Federal Bribery and Corruption Sentences in the District of Kansas, FY2016–2025
The most common result for the 14 people sentenced under the Commission's "Bribery/Corruption" offense type in the District of Kansas was a sentence below the guideline range without a government request: 7 of 14 (50%). Only 3 (21%) were within the range. A prison term went to 10 (71%), with a media
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › Federal Sentences in the District of Kansas, FY2016–2025 › Bribery and Corruption: District of Kansas
In brief: The most common result for the 14 people sentenced under the Commission's "Bribery/Corruption" offense type in the District of Kansas was a sentence below the guideline range without a government request: 7 of 14 (50%). Only 3 (21%) were within the range. A prison term went to 10 (71%), with a median of 18.5 months.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 14 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.
Sentences Below the Range Without a Government Request
The guideline range is the sentencing range calculated under the federal Sentencing Guidelines. For the 14 people in this group, 7 (50%) were sentenced below the range without a government request. Another 4 (29%) were below the range at the government's request.
Only 3 people (21%) were sentenced within the range, and none was above it (0%). For all 94 districts together, 21% of sentences in this offense type were within the range. For all offenses in the District of Kansas, the figure was 42%.
Prison and Probation
The Commission's opening count for this offense type covers fiscal years 2017 to 2024 in the sheet, while the district totals cover 2016 to 2025. Of the 14 people, 10 (71%) received a prison term, and 2 (14%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement.
Nationally, 3,259 people were sentenced in this offense type, and 74% were sent to prison. The Kansas share was slightly lower.
Length of Prison Terms
Among the 10 people sent to prison, the median prison term was 18.5 months. A quarter received 23.5 months or more, and a quarter received 14 months or less.
The national median was 18 months, so the figures were about the same. The median for all offenses in the district was 46 months.
A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 0 of the 14 people (0%).
Guilty Pleas Across the Board
All 14 people (100%) pleaded guilty, and 0 were convicted after a trial. Every guilty plea (100%) had a written plea agreement. Nationally, 91% of people in this offense type pleaded guilty, and for all offenses in the district the figure was 97%.
Which Guidelines Cover These Cases?
The offense type is the Commission's category, assigned from the primary guideline. In this district, §2C1.1 (Offering, Giving, Soliciting, or Receiving a Bribe) was the primary guideline in 12 cases.
The others were §2C1.2 (Offering, Giving, Soliciting, or Receiving a Gratuity) with 1 case and §2B4.1 (Bribery in Procurement of Bank Loan and Other Commercial Bribery) with 1.
These cases were less than 1% of the 4,217 people sentenced in the district in fiscal years 2016 to 2025.
Supervised Release, Fines, and Criminal History
Supervised release after prison was ordered for 10 people (71%), with a median term of 24 months. A fine was ordered for 1 (7%), and restitution for 2 (14%).
By criminal history, 79% were in the lowest category, category I, and 0% were in the highest, category VI. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.
Yearly Counts and What They Cannot Show
There were 5 people in fiscal years 2016 to 2019 and 9 in fiscal years 2020 to 2025. The table lists the years in the sheet, each with 1 to 4 people, so none of them is a trend.
Acquittals and dismissals are not in this data, which covers sentenced people only. The records do not show what any case involved or why so many sentences were below the range. Fort Leavenworth, Fort Riley, and McConnell AFB are in the district, but courts-martial are tried in military courts, not here.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | 2 | 36 months | 2 of 2 |
| 2018 | 2 | 0 months | 2 of 2 |
| 2019 | 1 | 8 months | 1 of 1 |
| 2022 | 4 | 22 months | 4 of 4 |
| 2023 | 4 | 14 months | 4 of 4 |
| 2024 | 1 | n/a | 1 of 1 |
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in the District of Kansas (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Kansas") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Bribery/Corruption" (14). 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 District of Kansas, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the District of Kansas, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Firearms Sentences in the District of Kansas, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the District of Kansas, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Immigration Offense Sentences in the District of Kansas, 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.