Federal Commercialized Vice Sentences in the Eastern District of Virginia, FY2016–2025
All 35 people sentenced for commercialized vice offenses in the Eastern District of Virginia in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 received a prison term. The median prison term was 21 months, compared with 18 months for all districts. Of the 35, 34 (97%) pleaded guilty.
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In brief: All 35 people sentenced for commercialized vice offenses in the Eastern District of Virginia in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 received a prison term. The median prison term was 21 months, compared with 18 months for all districts. Of the 35, 34 (97%) pleaded guilty.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 35 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.
Every Person Received Prison
The U.S. Sentencing Commission recorded 35 of 35 people (100%) with a prison term, and 0 with probation only. Across all 94 districts, 70% of the 992 people sentenced for this offense type were sent to prison.
Among the 35, the median prison term was 21 months. A quarter received 28.5 months or more, and a quarter received 12 months or less. The median for all districts was 18 months, and the median for all offenses in this district was 46 months.
Gambling and Commercial Sex Guidelines
"Commercialized Vice" is the Sentencing Commission's offense category. The most common primary guideline was §2E3.1 (Gambling Offenses), with 24 people. Next was §2G1.1 (Promoting a Commercial Sex Act or Prohibited Sexual Conduct with an Individual Other than a Minor), with 11.
These cases were less than 1% of the 10,381 people sentenced in the district during the period.
How Sentences Compared With the Guideline Range
Of the 35 people, 51% (18) were sentenced within the guideline range. Another 26% (9) were below the range without a government request, and 6% (2) were below it at the government's request. Above the range were 17% (6).
The 17% above the range is a count of 6 people. The within-range share was 42% for all districts and 60% for all offenses in this district.
Guilty Pleas and the One Trial
Guilty pleas made up 34 of 35 cases (97%), and 1 person was convicted after a trial. The guilty plea share was also 97% for all districts, and it was 96% for all offenses in this district.
The median prison term was 22.5 months after a guilty plea. After a trial it was 0.5 months, but that figure is based on 1 person. It cannot support any comparison of plea and trial sentences.
Of the guilty pleas, 97% had a written plea agreement and 3% were straight pleas. A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 0 of the 35 people.
Supervised Release, Fines, and Restitution
Supervised release was ordered for all 35 people (100%), with a median term of 36 months. A fine was ordered for 3 people (9%), and restitution for 6 (17%).
In criminal history, 40% were in the lowest category and 3% in the highest. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.
Most Cases Came in Recent Years
The district sentenced 7 people in fiscal years 2016 to 2019 and 28 in fiscal years 2020 to 2025. The fiscal year runs from October 1 through the end of September. The largest yearly count was 10 people, in 2023.
Several years have only 1 or 2 people, and 2020 has no row. Medians in such years describe 1 or 2 people and do not show a trend.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 1 | 11.9 months | 1 of 1 |
| 2017 | 1 | 37 months | 1 of 1 |
| 2018 | 1 | 40 months | 1 of 1 |
| 2019 | 4 | 27 months | 4 of 4 |
| 2021 | 2 | 18 months | 2 of 2 |
| 2022 | 6 | 18 months | 6 of 6 |
| 2023 | 10 | 24 months | 100% |
| 2024 | 8 | 19.5 months | 7 of 8 |
| 2025 | 2 | 14 months | 2 of 2 |
Limits of the Records
The data counts only people who were convicted and sentenced. It leaves out acquittals and dismissals, and it does not show the conduct in each case.
Fort Lee, Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Marine Corps Base Quantico, and Norfolk are in this district. Courts-martial are tried in military courts, not in this federal district court.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Eastern District of Virginia (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Virginia East") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Commercialized Vice" (35). 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 Virginia, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Eastern District of Virginia, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Other Offense Sentences in the Eastern District of Virginia, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Eastern District of Virginia, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Firearms Sentences in the Eastern District of Virginia, 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.