Federal Assault Sentences in the Southern District of Mississippi, FY2016–2025
All 47 people sentenced for assault in the Southern District of Mississippi in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 received a prison term. The median was 63 months (5.2 years), compared with 42 months in all 94 districts. 28% were sentenced above the guideline range.
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In brief: All 47 people sentenced for assault in the Southern District of Mississippi in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 received a prison term. The median was 63 months (5.2 years), compared with 42 months in all 94 districts. 28% were sentenced above the guideline range.
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.
Above the Range More Often Than Is Usual Here
The guideline range is the range the court calculates under the Sentencing Guidelines. 28% of the 47 people (13) were sentenced above it. 57% (26) were within it, 9% (4) were below it at the government's request, and 7% (3) were below it without a government request.
For all districts, 48% of assault sentences were within the range, and for every offense type in this district the figure was 69%.
Prison Terms
47 of 47 (100%) received a prison term, and 0 received probation only, with no prison or other confinement. For all districts, 90% were sent to prison.
The median prison term was 63 months. A quarter received 120 months or more, and a quarter received 38.5 months or less. The median for every offense type in this district was 48 months.
Trials Were More Common Than in Other Offense Types
40 of the 47 people (85%) pleaded guilty, and 7 were convicted after a trial. In all districts 93% pleaded guilty, and across all offenses in this district the rate was 97%.
The median prison term was 52 months after a guilty plea and 120 months after a trial. The trial figure is based on 7 people. Among the pleas, 93% had a written plea agreement and 8% were straight pleas with no agreement.
Aggravated Assault and Related Guidelines
"Assault" is the U.S. Sentencing Commission's offense type. The most common primary guideline was §2A2.2 (Aggravated Assault), with 37 people. §2A2.1 (Assault with Intent to Commit Murder) applied to 5, and §2A2.3 (Assault) to 3. §2X3.1 (Accessory After the Fact) applied to 1.
These cases were 1% of the 3,361 people sentenced in the district.
Mandatory Minimums, Fines, and Release
A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 6 of the 46 people with that information (13%). A fine was ordered for 26 people (55%), and restitution for 4 (9%).
All 47 people (100%) were ordered to serve supervised release after prison, with a median term of 36 months. On criminal history, 30% were in category I, the lowest, and 13% were in category VI, the highest.
Yearly Counts
Fiscal years 2016 to 2019 have 19 people, and fiscal years 2020 to 2025 have 28. The year 2023 has 10 people, the most, and 60% of them pleaded guilty. The median that year was 120 months.
Medians range from 30 months in 2020 to 180 months in 2021, with 3 people in each of those years. The table does not show a trend. A fiscal year runs from October 1 to the end of September.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 4 | 60.5 months | 4 of 4 |
| 2017 | 7 | 84 months | 7 of 7 |
| 2018 | 4 | 59 months | 3 of 4 |
| 2019 | 4 | 59 months | 4 of 4 |
| 2020 | 3 | 30 months | 3 of 3 |
| 2021 | 3 | 180 months | 2 of 3 |
| 2022 | 2 | 37 months | 2 of 2 |
| 2023 | 10 | 120 months | 60% |
| 2024 | 6 | 54.5 months | 6 of 6 |
| 2025 | 4 | 43 months | 3 of 4 |
Limits on What This Shows
Only people who were convicted and sentenced are included. Acquittals and dismissals are not in the data, and terms are imposed terms, not time served.
Keesler AFB, Mississippi, is in this district and appears in this site's court-martial data. Courts-martial are tried in military courts, not in this federal district court.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Southern District of Mississippi (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Mississippi South") 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.
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 Southern District of Mississippi, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Southern District of Mississippi, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Firearms Sentences in the Southern District of Mississippi, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Southern District of Mississippi, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Immigration Offense Sentences in the Southern District of Mississippi, 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.