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# Federal Bribery and Corruption Sentences in the Eastern District of Tennessee, FY2016–2025
- URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-bribery-corruption-sentences-eastern-district-of-tennessee/
- Published: 2026-11-04T10:35:53.000Z
- Updated: 2026-11-04T10:35:53.000Z
- Description: In the Eastern District of Tennessee, 11 people were sentenced for bribery or corruption offenses in fiscal years 2020 to 2025. 5 (45%) received a prison term, and 4 (36%) received probation only. None was sentenced within the guideline range: 8 were below it at the government's request and 3 were b
- Author: Jocelyn C. Stewart
- Tags: Understanding Trends, Federal

[Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/) › [Federal Prosecution Analysis](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal/) › [Federal Sentences in the Eastern District of Tennessee, FY20](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-district-eastern-district-of-tennessee/) › Bribery and Corruption: Eastern District of Tennessee

**In brief:** In the Eastern District of Tennessee, 11 people were sentenced for bribery or corruption offenses in fiscal years 2020 to 2025\. 5 (45%) received a prison term, and 4 (36%) received probation only. None was sentenced within the guideline range: 8 were below it at the government's request and 3 were below it without one.

Updated November 4, 2026 · Sources: U.S. Sentencing Commission and Federal Judicial Center, fiscal years 2016–2025

This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 11 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](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal/) series, which builds on [Military Moves Toward Sentencing Guidelines to Mirror the Federal System](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/military-sentencing-guidelines-federal-system/). How the numbers were built: [How the Federal Comparison Data Was Built](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-data-methodology/).

## No Sentence Within the Guideline Range

The guideline range is the sentencing range calculated under the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines. Of the 11 people in this offense type, 0% were sentenced within it. 73% (8 people) were below the range at the government's request, and 27% (3 people) were below the range without a government request. None was above the range.

For all 94 districts, 21% of bribery and corruption sentences were within the range. For all offenses in this district, the share was 48%. The share here is lower than both.

## Prison Terms and Probation

The U.S. Sentencing Commission lists 11 people under the offense type "Bribery/Corruption" in this district. The records list people in this type only for fiscal years 2020 to 2025\. 5 of the 11 (45%) received a prison term, and 4 (36%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement.

Among those sent to prison, the median prison term was 12 months. A quarter received 12 months or more, and a quarter received 8 months or less. For all districts, 74% of people went to prison, and the median was 18 months. For all offenses in this district the median was 70 months. The terms are those imposed, not time served.

## Pleas and Trials

10 of the 11 people (91%) pleaded guilty, and 1 was convicted after a trial. Every guilty plea (100%) had a written plea agreement. The median prison term after a guilty plea was 10 months. After the one trial it was 24 months.

A single trial case cannot show how trials compare with pleas. Across all districts, 91% of people in this type pleaded guilty.

## Guidelines Used

The offense type is a category set by the Commission. The most common primary guideline was §2C1.1 (Offering, Giving, Soliciting, or Receiving a Bribe), with 7 people. §2B4.1 (Bribery in Procurement of Bank Loan and Other Commercial Bribery) applied to 4 people.

No mandatory minimum prison term applied to any of the 11 people with that information recorded.

## Money Penalties, Release, and Criminal History

Restitution was ordered for 7 people (64%), and a fine for 4 (36%). 5 people (45%) were ordered to serve supervised release after prison, and the median term was 36 months.

All 11 people (100%) were in the lowest criminal history category, Category I. None (0%) was in the highest, Category VI. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.

## Year-by-Year Counts

Bribery and corruption cases were less than 1% of the 6,452 people sentenced in this district in fiscal years 2016 to 2025\. The table shows years from 2020 to 2025, with 1 to 4 people each. Several medians are n/a, and fiscal year 2025 had the most people, 4\. These counts are too small to describe a trend.

| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
| ----------- | ---------------- | ------------- | -------------- |
| 2020        | 1                | 24 months     | 0 of 1         |
| 2021        | 1                | n/a           | 1 of 1         |
| 2023        | 3                | n/a           | 3 of 3         |
| 2024        | 2                | n/a           | 2 of 2         |
| 2025        | 4                | 10 months     | 4 of 4         |

## Limits of the Data

The Commission counts only people who were convicted and sentenced. Acquittals and dismissals are not included, and the records do not say who was involved or what the corruption was.

### How We Counted

Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Eastern District of Tennessee (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Tennessee East") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Bribery/Corruption" (11). 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](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/military-sentencing-guidelines-federal-system/) (the background article)
- [Federal Prosecution Analysis](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal/) (all federal posts)
- [How the Federal Comparison Data Was Built](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-data-methodology/) (sources and method)
- [Federal Sentences in the Eastern District of Tennessee, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-district-eastern-district-of-tennessee/) (overview)
- [Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Eastern District of Tennessee, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-drug-trafficking-sentences-eastern-district-of-tennessee/) (same district, other offense type)
- [Federal Firearms Sentences in the Eastern District of Tennessee, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-firearms-sentences-eastern-district-of-tennessee/) (same district, other offense type)
- [Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Eastern District of Tennessee, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-fraud-theft-embezzlement-sentences-eastern-district-of-tennessee/) (same district, other offense type)
- [Federal Money Laundering Sentences in the Eastern District of Tennessee, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-money-laundering-sentences-eastern-district-of-tennessee/) (same district, other offense type)
- [U.S. Sentencing Commission, Individual Offender Datafiles](https://www.ussc.gov/research/datafiles/commission-datafiles?ref=bodiesburied.com) (source)
- [Federal Judicial Center, Integrated Database (criminal defendants)](https://www.fjc.gov/research/idb?ref=bodiesburied.com) (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](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/?ref=bodiesburied.com). This analysis is for education and information only. It is not legal advice, and every case is different.