Federal Commercialized Vice Sentences in the Middle District of Georgia, FY2016–2025
62 people were sentenced in the Middle District of Georgia in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 in the U.S. Sentencing Commission's "Commercialized Vice" category. 53 of them (85%) received a prison term, with a median of 20 months. The most common primary guidelines were about commercial sex and gambling.
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In brief: 62 people were sentenced in the Middle District of Georgia in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 in the U.S. Sentencing Commission's "Commercialized Vice" category. 53 of them (85%) received a prison term, with a median of 20 months. The most common primary guidelines were about commercial sex and gambling.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 62 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.
Commercial Sex and Gambling Cases Make Up the Category
"Commercialized Vice" is the Commission's category, and it groups several different crimes. In this district, §2G1.1 (Promoting a Commercial Sex Act or Prohibited Sexual Conduct with an Individual Other than a Minor) was the primary guideline for 33 people. §2E3.1 (Gambling Offenses) was the primary guideline for 29 people.
Those guidelines cover all 62 cases, so the figures below mix different kinds of conduct. The records here do not separate the prison terms by guideline.
Prison Terms and Probation
53 of the 62 people (85%) received a prison term, and 6 (10%) received probation only. Probation only means no prison or other confinement.
The median prison term was 20 months. A quarter received 24 months or more, and a quarter received 12 months or less. These are the terms imposed, not time served.
Supervised release after prison was ordered for 40 people (65%). The median term was 24 months, and 2 people (3%) received supervised release for life.
Compared With the District and the Nation
These cases were 2% of the 4,094 people sentenced in the district over the period. The district's median prison term for all offenses was 51 months, which is higher than the 20 months here.
The nationwide group for this offense type was 992 people. 70% of them were sent to prison, and the median prison term was 18 months. In this district the share sent to prison was higher than the national share, and the median term was a little higher as well.
Pleas, Trials, and Plea Agreements
61 of the 62 people (98%) pleaded guilty, and 1 person was convicted after a trial. The median prison term after a guilty plea was 20 months. The one person convicted at trial and sent to prison received 30 months, which is a single case and cannot be compared with the plea group.
Among guilty pleas, 97% had a written plea agreement and 3% were straight pleas with no agreement. That share of written agreements is very high. A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 0 of the 62 people with that information recorded.
Sentences Against the Guideline Range
61% of the sentences (38) were within the guideline range. 13% (8) were below the range at the government's request, and 19% (12) were below the range without a government request. 6% (4) were above the range.
Nationally, 42% of sentences in this offense type were within the range. The within-range share in this district was higher than that, at 61%. For all offenses in the district, the share was 66%.
Fines, Restitution, and Criminal History
A fine was ordered for 4 people (6%), and restitution for 15 (24%). In criminal history, 63% were in category I, the lowest, and 2% were in category VI, the highest. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.
Years With Very Few Cases
The district sentenced 36 people in fiscal years 2016 to 2019 and 26 people in fiscal years 2020 to 2025. A fiscal year runs from October 1 to the end of the following September.
The table has no rows for fiscal years 2023 and 2024. Some years had only 1 or 2 people, and one year has no median at all. With counts this small, the yearly medians cannot show a trend.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 11 | 21 months | 100% |
| 2017 | 19 | 15.9 months | 100% |
| 2018 | 2 | n/a | 2 of 2 |
| 2019 | 4 | 20.5 months | 4 of 4 |
| 2020 | 1 | 120 months | 1 of 1 |
| 2021 | 9 | 18 months | 8 of 9 |
| 2022 | 4 | 30.5 months | 4 of 4 |
| 2025 | 12 | 24 months | 100% |
Limits of the Records
The Commission counts only people who were convicted and sentenced. Acquittals and dismissals are not in the data, and the records do not give the facts of any case.
Fort Benning, Moody AFB, and Robins AFB 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 Middle District of Georgia (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Georgia Mid") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Commercialized Vice" (62). 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 Middle District of Georgia, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Middle District of Georgia, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Firearms Sentences in the Middle District of Georgia, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Other Offense Sentences in the Middle District of Georgia, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Middle District of Georgia, 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.