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# Federal Sentences in the Northern District of Mississippi, FY2016–2025
- URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-district-northern-district-of-mississippi/
- Published: 2026-11-03T06:11:17.000Z
- Updated: 2026-11-03T06:11:17.000Z
- Description: The Northern District of Mississippi sentenced 1,573 people in fiscal years 2016 to 2025, and 152 of them (10%) were sentenced for obscenity and other sex offenses. Sentences within the guideline range made up 45%, a little lower than the 48% for all federal districts. Nearly every guilty plea, 98%,
- 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 Mississippi

**In brief:** The Northern District of Mississippi sentenced 1,573 people in fiscal years 2016 to 2025, and 152 of them (10%) were sentenced for obscenity and other sex offenses. Sentences within the guideline range made up 45%, a little lower than the 48% for all federal districts. Nearly every guilty plea, 98%, came with a written plea agreement.

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 1,573 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/).

## Obscenity and Other Sex Offenses

The Sentencing Commission groups some cases under the label "Obscenity/Other Sex Offenses." In this district that group had 152 people, making it the fourth largest offense type behind drug trafficking, firearms, and fraud.

The median prison term for the group was 21 months, and all 152 pleaded guilty.

A separate category, child pornography (images of child exploitation), had 64 people, or 4%. Their median prison term was 95 months. Sexual abuse had 43 people and a median of 180 months, the longest in the table.

| Offense type                 | People sentenced | Share of district | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
| ---------------------------- | ---------------- | ----------------- | ------------- | -------------- |
| Drug Trafficking             | 439              | 28%               | 60 months     | more than 99%  |
| Firearms                     | 337              | 21%               | 36 months     | 99%            |
| Fraud/Theft/Embezzlement     | 243              | 15%               | 12 months     | 98%            |
| Obscenity/Other Sex Offenses | 152              | 10%               | 21 months     | 100%           |
| Child Pornography            | 64               | 4%                | 95 months     | 97%            |
| Immigration                  | 46               | 3%                | 0 months      | 100%           |
| Sexual Abuse                 | 43               | 3%                | 180 months    | 93%            |
| Assault                      | 39               | 2%                | 63 months     | 97%            |

## Larger Offense Groups

Drug trafficking accounted for 439 people (28%), with a median prison term of 60 months. Firearms offenses accounted for 337 (21%), with a median of 36 months.

Fraud, theft, and embezzlement made up 243 people (15%) and had a median of 12 months. Immigration was a small group of 46 people, and its median prison term was 0 months.

## How Did Sentences Compare With the Guidelines?

Of the 1,515 people with guideline information, 675 were sentenced within the range. That is 45%, compared with 48% nationally.

Below-range sentences were common in both forms. 396 people (26%) received one at the government's request. 380 (25%) received one without a government request. 64 (4%) were sentenced above the range.

## Written Agreements and Few Trials

Guilty pleas resolved 1,538 of the 1,573 cases (98%). Only 35 people were convicted at trial.

98% of guilty pleas came with a written plea agreement, and 2% were straight pleas. The median prison term was 36 months after a guilty plea. After a trial it was 121 months, based on 34 people convicted at trial and sent to prison. That trial group is small.

## Columbus AFB

Columbus AFB in Mississippi is located in this district and appears in this site's court-martial data. Service members there who face a court-martial are tried in a military court, not in this federal district court. None of the figures on this page come from courts-martial.

## Prison Terms, Supervision, and Criminal History

1,352 people (86%) received a prison term, compared with 91% across all districts. 187 (12%) received probation only. The median prison term was 36 months (3 years), higher than the 24-month national median. A quarter received 75 months or more, a quarter received 17.5 months or less, and 2 people received a life sentence.

A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 266 people (17%). Supervised release after prison was ordered for 1,273 (81%), with a median of 36 months, and 15 received it for life. Restitution was ordered for 350 (22%) and a fine for 48 (3%).

37% of people were in criminal history category I and 11% in category VI. Court-martial records have nothing comparable.

## Year by Year

688 people were sentenced in fiscal years 2016 to 2019 and 885 in fiscal years 2020 to 2025, which spans more years. Fiscal year 2021 had 87 people, the fewest in the table. The yearly median prison term was 27 months in 2018 and 48 months in 2022.

| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
| ----------- | ---------------- | ------------- | -------------- |
| 2016        | 169              | 31 months     | 98%            |
| 2017        | 158              | 30 months     | 99%            |
| 2018        | 173              | 27 months     | 97%            |
| 2019        | 188              | 29 months     | more than 99%  |
| 2020        | 136              | 39 months     | 99%            |
| 2021        | 87               | 42 months     | 99%            |
| 2022        | 133              | 48 months     | 98%            |
| 2023        | 164              | 46 months     | 97%            |
| 2024        | 185              | 47 months     | 97%            |
| 2025        | 180              | 41 months     | 96%            |

## What Is Missing

These are records of people convicted and sentenced. They leave out acquittals and dismissals, they report terms imposed rather than served, and they cannot show what drove any of the patterns above.

### How We Counted

Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Northern District of Mississippi (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Mississippi North") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 (1,573). 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.