Federal Burglary and Trespass Sentences in the Eastern District of Arkansas, FY2016–2025
The U.S. Sentencing Commission lists 12 people sentenced for burglary or trespass in the Eastern District of Arkansas from fiscal year 2018 through fiscal year 2024. Of those, 10 received a prison term, and the median prison term was 24 months. All 12 pleaded guilty, and the count is small, so the n
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › Federal Sentences in the Eastern District of Arkansas, FY201 › Burglary and Trespass: Eastern District of Arkansas
In brief: The U.S. Sentencing Commission lists 12 people sentenced for burglary or trespass in the Eastern District of Arkansas from fiscal year 2018 through fiscal year 2024. Of those, 10 received a prison term, and the median prison term was 24 months. All 12 pleaded guilty, and the count is small, so the numbers describe a handful of cases.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 12 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.
A Very Small Group of Cases
Burglary and trespass cases were less than 1% of the 4,942 people sentenced in the Eastern District of Arkansas in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. The Commission counted 12 of them.
"Burglary/Trespass" is the Commission's own offense category. It is assigned from the primary sentencing guideline in each case. In this district, all 12 cases used the same guideline, §2B2.1 (Burglary of a Residence or a Structure Other than a Residence).
Only 2 of the 12 were sentenced in fiscal years 2016 to 2019, and 10 were sentenced in fiscal years 2020 to 2025. With counts this low, a change from one year to the next reflects a few people and should not be read as a trend.
Prison Terms and Probation
Of the 12 people, 10 (83%) received a prison term. The other 2 (17%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement.
Among those sent to prison, the median prison term was 24 months, or 2 years. A quarter received 30.8 months or more, and a quarter received 19.5 months or less. These are the terms imposed, not time served.
The yearly table lists a median only for years with enough prison sentences to calculate one. Fiscal years 2019 and 2020 show "n/a" because the one person in each year did not receive a prison term.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | 1 | 60 months | 1 of 1 |
| 2019 | 1 | n/a | 1 of 1 |
| 2020 | 1 | n/a | 1 of 1 |
| 2022 | 3 | 24 months | 3 of 3 |
| 2023 | 1 | 37.3 months | 1 of 1 |
| 2024 | 5 | 18 months | 5 of 5 |
How the Eastern District of Arkansas Compares With All Districts
Across all 94 federal districts, the Commission counted 674 people in this offense type. Of those, 80% were sent to prison, and the median prison term was 18 months. In the Eastern District of Arkansas, 83% were sent to prison, and the median was 24 months, which is higher than the all-district median.
The district's own caseload as a whole is different. For all offenses in the Eastern District of Arkansas, the median prison term was 50 months. The median for burglary and trespass was lower than that.
The comparison cannot show whether these cases involved different conduct, because the sheet counts only the 12 people and the Commission's category.
Pleas and Plea Agreements
All 12 people (100%) pleaded guilty, and none was convicted after a trial. The rate for all districts in this offense type was 97%, and the rate for all offenses in the district was 98%.
Among the guilty pleas, 100% had a written plea agreement. None was a straight plea with no agreement.
Sentences Against the Guideline Range
The guideline range is the sentence range calculated under the federal guidelines. Of the 12 people, 8 (67%) received a sentence within the range. Another 3 (25%) were sentenced below the range without a request from the government, and 1 (8%) was sentenced above it. No sentence was below the range at the government's request.
The share within the range was 67% here, compared with 63% for all districts in this offense type and 55% for all offenses in the district. No mandatory minimum prison term applied to any of the 12.
Supervised Release, Restitution, and Criminal History
Supervised release after prison was ordered for 10 people (83%), and the median term was 36 months. No fine was ordered for any of the 12. Restitution was ordered for all 12 (100%).
In criminal history, 17% were in the lowest category (category I) and 25% were in the highest (category VI). Court-martial records have no criminal history field, so this measure has no military counterpart.
What These Numbers Cannot Show
The data counts only people who were convicted and sentenced. Acquittals and dismissals are not in it. It does not describe the facts of any case or the reasons for any sentence.
Little Rock AFB, Arkansas, is in this district and appears in this site's court-martial data. Courts-martial are tried in military courts, not in this federal district court, and this post reports federal numbers on their own.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Eastern District of Arkansas (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Arkansas East") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Burglary/Trespass" (12). 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 Eastern District of Arkansas, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Eastern District of Arkansas, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Firearms Sentences in the Eastern District of Arkansas, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Prison Offense Sentences in the Eastern District of Arkansas, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Eastern District of Arkansas, 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.