Federal Commercialized Vice Sentences in the District of Arizona, FY2016–2025
From fiscal year 2016 to 2025, 28 people were sentenced in the District of Arizona for commercialized vice offenses. 27 of them (96%) received a prison term, with a median of 27 months, and 27 (96%) pleaded guilty. The median prison term was higher than the 18 months for this offense type in all 94
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › Federal Sentences in the District of Arizona, FY2016–2025 › Commercialized Vice: District of Arizona
In brief: From fiscal year 2016 to 2025, 28 people were sentenced in the District of Arizona for commercialized vice offenses. 27 of them (96%) received a prison term, with a median of 27 months, and 27 (96%) pleaded guilty. The median prison term was higher than the 18 months for this offense type in all 94 districts combined.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 28 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.
Most Cases Ended in Prison and a Guilty Plea
27 of the 28 people (96%) received a prison term. 1 person (4%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement.
27 people (96%) pleaded guilty, and 1 was convicted after a trial. Every guilty plea had a written plea agreement.
In all 94 districts, 70% of people sentenced for this offense type went to prison, and 97% pleaded guilty. The Arizona prison rate was higher, and the plea rate was about the same.
What Prison Terms Looked Like
Among those sent to prison, the median prison term was 27 months (2.2 years). A quarter received 27 months or more, and a quarter received 15.5 months or less.
The median after a guilty plea was 27 months. The one person convicted at trial and sent to prison received 20 months. A single case cannot show how trials compare with pleas.
The median for all offenses in the district was 9 months. Prison terms are the terms imposed, not time served.
Which Guideline Applied
"Commercialized Vice" is a category the U.S. Sentencing Commission assigns based on the main guideline in each case. All 28 cases here used the same one, §2G1.1 (Promoting a Commercial Sex Act or Prohibited Sexual Conduct with an Individual Other than a Minor).
No mandatory minimum prison term applied to any of the 28 people. The data counts only people who were convicted and sentenced, so acquittals and dismissals are not in it.
Sentences Compared With the Guideline Range
The guideline range is the sentencing range that results from the Commission's rules for each case. 16 sentences (57%) were within it, which is more than the 42% for this offense type in all districts.
6 sentences (21%) were below the range without a government request, and 4 (14%) were below it at the government's request. 2 (7%) were above the range.
For all offenses in the District of Arizona, 35% of sentences were within the range.
Supervised Release, Fines, and Criminal History
27 people (96%) were ordered to serve supervised release after prison, with a median term of 36 months. A fine was ordered for 2 people (7%), and restitution for 1 (4%).
Criminal history was spread across the scale. 7% were in the lowest category I, and 21% were in the highest, category VI. Court-martial records have no criminal history field, so that comparison cannot be made.
Few Cases, Mostly Early in the Period
Commercialized vice cases were less than 1% of the 47,716 people sentenced in the district in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. 23 people were sentenced in fiscal years 2016 to 2019, and 5 in fiscal years 2020 to 2025. The data shows no cases in the later years of the period.
The table gives each year. The counts are 1 to 7 people per year, so the yearly medians are based on very few cases and do not show a trend.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 5 | 27 months | 5 of 5 |
| 2017 | 7 | 27 months | 7 of 7 |
| 2018 | 5 | 27 months | 4 of 5 |
| 2019 | 6 | 15 months | 6 of 6 |
| 2020 | 1 | 27 months | 1 of 1 |
| 2021 | 1 | 21 months | 1 of 1 |
| 2022 | 3 | 50.5 months | 3 of 3 |
Limits of These Numbers
The records do not describe what happened in any case, and they do not show people who were charged but not convicted. They cannot show why sentences differ from year to year.
Davis-Monthan AFB, Fort Huachuca, Luke AFB, and Marine Corps Air Station Yuma are in this district. Courts-martial are tried in military courts, not here, and this post reports federal numbers on their own.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in the District of Arizona (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Arizona") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Commercialized Vice" (28). 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 District of Arizona, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- Federal Immigration Offense Sentences in the District of Arizona, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the District of Arizona, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Drug Possession Sentences in the District of Arizona, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the District of Arizona, 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.