Federal Commercialized Vice Sentences in the Eastern District of California, FY2016–2025
Gambling offenses make up most of the 16 commercialized vice cases sentenced in the Eastern District of California in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. All 16 people pleaded guilty, 69% received a prison term, and the median prison term was 24 months. Fines were ordered for 56%.
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › Federal Sentences in the Eastern District of California, FY2 › Commercialized Vice: Eastern District of California
In brief: Gambling offenses make up most of the 16 commercialized vice cases sentenced in the Eastern District of California in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. All 16 people pleaded guilty, 69% received a prison term, and the median prison term was 24 months. Fines were ordered for 56%.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 16 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.
Mostly Gambling Cases
"Commercialized Vice" is a category the U.S. Sentencing Commission uses to group certain offenses. In this district, the most common primary guideline was §2E3.1 (Gambling Offenses), with 12 cases. The next was §2G1.1 (Promoting a Commercial Sex Act or Prohibited Sexual Conduct with an Individual Other than a Minor), with 4 cases.
The 16 people were less than 1% of the 4,546 people sentenced in the district over fiscal years 2016 to 2025.
Prison, Probation, and Median Terms
Prison went to 11 of the 16 people (69%). Probation only, with no prison or other confinement, went to 4 (25%). In all 94 districts, 70% of people in this offense type were sent to prison.
The median prison term was 24 months (2 years). A quarter of those sent to prison received 17 months or less, and a quarter received 31.5 months or more. The median in all districts was 18 months, and the median for all offenses in the Eastern District of California was 48 months. These are terms imposed at sentencing, not the time actually served.
No Trials, and Every Plea Had an Agreement
All 16 (100%) pleaded guilty, and none was convicted after a trial. For all districts the rate was 97%, and for all offenses in this district it was 96%.
Every guilty plea had a written plea agreement, and none was a straight plea. No mandatory minimum prison term applied to any of the 16 people.
Within the Range, and Above It
The guideline range is the sentencing range the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines calculate for each case. Sentences were within the range for 63% (10) of the 16. That is higher than the 42% for this offense type in all districts and the 40% for all offenses in this district.
A below-range sentence at the government's request applied to 19% (3). No one received a below-range sentence without a government request. Above-range sentences also applied to 19% (3).
Fines, Supervision, and Restitution
A fine was ordered for 9 of the 16 (56%), and restitution for 1 (6%). Supervised release after prison was ordered for 11 (69%), with a median term of 36 months.
Criminal history category I, the lowest, applied to 69%, and category VI, the highest, applied to 6%. The court-martial data has no criminal history field.
Counts by Fiscal Year
Fiscal years 2016 to 2019 had 8 people, and fiscal years 2020 to 2025 had 8 people. The table shows 1 to 3 people in each listed year, and the median for 2016 is not available. With counts this small, a single year says little.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 1 | n/a | 1 of 1 |
| 2017 | 1 | 24 months | 1 of 1 |
| 2018 | 3 | 36 months | 3 of 3 |
| 2019 | 3 | 24 months | 3 of 3 |
| 2020 | 1 | 45 months | 1 of 1 |
| 2021 | 2 | 30 months | 2 of 2 |
| 2022 | 2 | 16 months | 2 of 2 |
| 2023 | 2 | 16.5 months | 2 of 2 |
| 2025 | 1 | 0 months | 1 of 1 |
Installations and Missing Information
Beale AFB, Edwards AFB, and Travis AFB, all in California, are in this district. The records list them separately, because courts-martial are tried in military courts, not here.
Cases that ended in acquittal or dismissal are not in the Commission's data, which counts only people who were convicted and sentenced.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Eastern District of California (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "California East") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Commercialized Vice" (16). 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 California, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Eastern District of California, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Firearms Sentences in the Eastern District of California, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Eastern District of California, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Immigration Offense Sentences in the Eastern District of California, 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.