Federal Sentences in the Eastern District of Michigan, FY2016–2025
Judges in the Eastern District of Michigan sentenced 42% of people below the guideline range without a government request in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. Only 38% of sentences were within the range, compared with 48% for all 94 federal districts. The district sentenced 7,508 people, with a median pris
Understanding Trends in Military Practice · 6 min read
Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › Eastern District of Michigan
In brief: Judges in the Eastern District of Michigan sentenced 42% of people below the guideline range without a government request in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. Only 38% of sentences were within the range, compared with 48% for all 94 federal districts. The district sentenced 7,508 people, with a median prison term of 36 months (3 years).
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 7,508 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.
Below the Range Without a Government Request
The guideline range is the advisory span of months that the Sentencing Guidelines produce for a case. A sentence below the range can happen in 2 ways: the government asks for it, or the judge imposes it without such a request.
Of 7,478 sentences with this information, 3,170 (42%) were below the range with no government request. That was the most common position in the district. 2,817 (38%) were within the range, 1,405 (19%) were below at the government's request, and 86 (1%) were above the range.
The records do not give the judge's reasons for any sentence. They show only where the sentence fell.
A Mixed Offense Caseload
No single offense type made up most of the cases here. Drug Trafficking had 1,692 people (23%), Firearms 1,584 (21%), Fraud/Theft/Embezzlement 1,229 (16%), and Immigration 1,091 (15%). Robbery (341) and Sexual Abuse (309) followed.
Median prison terms ranged from 3.6 months for immigration cases to 210 months for sexual abuse cases. Drug trafficking cases had a median of 60 months, and firearms cases 36 months. The table also shows 248 child pornography cases (images of child exploitation), with a median of 108 months.
| Offense type | People sentenced | Share of district | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Drug Trafficking | 1,692 | 23% | 60 months | 96% |
| Firearms | 1,584 | 21% | 36 months | 98% |
| Fraud/Theft/Embezzlement | 1,229 | 16% | 24 months | 97% |
| Immigration | 1,091 | 15% | 3.6 months | more than 99% |
| Robbery | 341 | 5% | 90 months | 94% |
| Sexual Abuse | 309 | 4% | 210 months | 94% |
| Child Pornography | 248 | 3% | 108 months | 97% |
| Money Laundering | 149 | 2% | 40 months | 92% |
How Long Were Prison Terms Here?
6,982 of the 7,508 people (93%) received a prison term, compared with 91% for all districts. 435 (6%) received probation only.
The median prison term of 36 months is higher than the 24-month median for all districts. A quarter of those sent to prison received 78 months or more, and a quarter received 11 months or less. 15 received a life sentence.
A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 2,042 people (27%). All of these are terms imposed at sentencing, not time served.
Restitution and Supervised Release
Restitution was ordered for 1,997 people, or 27%. Fines were less common, at 268 (4%).
6,288 people (84%) were ordered to serve supervised release after prison. The median term was 36 months, and 34 people (less than 1%) received it for life.
Pleas and Trials in the District
7,240 people (96%) pleaded guilty, and 268 were convicted after a trial. The rate for all districts was 97%.
80% of guilty pleas came with a written plea agreement, and 19% were straight pleas with no agreement. The median prison term after a guilty plea was 33 months. After a trial it was 127 months, based on 259 people convicted at trial and sent to prison. The charges in tried cases may differ from those in pleaded cases.
On criminal history, 44% were in category I, the lowest, and 9% in category VI, the highest. Court-martial records have no field for criminal history.
Shifts by Fiscal Year
3,578 people were sentenced in fiscal years 2016 to 2019, and 3,930 in fiscal years 2020 to 2025, the longer period. The yearly count was 901 in 2016, 489 in 2021, and 851 in 2025. The yearly median prison term was 40 months in 2022 and 24 months in 2025.
The Sentencing Commission counts only people who were convicted and sentenced, so acquittals and dismissals are missing from every figure here. The data also cannot explain why any yearly number moved.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 901 | 34 months | 96% |
| 2017 | 864 | 36 months | 96% |
| 2018 | 934 | 30 months | 97% |
| 2019 | 879 | 30 months | 96% |
| 2020 | 533 | 30 months | 96% |
| 2021 | 489 | 38.5 months | 98% |
| 2022 | 719 | 40 months | 98% |
| 2023 | 696 | 37 months | 96% |
| 2024 | 642 | 40 months | 96% |
| 2025 | 851 | 24 months | 97% |
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Eastern District of Michigan (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Michigan East") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 (7,508). 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)
- 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.