Federal Sentences in the Eastern District of Texas, FY2016–2025
A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 3,469 of the 7,998 people sentenced in the Eastern District of Texas in fiscal years 2016 to 2025, or 43%. The median prison term there was 64.5 months (5.4 years), compared with 24 months across all federal districts. Drug trafficking accounted for 47% of
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In brief: A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 3,469 of the 7,998 people sentenced in the Eastern District of Texas in fiscal years 2016 to 2025, or 43%. The median prison term there was 64.5 months (5.4 years), compared with 24 months across all federal districts. Drug trafficking accounted for 47% of the people sentenced.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 7,998 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.
Mandatory Minimums in 43% of Cases
A mandatory minimum is a prison term set by statute that a judge generally cannot go below. The Sentencing Commission marks whether one applied to each person.
In this district, 3,469 people had a mandatory minimum. The records do not list which statutes carried them or how long each minimum was.
Drug Trafficking Cases
3,793 people were sentenced for drug trafficking, the largest offense type. Their median prison term was 115 months, and 98% pleaded guilty.
Firearms offenses followed with 1,087 people (14%) and a median of 46 months. Fraud, theft, and embezzlement accounted for 815 (10%), with a median of 24 months. Immigration offenses accounted for 753 (9%), with a median of 16 months.
Smaller groups in the table include money laundering (297 people, 60 months), robbery (238 people, 96 months), and child pornography (images of child exploitation), with 177 people and a median of 100 months.
| Offense type | People sentenced | Share of district | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Drug Trafficking | 3,793 | 47% | 115 months | 98% |
| Firearms | 1,087 | 14% | 46 months | 98% |
| Fraud/Theft/Embezzlement | 815 | 10% | 24 months | 98% |
| Immigration | 753 | 9% | 16 months | more than 99% |
| Money Laundering | 297 | 4% | 60 months | 92% |
| Robbery | 238 | 3% | 96 months | more than 99% |
| Administration of Justice | 178 | 2% | 18 months | 98% |
| Child Pornography | 177 | 2% | 100 months | 95% |
How Long Were the Prison Terms?
7,508 people (94%) received a prison term. That share is higher than the 91% for all districts. 412 people (5%) received probation only.
Among prison terms, a quarter were 120 months or more and a quarter were 30 months or less. 23 people received a life sentence.
Government Requests Below the Range
Guideline information exists for 7,993 people. 5,077 (64%) were sentenced within the range, compared with 48% nationally.
1,741 people (22%) received a below-range sentence at the government's request. 766 (10%) received a below-range sentence with no government request. 409 (5%) were sentenced above the range.
Pleas, Agreements, and Trials
7,820 people pleaded guilty (98%), and 178 were convicted after a trial. The national plea rate was 97%.
Nearly all guilty pleas, 97%, were made under a written plea agreement. Straight pleas were 3%.
The median prison term was 63 months after a guilty plea. For the 173 people convicted at trial and sent to prison, the median was 155 months.
Supervision, Restitution, and Criminal History
Supervised release after prison was ordered for 7,479 people (94%), with a median of 36 months. 26 people (less than 1%) received supervised release for life. Restitution was ordered for 1,156 (14%) and a fine for 245 (3%).
45% of the people sentenced were in criminal history category I, and 11% were in category VI. No criminal history field exists in court-martial records.
Counts Rose in Fiscal Year 2024
From fiscal year 2016 through fiscal year 2023, the yearly count stayed between 662 and 827 people. It was 1,134 in fiscal year 2024 and 1,015 in fiscal year 2025.
Over the longer periods, 3,099 people were sentenced in fiscal years 2016 to 2019 and 4,899 in fiscal years 2020 to 2025, which covers more years. The yearly median prison term was 71 months in 2025. The records do not explain the higher counts.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 827 | 60 months | 97% |
| 2017 | 795 | 70 months | 97% |
| 2018 | 753 | 70 months | 98% |
| 2019 | 724 | 60 months | 98% |
| 2020 | 698 | 70 months | 96% |
| 2021 | 662 | 63 months | 98% |
| 2022 | 674 | 70 months | 98% |
| 2023 | 716 | 66 months | 99% |
| 2024 | 1,134 | 63 months | 98% |
| 2025 | 1,015 | 71 months | 98% |
What the Records Do Not Cover
Only convicted and sentenced people are in this data. Acquittals and dismissals are not, and prison terms are those imposed rather than served.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Eastern District of Texas (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Texas East") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 (7,998). 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.