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# Federal Sentences in the Southern District of Iowa, FY2016–2025
- URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-district-southern-district-of-iowa/
- Published: 2026-11-03T06:11:27.000Z
- Updated: 2026-11-03T06:11:27.000Z
- Description: In the Southern District of Iowa, the median federal prison term for fiscal years 2016 to 2025 was 80 months (6.7 years), against a 24-month median for all 94 districts. The district sentenced 4,208 people in those years. Drug trafficking made up 45% of them, and a mandatory minimum applied to 1,903
- 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 Iowa

**In brief:** In the Southern District of Iowa, the median federal prison term for fiscal years 2016 to 2025 was 80 months (6.7 years), against a 24-month median for all 94 districts. The district sentenced 4,208 people in those years. Drug trafficking made up 45% of them, and a mandatory minimum applied to 1,903 people (45%).

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 4,208 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/).

## A Long Median Prison Term

A prison term was imposed on 4,015 of the 4,208 people sentenced (95%). That share is higher than the 91% figure for all districts. 151 people (4%) got probation only, with no prison or other confinement.

Among people sent to prison, the middle term was 80 months. A quarter of prison terms reached 150 months or more, and a quarter were 36 months or less. 8 people received a life sentence.

The Sentencing Commission records the term the judge imposed. It does not track time actually served.

## Drug Trafficking Led the Offense Mix

Drug trafficking accounted for 1,895 people sentenced, or 45% of the district total. Those cases had a median prison term of 120 months. Firearms cases were the second-largest group at 935 (22%), with a 53-month median.

Child pornography (images of child exploitation) cases numbered 260 (6%) and also had a 120-month median. Sexual abuse accounted for 173 people (4%), with a median of 240 months. Assault cases were a small group of 67, with a 152-month median and the lowest guilty plea share in the table, 75%.

Immigration cases (293, or 7%) had a median of 8 months. Fraud, theft, and embezzlement (217, or 5%) had a median of 18 months.

| Offense type             | People sentenced | Share of district | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
| ------------------------ | ---------------- | ----------------- | ------------- | -------------- |
| Drug Trafficking         | 1,895            | 45%               | 120 months    | 96%            |
| Firearms                 | 935              | 22%               | 53 months     | 96%            |
| Immigration              | 293              | 7%                | 8 months      | more than 99%  |
| Child Pornography        | 260              | 6%                | 120 months    | 95%            |
| Fraud/Theft/Embezzlement | 217              | 5%                | 18 months     | 97%            |
| Sexual Abuse             | 173              | 4%                | 240 months    | 92%            |
| Prison Offenses          | 67               | 2%                | 12.5 months   | 100%           |
| Assault                  | 67               | 2%                | 152 months    | 75%            |

## How Often Did Mandatory Minimums Apply?

A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 1,903 people, which is 45% of everyone sentenced. A mandatory minimum is a floor written into the statute. The judge generally cannot sentence below it unless a specific legal exception applies.

The sheet does not break the mandatory minimum count down by offense type. It cannot show how many of the long prison terms were set at or near these floors.

## Sentences Below the Guideline Range Without a Government Request

Only 37% of sentences (1,549) were within the guideline range. Nationally the share within the range was 48%.

The district had 1,442 sentences (34%) below the range with no request from the government. That is a judge's own decision to go lower. Another 1,101 (26%) were below the range at the government's request.

Above-range sentences were rare: 115, or 3%. These shares are based on the 4,207 people whose records include the guideline information.

## Trials, Plea Agreements, and Supervision

Of the 4,208 people, 4,030 (96%) pleaded guilty and 178 were convicted at trial. Among guilty pleas, 72% had a written plea agreement and 28% were straight pleas.

After a trial, the median prison term was 181.5 months, based on 174 people sent to prison. After a guilty plea, it was 77 months.

Supervised release after prison was ordered for 3,805 people (90%), with a median term of 48 months. 21 people received supervised release for life. Fines were ordered for 110 (3%) and restitution for 559 (13%). On criminal history, 30% were in category I and 21% were in category VI.

## Year-by-Year Prison Terms

The yearly median prison term was 60 months in fiscal year 2016\. It was 120 months in fiscal year 2024 and 108 months in fiscal year 2025\. The yearly counts were 1,727 people in fiscal years 2016 to 2019 and 2,481 in fiscal years 2020 to 2025.

The records show these changes but do not explain them. A shift in the kinds of cases brought could move the median without any change in how similar cases were sentenced.

| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
| ----------- | ---------------- | ------------- | -------------- |
| 2016        | 353              | 60 months     | 95%            |
| 2017        | 404              | 60 months     | 97%            |
| 2018        | 477              | 65 months     | 98%            |
| 2019        | 493              | 78 months     | 96%            |
| 2020        | 421              | 72 months     | 96%            |
| 2021        | 495              | 90 months     | 96%            |
| 2022        | 454              | 96 months     | 94%            |
| 2023        | 440              | 96 months     | 96%            |
| 2024        | 328              | 120 months    | 94%            |
| 2025        | 343              | 108 months    | 95%            |

## Limits of the Sentencing Data

Only people who were convicted and sentenced appear in this data. Cases that ended in an acquittal or a dismissal are not counted, so these numbers say nothing about how often charges in this district failed.

### How We Counted

Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Southern District of Iowa (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Iowa South") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 (4,208). 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.