Federal Burglary and Trespass Sentences in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, FY2016–2025
Of the 10 people sentenced in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania for burglary or trespass offenses in fiscal years 2017 to 2025, 6 (60%) received probation only and 4 (40%) received a prison term. The median prison term was 9.5 months. For this offense type across all 94 districts, 80% were sent t
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › Federal Sentences in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, F › Burglary and Trespass: Eastern District of Pennsylvania
In brief: Of the 10 people sentenced in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania for burglary or trespass offenses in fiscal years 2017 to 2025, 6 (60%) received probation only and 4 (40%) received a prison term. The median prison term was 9.5 months. For this offense type across all 94 districts, 80% were sent to prison and the median prison term was 18 months.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 10 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.
Probation Was More Common Than Prison
6 of the 10 people (60%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement. 4 (40%) received a prison term.
In the all-district group for this offense type, 674 people were sentenced and 80% were sent to prison. Prison was therefore less common in this district's cases than across all districts.
Among the 4 people sent to prison here, the median prison term was 9.5 months. A quarter received 15 months or more, and a quarter received 6 months or less. The all-district median was 18 months, and the median for all offenses in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania was 42 months.
What the Offense Type Includes
"Burglary/Trespass" is one of the U.S. Sentencing Commission's offense types. The most common primary guideline was §2B2.1, Burglary of a Residence or a Structure Other than a Residence, with 3 people. The next was §2B2.3, Trespass, with 2 people.
The 10 people were less than 1% of the 5,462 people sentenced in the district in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. 6 were sentenced in fiscal years 2016 to 2019, and 4 in fiscal years 2020 to 2025.
Pleas and Trials
8 of the 10 people (80%) pleaded guilty, and 2 were convicted after a trial. That share of trials is higher than in the all-district group, where 97% pleaded guilty. For all offenses in this district, the figure was 94%.
The median prison term after a guilty plea was 12 months. After a trial it was 3 months, but the sheet bases that figure on 1 person sent to prison. The comparison says little about how pleas and trials differ.
Of the 8 guilty pleas, 2 had a written plea agreement and 6 were straight pleas with no agreement.
Guideline Range and Mandatory Minimums
Only 5 people had a guideline range recorded. For 4 of the 5, the sentence was within the range. For 1 of the 5, it was below the range without a government request. None was below the range at the government's request, and none was above the range.
Across all districts, 63% of sentences were within the range for this offense type. A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 0 of the 5 people with that information recorded.
Supervised Release, Fines, and Restitution
4 people (40%) were ordered to serve supervised release after prison, with a median term of 36 months. A fine was ordered for 5 people (50%), and restitution for 2 (20%).
Criminal history was recorded for 5 people. 4 of the 5 were in the lowest category, category I, and 0 of the 5 were in the highest, category VI. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.
A Look at the Years
6 of the 10 people were sentenced in a single year, fiscal year 2017, and their median prison term was 3 months. Only 4 of those 6 pleaded guilty. The other years each have 1 or 2 people, and no cases appear in the table for most fiscal years.
A pattern cannot be drawn from counts this small.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | 6 | 3 months | 4 of 6 |
| 2021 | 1 | 7.1 months | 1 of 1 |
| 2022 | 2 | 18 months | 2 of 2 |
| 2025 | 1 | n/a | 1 of 1 |
What Cannot Be Told From These Numbers
The Commission data includes only people who were convicted and sentenced. Acquittals and dismissals are not in it. Prison terms are those imposed, not time served.
The records do not describe the facts of any case. With 10 people in all, no single figure should be read as typical for the district.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Penn. East") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Burglary/Trespass" (10). 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 Pennsylvania, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Firearms Sentences in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Immigration Offense Sentences in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, 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.