Federal Burglary and Trespass Sentences in the Southern District of Texas, FY2016–2025
The Southern District of Texas sentenced 12 people for burglary or trespass offenses in the fiscal years the records cover, 2016 to 2024. 10 (83%) received a prison term with a median of 20.6 months, and all 12 pleaded guilty. Most had no written plea agreement: 83% pleaded guilty without one.
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › Federal Sentences in the Southern District of Texas, FY2016– › Burglary and Trespass: Southern District of Texas
In brief: The Southern District of Texas sentenced 12 people for burglary or trespass offenses in the fiscal years the records cover, 2016 to 2024. 10 (83%) received a prison term with a median of 20.6 months, and all 12 pleaded guilty. Most had no written plea agreement: 83% pleaded guilty without one.
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.
Pleas Without Agreements
All 12 people (100%) pleaded guilty, and 0 were convicted after a trial. Among those pleas, 17% had a written plea agreement and 83% were straight pleas with no agreement.
A written agreement is a signed deal between the defendant and the government. In this group, the 83% without an agreement is the larger share.
For all 94 federal districts, 97% of people sentenced for burglary or trespass pleaded guilty. For all offenses in this district, more than 99% did. The records do not show why this group had fewer written agreements.
Prison Terms
Of the 12 people, 10 (83%) were sentenced to prison and 2 (17%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement.
The median prison term was 20.6 months. A quarter received 23.8 months or more, and a quarter received 13.5 months or less. Across all 94 federal districts, the median for this offense type was 18 months, and 80% of 674 people were sent to prison.
All offenses in this district together had a median prison term of 13 months.
What Burglary/Trespass Means Here
"Burglary/Trespass" is the U.S. Sentencing Commission's offense type, based on the primary guideline in each case. The most common guideline here was §2B2.1 (Burglary of a Residence or a Structure Other than a Residence), which applied to 8 people.
The records do not describe where the offenses happened or what was involved.
Sentences Against the Guideline Range
The range was recorded for 12 people. 9 (75%) were sentenced within it. 2 (17%) were sentenced below the range without a government request, and 1 (8%) was sentenced above it. None were below the range at the government's request.
Across all districts, 63% of sentences for this offense type were within the range. In this district, 58% of all sentences were within the range.
A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 0 of the 9 people with that information recorded.
After Prison and Other Orders
Supervised release was ordered for 10 people (83%), with a median term of 36 months. A fine was ordered for 1 (8%), and restitution for 3 (25%).
In criminal history, 42% were in the lowest category I and 0% in the highest (VI). Court-martial records have no criminal history field.
Counts by Year and Limits of the Data
Fiscal years 2016 to 2019 had 4 people, and fiscal years 2020 to 2025 had 8. Most years in the table have 1 to 4 people, so the yearly medians describe very few cases.
These cases were less than 1% of the 71,026 people sentenced in this district. The data counts only people who were convicted and sentenced, and it shows terms imposed, not time served. It cannot explain why any one sentence was set where it was.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 2 | 14 months | 2 of 2 |
| 2017 | 1 | n/a | 1 of 1 |
| 2019 | 1 | n/a | 1 of 1 |
| 2021 | 3 | 24 months | 3 of 3 |
| 2022 | 4 | 17.5 months | 4 of 4 |
| 2024 | 1 | 20.3 months | 1 of 1 |
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 "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 Southern District of Texas, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- Federal Immigration Offense Sentences in the Southern District of Texas, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Southern District of Texas, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Firearms Sentences in the Southern District of Texas, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Southern District of Texas, 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.