Federal Assault Sentences in the Western District of New York, FY2016–2025
27 people were sentenced in the Western District of New York for assault offenses in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. 23 of them (85%) received a prison term, and the median prison term was 41 months (3.4 years). All 27 pleaded guilty. For all 94 federal districts, the median for this offense type was 42
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › Federal Sentences in the Western District of New York, FY201 › Assault: Western District of New York
In brief: 27 people were sentenced in the Western District of New York for assault offenses in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. 23 of them (85%) received a prison term, and the median prison term was 41 months (3.4 years). All 27 pleaded guilty. For all 94 federal districts, the median for this offense type was 42 months.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 27 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.
Everyone Sentenced Pleaded Guilty
All 27 people (100%) pleaded guilty, and none were convicted after a trial. In all 94 districts, 93% of people sentenced for assault pleaded guilty. For all offenses in this district, the figure was 97%.
Among the guilty pleas, 96% had a written plea agreement and 4% were straight pleas with no agreement. Because the data covers only people who were sentenced, it does not show how many assault charges went to trial and ended in an acquittal.
Prison Terms and Probation
23 of the 27 people (85%) received a prison term. 4 (15%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement. In all 94 districts, 90% were sent to prison.
The median prison term among those sent to prison was 41 months. A quarter received 96 months or more, and a quarter received 2.5 months or less. Prison terms are the terms imposed, not time served.
Guidelines Used
The U.S. Sentencing Commission's "Assault" offense type is its own category, and each case has one primary guideline. The most common was §2A2.2 (Aggravated Assault), with 7 people. Next were §2A2.1 (Assault with Intent to Commit Murder), with 6 people, and §2A2.3 (Assault), with 4 people.
§2X3.1 (Accessory After the Fact) applied to 2 people. Assault cases were less than 1% of the 4,205 people sentenced in the district in fiscal years 2016 to 2025.
Position Against the Guideline Range
22 people had this information recorded. 10 (45%) were sentenced within the range. 8 (36%) were below the range at the government's request, 2 (9%) were below it without a request, and 2 (9%) were above it.
In all 94 districts, 48% of assault sentences were within the range, which is about the same as the 45% here. In the district's cases of all offense types, 42% were within the range.
Supervised Release, Restitution, and Mandatory Minimums
19 people (70%) were ordered to serve supervised release after prison, with a median term of 36 months. Restitution was ordered for 5 people (19%). No fine was ordered for anyone (0%).
A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 2 of the 26 people with that information recorded (8%). On criminal history, 24% were in the lowest category and 5% were in the highest. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.
A Small Count Spread Over Many Years
Fiscal years 2016 to 2019 had 15 people, and fiscal years 2020 to 2025 had 12 people. The table shows between 1 and 8 people in each year it lists. Medians in the table run from 0 months in several years to 135 months in fiscal year 2020.
A median of 0 months appears in the table for fiscal years 2019, 2022, 2024, and 2025. Counts this small do not show a trend.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 8 | 43 months | 8 of 8 |
| 2017 | 5 | 52 months | 5 of 5 |
| 2019 | 2 | 0 months | 2 of 2 |
| 2020 | 3 | 135 months | 3 of 3 |
| 2021 | 3 | 41 months | 3 of 3 |
| 2022 | 1 | 0 months | 1 of 1 |
| 2024 | 4 | 0 months | 4 of 4 |
| 2025 | 1 | 0 months | 1 of 1 |
What Cannot Be Learned Here
The records do not describe the facts of any assault, the injuries involved, or the reasons for any sentence. They do not show cases that ended in an acquittal or a dismissal.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Western District of New York (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "New York West") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Assault" (27). 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 New York, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Western District of New York, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Western District of New York, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Firearms Sentences in the Western District of New York, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Immigration Offense Sentences in the Western District of New York, 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.