Federal Sentences in the Northern District of Georgia, FY2016–2025
In the Northern District of Georgia, the most common sentence position was below the guideline range at the government's request: 41% of the 5,303 people with that information. Only 32% received a sentence within the range, lower than the 48% for all federal districts. The district sentenced 5,362 p
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In brief: In the Northern District of Georgia, the most common sentence position was below the guideline range at the government's request: 41% of the 5,303 people with that information. Only 32% received a sentence within the range, lower than the 48% for all federal districts. The district sentenced 5,362 people in fiscal years 2016 to 2025, and their median prison term was 41 months.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 5,362 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.
Government Requests for Lower Sentences
Federal judges start from a guideline range calculated for each person. The Sentencing Commission then records where the final sentence fell against it. For this district, the record exists for 5,303 people.
Below the range at the government's request: 2,186 people, or 41%. No other position was more common. A request of this kind comes from the prosecution, not the defense.
Within the range: 1,703 people, or 32%. Nationally, 48% of sentences were within the range, so in-range sentences were less common in this district.
Below the range without a government request: 1,270 people (24%). Above the range: 144 people (3%).
What Prison Terms Looked Like
Of the 5,362 people, 4,869 (91%) were sent to prison. The national share was also 91%. Another 294 (5%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement.
The median prison term was 41 months, or 3.4 years. Across all 94 districts the median was 24 months. In the district, a quarter of prison terms were 87 months or more and a quarter were 15 months or less. 4 people received a life sentence.
These are terms ordered by the court. The Commission does not record how much of each term was actually served.
Which Offenses Were Most Common?
Drug trafficking accounted for 1,339 people (25%), with a median prison term of 78 months. Fraud, theft, and embezzlement accounted for 1,014 (19%), with a median of 28 months.
Immigration offenses made up 18% (960 people), and the median for that group was 6.4 months. Firearms offenses made up 15% (793), with a median of 48 months.
Further down the table, robbery (192 people) had a median of 120 months, and sexual abuse (116 people) had a median of 216 months. Child pornography (images of child exploitation) cases numbered 174, with a median of 60 months.
| Offense type | People sentenced | Share of district | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Drug Trafficking | 1,339 | 25% | 78 months | 97% |
| Fraud/Theft/Embezzlement | 1,014 | 19% | 28 months | 95% |
| Immigration | 960 | 18% | 6.4 months | more than 99% |
| Firearms | 793 | 15% | 48 months | 97% |
| Money Laundering | 251 | 5% | 48 months | 92% |
| Robbery | 192 | 4% | 120 months | 92% |
| Child Pornography | 174 | 3% | 60 months | 97% |
| Sexual Abuse | 116 | 2% | 216 months | 94% |
Pleas, Agreements, and Trial Convictions
Guilty pleas resolved 5,154 of the 5,362 cases, or 96%. That is about the same as the 97% for all districts. 208 people were convicted after a trial.
The median prison term was 41 months after a guilty plea. For the 203 people convicted at trial and sent to prison, it was 112 months.
Most pleas in this district came with a written agreement: 87%. Straight pleas, with no agreement, were 12%.
More People Sentenced in Recent Years
The district sentenced 2,155 people in fiscal years 2016 to 2019 and 3,207 in fiscal years 2020 to 2025. The second period is longer, so the totals are not directly comparable year for year.
The yearly table shows 609 people in fiscal year 2022, the highest count, and 477 in fiscal year 2024. The yearly median was 51 months in 2024 and 34.8 months in 2025.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 542 | 42 months | 96% |
| 2017 | 530 | 37 months | 95% |
| 2018 | 570 | 42.5 months | 95% |
| 2019 | 513 | 36 months | 97% |
| 2020 | 490 | 36 months | 97% |
| 2021 | 544 | 40 months | 98% |
| 2022 | 609 | 48 months | 95% |
| 2023 | 585 | 48 months | 96% |
| 2024 | 477 | 51 months | 96% |
| 2025 | 502 | 34.8 months | 98% |
Other Parts of the Sentence
Supervised release after prison was ordered for 4,401 people (82%), with a median term of 36 months. 63 people (1%) received supervised release for life. A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 1,600 people (30%).
Restitution was ordered for 1,468 people (27%) and a fine for 189 (4%). On criminal history, 52% were in category I, the lowest, and 9% in category VI, the highest. Courts-martial keep no criminal history field.
Limits of These Numbers
Only people who were convicted and sentenced appear in this data. Dismissed cases and acquittals are missing, so the numbers say nothing about how often prosecutions in the district failed. The records also cannot show why the government asked for lower sentences as often as it did.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Northern District of Georgia (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Georgia North") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 (5,362). 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.