Federal Commercialized Vice Sentences in the Eastern District of Missouri, FY2016–2025
The Eastern District of Missouri sentenced 12 people for commercialized vice offenses in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. Every one pleaded guilty and was sent to prison, with a median of 25 months (2.1 years). Nationwide, this offense type had a median of 18 months, and 70% of people were sent to prison.
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › Federal Sentences in the Eastern District of Missouri, FY201 › Commercialized Vice: Eastern District of Missouri
In brief: The Eastern District of Missouri sentenced 12 people for commercialized vice offenses in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. Every one pleaded guilty and was sent to prison, with a median of 25 months (2.1 years). Nationwide, this offense type had a median of 18 months, and 70% of people were sent to prison.
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.
The Commission's Commercialized Vice Category
The U.S. Sentencing Commission assigns every case an offense type. "Commercialized Vice" is one of those types, and the primary guideline decides which cases belong to it.
For 11 of the 12 people here, that guideline was §2G1.1 (Promoting a Commercial Sex Act or Prohibited Sexual Conduct with an Individual Other than a Minor). The other person was sentenced under §2E3.1 (Gambling Offenses).
Together these cases were less than 1% of the 9,425 people sentenced in the district in fiscal years 2016 to 2025.
Sentences Mostly Within the Range
Judges calculate a guideline range for each case and then choose a sentence. Here, 9 sentences (75%) fell within that range, 1 (8%) was below it at the government's request, and 2 (17%) were above it. None was below the range without a government request.
The share within the range for all 94 districts was 42%, and for all offenses in this district it was also 42%. The share within the range was therefore higher in these cases, based on a group of only 12 people.
Length of Prison Terms
The median prison term was 25 months. The middle of the group is bracketed by 22.5 months for the quarter with the shortest terms and 36.2 months for the quarter with the longest.
The nationwide median of 18 months is lower than the median in this district. The median for every offense type in this district together is 46 months, which is higher than the median for commercialized vice cases.
These are terms imposed by the court. They are not time served.
Plea Agreements and Mandatory Minimums
All 12 people pleaded guilty, and all 12 pleas had a written plea agreement. The nationwide share of guilty pleas for this offense type was 97%, and the share for all offenses in this district was 99%.
No mandatory minimum applied to any of the 12 people.
After Prison and Criminal History
All 12 people were ordered to serve supervised release, with a median term of 36 months. Restitution was ordered for 1 person (8%), and no fines were ordered.
The lowest criminal history category held 17% of the people, and the highest held 25%. Court-martial records have no criminal history field, so this detail has no military counterpart.
A Look at the Years
Fiscal years 2016 to 2019 had 3 people, and fiscal years 2020 to 2025 had 9. The fiscal year runs from October 1 through the end of September.
Most years had a single person, so the median shown for those years is that one person's term. The largest year was 2025, with 3 people. The table cannot support any conclusion about a trend.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 1 | 24 months | 1 of 1 |
| 2017 | 1 | 52 months | 1 of 1 |
| 2018 | 1 | 26 months | 1 of 1 |
| 2020 | 1 | 12 months | 1 of 1 |
| 2021 | 1 | 36 months | 1 of 1 |
| 2022 | 2 | 30.5 months | 2 of 2 |
| 2023 | 1 | 33 months | 1 of 1 |
| 2024 | 1 | 60 months | 1 of 1 |
| 2025 | 3 | 18 months | 3 of 3 |
Where the Data Stops
Only people who were convicted and sentenced appear in the data. Acquittals and dismissals do not, and the records say nothing about the facts of any case.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Eastern District of Missouri (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Missouri East") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Commercialized Vice" (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 Missouri, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- Federal Firearms Sentences in the Eastern District of Missouri, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Eastern District of Missouri, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Eastern District of Missouri, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Child Pornography Sentences in the Eastern District of Missouri, 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.