> ## 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 Sentences in the Northern District of Illinois, FY2016–2025 - URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-district-northern-district-of-illinois/ - Published: 2026-11-03T06:11:23.000Z - Updated: 2026-11-03T06:11:23.000Z - Description: In the Northern District of Illinois, 52% of sentences in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 were below the guideline range without a government request, and only 29% were within the range. Across all 94 federal districts, 48% were within the range. The district sentenced 6,211 people, and the median prison - Author: Jocelyn C. Stewart - Tags: Understanding Trends, Federal [Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/) › [Federal Prosecution Analysis](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal/) › Northern District of Illinois **In brief:** In the Northern District of Illinois, 52% of sentences in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 were below the guideline range without a government request, and only 29% were within the range. Across all 94 federal districts, 48% were within the range. The district sentenced 6,211 people, and the median prison term was 42 months, compared with 24 months nationally. Updated November 3, 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 6,211 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/). ## Where Sentences Fell Against the Guidelines Federal judges start from a guideline range, a recommended span of months calculated for each person under the U.S. Sentencing Commission's rules. The judge may then sentence within it, above it, or below it. The Commission recorded this information for 6,203 people in the district. 1,810 (29%) received a sentence within the range. 3,222 (52%) received a sentence below the range without a request from the government. Another 1,033 (17%) were below the range at the government's request, and 138 (2%) were above it. The data records where each sentence fell. It does not record the reasons a judge gave for going below the range. ## Prison, Probation, and the Length of Terms Of the 6,211 people sentenced, 5,602 (90%) received a prison term. That share is slightly lower than the 91% figure for all districts. 479 (8%) received probation only, with no confinement. The median prison term was 42 months (3.5 years). A quarter of those sent to prison received 78 months or more, and a quarter received 20 months or less. 12 people were sentenced to life. A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 1,518 people (24%). These are terms imposed at sentencing, not the time people actually served. ## A Larger Share of Trials Than the National Rate Guilty pleas resolved 5,796 of the 6,211 cases (93%). The rate for all districts was 97%, so pleas were less common here. 415 people were convicted after a trial. After a guilty plea, the median prison term was 41 months. After a trial it was 84 months, counting the 401 people convicted at trial and sent to prison. People who went to trial were not charged with the same mix of crimes as people who pleaded, so the 2 medians are not a measure of a trial penalty. Nearly all guilty pleas, 96%, came with a written plea agreement. 4% were straight pleas with no agreement. ## What Offenses Were Sentenced Here? Drug trafficking was the largest category, with 1,701 people (27%). Fraud, theft, and embezzlement followed with 1,319 (21%), then firearms with 1,180 (19%) and robbery with 551 (9%). Immigration accounted for 374 (6%) and tax offenses for 174 (3%). Fraud cases are a large share of this district's work. Their median prison term was 21 months. Drug trafficking had a median of 60 months, robbery 70 months, and firearms 46 months. Tax cases had a median of 12 months, and the 130 bribery and corruption cases had a median of 15 months. | Offense type | People sentenced | Share of district | Median prison | Pleaded guilty | | ------------------------ | ---------------- | ----------------- | ------------- | -------------- | | Drug Trafficking | 1,701 | 27% | 60 months | 95% | | Fraud/Theft/Embezzlement | 1,319 | 21% | 21 months | 92% | | Firearms | 1,180 | 19% | 46 months | 96% | | Robbery | 551 | 9% | 70 months | 93% | | Immigration | 374 | 6% | 18 months | 99% | | Tax | 174 | 3% | 12 months | 89% | | Money Laundering | 162 | 3% | 41.5 months | 94% | | Bribery/Corruption | 130 | 2% | 15 months | 86% | ## Restitution, Fines, and Supervision Restitution was ordered for 2,095 people (34%), and a fine for 358 (6%). Supervised release after prison was ordered for 5,157 people (83%), with a median term of 36 months. 21 people (less than 1%) received supervised release for life. In criminal history, 45% of those sentenced were in category I, the lowest category. 12% were in category VI, the highest. Court-martial records contain no matching field. ## Year-by-Year Counts The district sentenced 2,675 people in fiscal years 2016 to 2019 and 3,536 in fiscal years 2020 to 2025\. The second period is longer, so the totals are not directly comparable. The yearly median prison term was 38 months in 2016 and 48 months in each fiscal year from 2022 to 2025. | Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty | | ----------- | ---------------- | ------------- | -------------- | | 2016 | 640 | 38 months | 90% | | 2017 | 640 | 37 months | 90% | | 2018 | 740 | 42 months | 94% | | 2019 | 655 | 40 months | 95% | | 2020 | 540 | 36 months | 96% | | 2021 | 619 | 42 months | 96% | | 2022 | 621 | 48 months | 94% | | 2023 | 620 | 48 months | 95% | | 2024 | 549 | 48 months | 91% | | 2025 | 587 | 48 months | 92% | ## Great Lakes and the Military Courts Great Lakes, Illinois, is a military installation in this district that appears in this site's court-martial data. Courts-martial there are tried in military courts, not in this federal district court, and they are not part of these counts. ## What the Numbers Leave Out The Commission counts only people who were convicted and sentenced. Cases that ended in acquittal or dismissal are absent. The numbers also cannot explain why judges in this district sentenced below the range as often as they did. ### How We Counted Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Northern District of Illinois (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Illinois North") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 (6,211). 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](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) - [How Often Federal Judges Sentence Outside the Guideline Range](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-sentences-outside-guideline-range/) - [Mandatory Minimums: How Many Federal Sentences Are Set by Congress](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-mandatory-minimum-sentences/) - [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.