Federal Sentences in the District of Colorado, FY2016–2025
Federal judges in the District of Colorado sentenced 4,231 people in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. More of those sentences fell below the guideline range at the government's request (38%) than inside the range (36%), and the in-range share was lower than the 48% for all 94 districts. The median prison
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In brief: Federal judges in the District of Colorado sentenced 4,231 people in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. More of those sentences fell below the guideline range at the government's request (38%) than inside the range (36%), and the in-range share was lower than the 48% for all 94 districts. The median prison term in Colorado was 36 months, compared with 24 months nationwide.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 4,231 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.
Where Colorado Sentences Fell Against the Guidelines
The Sentencing Commission records whether each sentence was inside, below, or above the guideline range that applied to the case. Colorado has that information for 4,187 people.
The most common result was a sentence below the range after the government asked for one: 1,597 people, or 38%. The records do not list the grounds for those requests. Another 981 people (23%) got a sentence below the range with no government request.
Sentences inside the range numbered 1,505, or 36%. Only 104 (2%) were above it.
Prison Terms in the District
A prison term was part of the sentence for 3,818 people, which is 90% of everyone sentenced. The all-district rate was 91%. Probation alone, without any prison time, was the sentence for 338 people (8%).
The middle prison term in Colorado was 36 months, or 3 years. Terms of 72 months or more made up the top quarter, and terms of 15 months or less made up the bottom quarter. 7 people were sentenced to life.
These figures are the terms judges imposed at sentencing. They do not measure how long anyone stayed in prison.
Which Offenses Brought People to Federal Court in Colorado?
Drug trafficking accounted for 1,237 people sentenced, or 29% of the district's total. The median prison term for that group was 60 months. Firearms offenses followed with 905 people (21%) and a median of 40 months.
Immigration cases made up 16% of the district, 687 people, with a median prison term of 12 months. Fraud, theft, and embezzlement accounted for 376 people (9%) and a median of 22 months.
Among the offense types in the table, robbery had the longest median term, 78 months, across 190 people.
| Offense type | People sentenced | Share of district | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Drug Trafficking | 1,237 | 29% | 60 months | 97% |
| Firearms | 905 | 21% | 40 months | 97% |
| Immigration | 687 | 16% | 12 months | 99% |
| Fraud/Theft/Embezzlement | 376 | 9% | 22 months | 94% |
| Robbery | 190 | 4% | 78 months | 97% |
| Money Laundering | 139 | 3% | 48 months | 97% |
| Assault | 127 | 3% | 46 months | 94% |
| Other | 78 | 2% | 2 months | 97% |
Pleas, Trials, and Mandatory Minimums
Of the 4,231 people, 4,086 pleaded guilty. That is 97%, the same share as all federal districts. The other 145 were convicted at trial.
People convicted at trial and sent to prison had a median term of 102.5 months, based on 138 people. After a guilty plea, the median was 36 months. The trial group is small, and the records do not show how the cases in each group differed.
More than 99% of the guilty pleas came with a written plea agreement. A mandatory minimum prison term, a statutory floor that a judge generally cannot go below, applied to 1,160 people (28%).
Supervision, Money Penalties, and Prior Records
After prison, 3,338 people (79%) had a term of supervised release, with a median length of 36 months. 15 were placed on supervised release for life.
Restitution was ordered for 783 people (19%), and a fine for 214 (5%).
On the Commission's criminal history scale, 34% of people were in category I, the lowest, and 16% were in category VI, the highest. Court-martial records have no comparable field.
Changes Across the Fiscal Years
The district sentenced 1,973 people in fiscal years 2016 to 2019 and 2,258 in fiscal years 2020 to 2025. A federal fiscal year begins on October 1.
The yearly median prison term was 24 months in fiscal year 2016 and 55 months in fiscal year 2022. In fiscal year 2025 it was 44.5 months. The records show these medians but not the reasons they changed.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 483 | 24 months | 96% |
| 2017 | 436 | 27 months | 98% |
| 2018 | 525 | 29.5 months | 96% |
| 2019 | 529 | 33 months | 97% |
| 2020 | 400 | 36 months | 95% |
| 2021 | 370 | 36 months | 99% |
| 2022 | 389 | 55 months | 97% |
| 2023 | 340 | 48 months | 95% |
| 2024 | 382 | 51 months | 96% |
| 2025 | 377 | 44.5 months | 97% |
Military Installations and This Court
Buckley SFB, Fort Carson, Peterson SFB, and the U.S. Air Force Academy are all in Colorado and appear in this site's court-martial data. Courts-martial at those installations are held in military courts. They are not part of this district court's caseload, and none of the numbers above come from them.
The Commission data also leaves out anyone who was acquitted or whose case was dismissed. It counts only people convicted and sentenced.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in the District of Colorado (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Colorado") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 (4,231). 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.
Mandatory minimum sentences. Many federal statutes on drugs, images of child exploitation, child sex abuse, and firearms carry mandatory minimum prison terms. The UCMJ has mandatory minimums only for a few offenses (a dishonorable discharge or dismissal for rape and sexual assault, and life for premeditated murder). Federal sentences for these offenses are partly set by Congress, not by the judge.
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)
- Drug Use: Courts-Martial at Peterson SFB vs. Federal Court in the District of Colorado (installation comparison)
- How Often Federal Judges Sentence Outside the Guideline Range
- Mandatory Minimums: How Many Federal Sentences Are Set by Congress
- 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.