> ## Content Index
> Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.bodiesburied.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further.

# Federal Bribery and Corruption Sentences in the Southern District of Texas, FY2016–2025
- URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-bribery-corruption-sentences-southern-district-of-texas/
- Published: 2026-11-04T10:07:49.000Z
- Updated: 2026-11-04T10:07:49.000Z
- Description: Of the 162 people sentenced for bribery or corruption in the Southern District of Texas in fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 75% received a prison term and 20% received probation only. The median prison term was 18 months, the same as the national median. Only 31% were sentenced within the guideline range.
- 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 Southern District of Texas, FY2016–](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-district-southern-district-of-texas/) › Bribery and Corruption: Southern District of Texas

**In brief:** Of the 162 people sentenced for bribery or corruption in the Southern District of Texas in fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 75% received a prison term and 20% received probation only. The median prison term was 18 months, the same as the national median. Only 31% were sentenced within the guideline range.

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 162 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/).

## Few Sentences Within the Guideline Range

Under the Commission's guidelines, each case gets a calculated sentencing range. For 31% of the 162 people (51), the sentence was inside that range. Below the range at the government's request were 43% (70), and below it without a government request were 24% (39). Above the range were 1% (2).

In all districts, 21% of sentences for this offense type were inside the range. Across every offense in this district, 58% were. The records do not give reasons for sentences below the range.

## Prison and Probation

A total of 122 people (75%) received a prison term, and 32 (20%) received probation only. The median prison term was 18 months. A quarter received 30 months or more, and a quarter received 6.6 months or less.

The national group for this offense type had 3,259 people. Of those, 74% went to prison, and the median prison term was 18 months. All offenses in the Southern District of Texas had a median of 13 months.

| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
| ----------- | ---------------- | ------------- | -------------- |
| 2016        | 6                | 46 months     | 6 of 6         |
| 2017        | 12               | 17.5 months   | 100%           |
| 2018        | 17               | 18 months     | 100%           |
| 2019        | 7                | 27 months     | 6 of 7         |
| 2020        | 13               | 16.5 months   | 100%           |
| 2021        | 17               | 29 months     | 94%            |
| 2022        | 24               | 20 months     | 100%           |
| 2023        | 22               | 14 months     | 91%            |
| 2024        | 23               | 6 months      | 96%            |
| 2025        | 21               | 10 months     | 100%           |

## Which Bribery Guidelines Were Used

Bribery/Corruption is the U.S. Sentencing Commission's offense type. The most common primary guideline was §2C1.1 (Offering, Giving, Soliciting, or Receiving a Bribe), with 96 people. Next was §2B4.1 (Bribery in Procurement of Bank Loan and Other Commercial Bribery), with 62.

Smaller groups used §2C1.2 (Offering, Giving, Soliciting, or Receiving a Gratuity) with 2 people and §2X3.1 (Accessory After the Fact) with 1\. These cases were less than 1% of the 71,026 people sentenced in the district.

## Guilty Pleas and Trial Terms

A total of 157 people (97%) pleaded guilty, and 5 were convicted after a trial. The national guilty plea rate was 91%. In this district, 96% of the guilty pleas came with a written plea agreement, and 3% were straight pleas.

The median prison term after a guilty plea was 18 months. After a trial, it was 60 months, based on 5 people. The trial group is small, and the records do not show how its cases differed from the plea cases.

## Restitution, Fines, and Supervised Release

Restitution was ordered for 73 people (45%), and a fine for 26 (16%). Supervised release after prison was ordered for 118 (73%), with a median term of 36 months.

A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 2 of the 162 people with that information recorded (1%). In criminal history, 91% were in the lowest category and less than 1% were in the highest. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.

## Counts by Year and Limits

Fiscal years 2016 to 2019 had 42 people, and fiscal years 2020 to 2025 had 120\. Yearly groups range from 6 to 24 people, and the yearly medians range from 6 months to 46 months. A few cases can move the median of a group this small. The records do not show why the medians differ.

The Commission's records leave out acquittals, dismissals, and cases that were never charged. They list the prison term the court imposed, which is not the time actually served.

### How We Counted

Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Southern District of Texas (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Texas South") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Bribery/Corruption" (162). 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](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 Southern District of Texas, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-district-southern-district-of-texas/) (overview)
- [Federal Immigration Offense Sentences in the Southern District of Texas, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-immigration-sentences-southern-district-of-texas/) (same district, other offense type)
- [Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Southern District of Texas, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-drug-trafficking-sentences-southern-district-of-texas/) (same district, other offense type)
- [Federal Firearms Sentences in the Southern District of Texas, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-firearms-sentences-southern-district-of-texas/) (same district, other offense type)
- [Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Southern District of Texas, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-fraud-theft-embezzlement-sentences-southern-district-of-texas/) (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.