> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.bodiesburied.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Federal Commercialized Vice Sentences in the Northern District of Texas, FY2016–2025 - URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-commercialized-vice-sentences-northern-district-of-texas/ - Published: 2026-11-04T10:34:25.000Z - Updated: 2026-11-04T10:34:25.000Z - Description: The Northern District of Texas sentenced 35 people for commercialized vice offenses in fiscal years 2017 to 2025. 29 (83%) received a prison term, and the median was 18 months. That median is the same as the 18 months across all 94 districts. - Author: Jocelyn C. Stewart - Tags: Understanding Trends, Federal [Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/) › [Federal Prosecution Analysis](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal/) › [Federal Sentences in the Northern District of Texas, FY2016–](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-district-northern-district-of-texas/) › Commercialized Vice: Northern District of Texas **In brief:** The Northern District of Texas sentenced 35 people for commercialized vice offenses in fiscal years 2017 to 2025\. 29 (83%) received a prison term, and the median was 18 months. That median is the same as the 18 months across all 94 districts. Updated November 4, 2026 · Sources: U.S. Sentencing Commission and Federal Judicial Center, fiscal years 2016–2025 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](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal/) series, which builds on [Military Moves Toward Sentencing Guidelines to Mirror the Federal System](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/military-sentencing-guidelines-federal-system/). How the numbers were built: [How the Federal Comparison Data Was Built](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-data-methodology/). ## What Commercialized Vice Covers Here "Commercialized Vice" is one of the U.S. Sentencing Commission's offense types. In this district, it includes 2 main guidelines. The first is §2G1.1 (Promoting a Commercial Sex Act or Prohibited Sexual Conduct with an Individual Other than a Minor), the primary guideline for 24 people. The second is §2E3.1 (Gambling Offenses), the primary guideline for 11 people. The district had cases in this category from fiscal year 2017 on, so the count covers fiscal years 2017 to 2025. ## Sentences and the Guideline Range 29 of the 35 (83%) were sentenced to prison, and 4 (11%) received probation only. Across all districts, 70% were sent to prison, so prison was used more often here. The sentence was within the guideline range for 66% (23 people), compared with 42% across all districts. Below the range at the government's request was 26% (9 people). Below the range without a government request was 9% (3 people). No one was above the range (0%). For all offenses in this district, 62% of sentences were within the range. ## Prison Length The median prison term was 18 months. A quarter received 24 months or more, and a quarter received 12 months or less. All offenses in this district had a median prison term of 60 months. Commercialized vice terms were shorter than that overall figure. Gambling offenses and commercial sex act offenses are both in this category, and the sheet does not give separate prison terms for each, so the median covers both together. ## Pleas and Agreements All 35 people (100%) pleaded guilty, and none was convicted after a trial. Across all districts the rate was 97%. For all offenses in this district it was 98%. 97% of the guilty pleas had a written plea agreement, and 3% were straight pleas with no agreement. No mandatory minimum applied to any of the 35 people (0%). ## Supervised Release, Fines, and Restitution 28 people (80%) were ordered to serve supervised release, with a median term of 24 months. A fine was ordered for 6 (17%) and restitution for 2 (6%). For criminal history, 66% were in the lowest category and 3% in the highest. Court-martial records have no criminal history field. ## Counts by Year The district had 11 people in fiscal years 2016 to 2019 and 24 in fiscal years 2020 to 2025\. The table shows 11 people in fiscal year 2021, the most in any year. Other years had between 2 and 6. The yearly medians range from 12 months to 48.5 months. With so few people in each year, those figures reflect small groups and do not show a trend. Commercialized vice cases were less than 1% of the 14,591 people sentenced in this district. | Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty | | ----------- | ---------------- | ------------- | -------------- | | 2017 | 3 | 21 months | 3 of 3 | | 2018 | 6 | 24 months | 6 of 6 | | 2019 | 2 | 19.5 months | 2 of 2 | | 2020 | 3 | 18 months | 3 of 3 | | 2021 | 11 | 12 months | 100% | | 2022 | 2 | 48.5 months | 2 of 2 | | 2023 | 3 | 12 months | 3 of 3 | | 2024 | 3 | 15 months | 3 of 3 | | 2025 | 2 | 19.5 months | 2 of 2 | ## Limits of the Records The data counts only people who were convicted and sentenced. Dismissed cases and acquittals are not included. Prison terms are those imposed, not time served. These are federal district court numbers. Courts-martial are tried in military courts. ### How We Counted Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Northern District of Texas (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Texas North") 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](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/military-sentencing-guidelines-federal-system/) (the background article) - [Federal Prosecution Analysis](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal/) (all federal posts) - [How the Federal Comparison Data Was Built](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-data-methodology/) (sources and method) - [Federal Sentences in the Northern District of Texas, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-district-northern-district-of-texas/) (overview) - [Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Northern District of Texas, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-drug-trafficking-sentences-northern-district-of-texas/) (same district, other offense type) - [Federal Firearms Sentences in the Northern District of Texas, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-firearms-sentences-northern-district-of-texas/) (same district, other offense type) - [Federal Immigration Offense Sentences in the Northern District of Texas, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-immigration-sentences-northern-district-of-texas/) (same district, other offense type) - [Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Northern District of Texas, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-fraud-theft-embezzlement-sentences-northern-district-of-texas/) (same district, other offense type) - [U.S. Sentencing Commission, Individual Offender Datafiles](https://www.ussc.gov/research/datafiles/commission-datafiles?ref=bodiesburied.com) (source) - [Federal Judicial Center, Integrated Database (criminal defendants)](https://www.fjc.gov/research/idb?ref=bodiesburied.com) (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](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/?ref=bodiesburied.com). This analysis is for education and information only. It is not legal advice, and every case is different.