sentences differ in general. It shows only what happened in that case.
Among the guilty pleas, 68% had a written plea agreement and 32% were straight pleas with no agreement. In all 94 districts, 93% of people in this offense type pleaded guilty.
Sentences Against the Guideline Range
Sentences were within the guideline range for 79% of the group (23 people). Another 10% (3 people) were below the range without a government request, and 7% (2 people) were below it at the government's request. One person (3%) was above the range.
Across all 94 districts, 48% of sentences in this offense type were within the range. For all offenses in this district the figure was 56%.
Supervised Release, Fines, and Restitution
Supervised release was ordered for 28 people (97%), with a median term of 36 months. A fine was ordered for 1 person (3%), and restitution for 2 (7%).
On criminal history, 14% were in the lowest category and 17% in the highest. Court-martial records have no criminal history field, so that measure has no counterpart there.
Counts by Fiscal Year
Assault cases were less than 1% of the 2,994 people sentenced in this district in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. Fiscal years 2016 to 2019 had 13 people, and fiscal years 2020 to 2025 had 16 people.
Individual years had between 1 and 5 people, so the yearly medians in the table rest on very few cases. They are not a trend.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 3 | 84 months | 3 of 3 |
| 2017 | 3 | 41 months | 3 of 3 |
| 2018 | 2 | 46 months | 2 of 2 |
| 2019 | 5 | 120 months | 4 of 5 |
| 2020 | 1 | 60 months | 1 of 1 |
| 2021 | 2 | 91.5 months | 2 of 2 |
| 2022 | 4 | 81.5 months | 4 of 4 |
| 2023 | 3 | 120 months | 3 of 3 |
| 2024 | 2 | 93.5 months | 2 of 2 |
| 2025 | 4 | 100.5 months | 4 of 4 |
Limits of These Records
The Commission's data includes only people who were convicted and sentenced. It has no acquittals or dismissals, so it cannot show how many assault charges ended another way.
It also does not describe the facts of a case or explain a sentence. This post reports federal numbers on their own.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Southern District of Alabama (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Alabama South") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Assault" (29). 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 Southern District of Alabama, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Southern District of Alabama, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Firearms Sentences in the Southern District of Alabama, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Southern District of Alabama, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Immigration Offense Sentences in the Southern District of Alabama, 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.