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# Federal Sentences in the Southern District of Illinois, FY2016–2025
- URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-district-southern-district-of-illinois/
- Published: 2026-11-03T06:11:24.000Z
- Updated: 2026-11-03T06:11:24.000Z
- Description: The Southern District of Illinois ordered a fine for 1,435 of the 2,576 people it sentenced in fiscal years 2016 to 2025, or 56%. Its median prison term was 71 months (5.9 years), against 24 months for all 94 federal districts. 55% of its sentences were within the guideline range, compared with 48%
- Author: Jocelyn C. Stewart
- Tags: Understanding Trends, Federal

[Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/) › [Federal Prosecution Analysis](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal/) › Southern District of Illinois

**In brief:** The Southern District of Illinois ordered a fine for 1,435 of the 2,576 people it sentenced in fiscal years 2016 to 2025, or 56%. Its median prison term was 71 months (5.9 years), against 24 months for all 94 federal districts. 55% of its sentences were within the guideline range, compared with 48% 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 2,576 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/).

## Fines Were Ordered More Often Than Restitution

A fine is a payment to the government. Restitution is a payment to victims for their losses. In this district, fines were ordered for 1,435 people (56%) and restitution for 448 (17%).

Those figures count orders at sentencing. The records do not show whether the money was paid.

## Sentences Inside the Guideline Range

Each federal sentence is measured against a range the sentencing guidelines recommend. The Commission had this information for 2,572 people here.

1,424 people (55%) were sentenced within the range, more often than the 48% rate for all districts. 525 (20%) were below the range at the government's request, and 496 (19%) were below it without a government request. 127 (5%) received a sentence above the range.

A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 1,066 people.

## Who Went to Prison, and for How Long?

2,324 of the 2,576 people (90%) received a prison term, a bit lower than the 91% figure nationally. 199 (8%) received probation only.

A quarter of those sent to prison received 125 months or more, and a quarter received 33 months or less. 8 people received a life sentence. These are terms imposed, not time served.

After prison, 2,127 people (83%) were ordered to serve supervised release, with a median term of 36 months. 25 (less than 1%) received it for life.

## Offense Mix in Southern Illinois

Drug trafficking accounted for 1,033 people (40%), and its median prison term was 108 months. Firearms followed with 470 (18%) and a median of 48 months. Fraud, theft, and embezzlement had 270 (10%) and a median of 24 months.

Sexual abuse cases numbered 139 (5%), with a median of 120 months. Only 76% of those people pleaded guilty, lower than any other offense type in the table. Child pornography (images of child exploitation) cases numbered 108 (4%), with a median of 78 months, and all of them ended in a guilty plea.

The table also lists 66 people sentenced for prison offenses, with a median of 17 months.

| Offense type             | People sentenced | Share of district | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
| ------------------------ | ---------------- | ----------------- | ------------- | -------------- |
| Drug Trafficking         | 1,033            | 40%               | 108 months    | 99%            |
| Firearms                 | 470              | 18%               | 48 months     | 98%            |
| Fraud/Theft/Embezzlement | 270              | 10%               | 24 months     | 98%            |
| Sexual Abuse             | 139              | 5%                | 120 months    | 76%            |
| Immigration              | 119              | 5%                | 4.7 months    | 100%           |
| Child Pornography        | 108              | 4%                | 78 months     | 100%           |
| Robbery                  | 104              | 4%                | 120 months    | 98%            |
| Prison Offenses          | 66               | 3%                | 17 months     | 97%            |

## Guilty Pleas and Trials

2,498 of the 2,576 people (97%) pleaded guilty, the same rate as all districts. 78 were convicted after a trial.

60% of the guilty pleas had a written plea agreement, and 39% were straight pleas with no agreement.

The median prison term was 70 months after a guilty plea and 144 months after a trial, based on 77 people convicted at trial and sent to prison. Trial cases and plea cases involve different charges, so the records cannot isolate the effect of a trial.

In criminal history, 36% were in category I and 15% in category VI. Court-martial records do not have this field.

## Sentencing Over Time

The district sentenced 1,135 people in fiscal years 2016 to 2019 and 1,441 in fiscal years 2020 to 2025, periods of different lengths.

The yearly median prison term was 60 months in 2016\. It was 96 months in 2023 and 60 months in 2025.

| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
| ----------- | ---------------- | ------------- | -------------- |
| 2016        | 317              | 60 months     | 98%            |
| 2017        | 266              | 64.5 months   | 98%            |
| 2018        | 266              | 60 months     | 98%            |
| 2019        | 286              | 70 months     | 98%            |
| 2020        | 234              | 66 months     | more than 99%  |
| 2021        | 221              | 72 months     | 98%            |
| 2022        | 261              | 87 months     | 95%            |
| 2023        | 261              | 96 months     | 92%            |
| 2024        | 224              | 70.5 months   | 96%            |
| 2025        | 240              | 60 months     | 96%            |

## Scott AFB and This Court

Scott AFB, Illinois, is in this district and appears in this site's court-martial data. Courts-martial are tried in military courts, not in the federal district court, and none are counted here.

## Limits

Only convictions that reached sentencing are in the Commission data. Acquittals and dismissals are missing. The data also cannot say why fines were so common in this district.

### How We Counted

Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Southern District of Illinois (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Illinois South") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 (2,576). 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.