Federal Assault Sentences in the Western District of Missouri, FY2016–2025
In the Western District of Missouri, 37 people were sentenced for assault offenses in fiscal years 2016 to 2025, and 36 of them received a prison term. The median prison term was 120 months (10 years), compared with 42 months for assault across all 94 federal districts. This count covers only people
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › Federal Sentences in the Western District of Missouri, FY201 › Assault: Western District of Missouri
In brief: In the Western District of Missouri, 37 people were sentenced for assault offenses in fiscal years 2016 to 2025, and 36 of them received a prison term. The median prison term was 120 months (10 years), compared with 42 months for assault across all 94 federal districts. This count covers only people who were convicted and sentenced.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 37 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 Longer Than the National Median
The median prison term for assault in this district was 120 months, or 10 years. For the same offense type in all 94 federal districts together, the median was 42 months. The district figure is higher.
A quarter of the people sent to prison received 135.2 months or more. A quarter received 68.2 months or less. One person received a life sentence.
Prison terms here are the terms imposed by the court. They are not the time actually served.
What the Assault Category Includes
"Assault" is the U.S. Sentencing Commission's own offense type, and it groups cases by the primary sentencing guideline applied. In this district, the most common was §2A2.1 (Assault with Intent to Commit Murder), with 18 people. Next was §2A2.2 (Aggravated Assault), with 17 people. Only 1 person was sentenced mainly under §2A2.3 (Assault).
The mix of guidelines matters when reading the median. The most common guidelines cover the more serious forms of assault, and the records here do not break the prison terms out by guideline.
A Small Share of the District's Caseload
The district sentenced 7,571 people across all offense types in these years. Assault cases were less than 1% of that total.
For all offenses in the district, the median prison term was 72 months. The assault median of 120 months is higher than that district-wide figure.
Of the 37 assault cases, 13 were in fiscal years 2016 to 2019 and 24 were in fiscal years 2020 to 2025. Federal fiscal years begin in October.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 2 | 78.8 months | 2 of 2 |
| 2017 | 3 | 115 months | 2 of 3 |
| 2018 | 4 | 57 months | 4 of 4 |
| 2019 | 4 | 110 months | 4 of 4 |
| 2020 | 5 | 120 months | 5 of 5 |
| 2021 | 4 | 72 months | 3 of 4 |
| 2022 | 5 | 120 months | 4 of 5 |
| 2023 | 3 | 166 months | 3 of 3 |
| 2024 | 5 | 121 months | 4 of 5 |
| 2025 | 2 | 470 months | 0 of 2 |
Guilty Pleas and Trials
Of the 37 people, 31 (84%) pleaded guilty, and 6 were convicted after a trial. Across all 94 districts, 93% of people sentenced for assault pleaded guilty. Across all offenses in this district, the rate was 98%. Assault cases in this district therefore went to trial more often than both of those groups.
The median prison term after a guilty plea was 117.5 months. After a trial, it was 120 months, based on 6 people. That is too few to support a firm comparison between plea and trial cases.
Among the guilty pleas, 74% had a written plea agreement. The other 26% were straight pleas with no agreement.
How Sentences Compared With the Guideline Range
The Commission records where each sentence fell against the advisory guideline range. For 36 people with that information, 53% (19) were within the range. Another 22% (8) were above it.
Sentences below the range fell into 2 groups. For 6% (2), the court went below the range at the government's request. For 19% (7), the court went below without a government request.
Across all districts, 48% of assault sentences were within the range, and 38% of all sentences in this district were. The share within the range for assault cases here was higher than both.
Mandatory Minimums, Supervised Release, and Other Terms
A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 3 of the 37 people with that information recorded (8%). One person (3%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement.
After prison, 35 people (95%) were ordered to serve supervised release. The median term was 36 months. A fine was ordered for 1 person (3%), and restitution for 5 (14%).
In the Commission's data, 25% were in the lowest criminal history category (category I) and 28% were in the highest (category VI). Court-martial records have no criminal history field, so this measure cannot be matched on the military side.
What These Numbers Cannot Show
The data counts only people who were convicted and sentenced. People who were acquitted or whose cases were dismissed are not in it, so the numbers say nothing about how often assault charges led to a conviction.
Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, and Whiteman AFB, Missouri, are in this district. Courts-martial are tried in military courts, not in this federal district court, and these numbers have no link to those installations.
With 37 people over 10 fiscal years, single-year medians such as 470 months in 2025 rest on 2 people. They show the range of individual sentences, not a trend.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Western District of Missouri (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Missouri West") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Assault" (37). 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 Western District of Missouri, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Western District of Missouri, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Firearms Sentences in the Western District of Missouri, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Western District of Missouri, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Child Pornography Sentences in the Western District of Missouri, 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.