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# Federal Sentences in the Southern District of Texas, FY2016–2025
- URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-district-southern-district-of-texas/
- Published: 2026-11-03T06:11:18.000Z
- Updated: 2026-11-03T06:11:18.000Z
- Description: Immigration cases made up 76% of the 71,026 people sentenced in the Southern District of Texas in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. Among those sent to prison, the median prison term was 13 months, lower than the median of 24 months for all 94 federal districts together. More than 99% pleaded guilty.
- 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 Texas

**In brief:** Immigration cases made up 76% of the 71,026 people sentenced in the Southern District of Texas in fiscal years 2016 to 2025\. Among those sent to prison, the median prison term was 13 months, lower than the median of 24 months for all 94 federal districts together. More than 99% pleaded guilty.

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 71,026 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/).

## An Immigration Caseload Above All Else

The U.S. Sentencing Commission places each sentenced person into an offense type. In this district, Immigration accounted for 54,153 people, or 76% of everyone sentenced. Drug Trafficking was a distant second at 9,093 (13%), and Firearms followed at 2,252 (3%).

Fraud/Theft/Embezzlement (1,604), Money Laundering (743), and Robbery (531) were the next largest groups. The table below also lists National Defense and Child Pornography cases (child pornography is the Commission's label for images of child exploitation).

Median prison terms differed widely by offense type. Immigration cases had a median of 10 months. Drug trafficking cases had a median of 57 months, and robbery cases had a median of 120 months. The district-wide median combines all of these groups into one figure.

| Offense type             | People sentenced | Share of district | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
| ------------------------ | ---------------- | ----------------- | ------------- | -------------- |
| Immigration              | 54,153           | 76%               | 10 months     | more than 99%  |
| Drug Trafficking         | 9,093            | 13%               | 57 months     | 99%            |
| Firearms                 | 2,252            | 3%                | 30 months     | 99%            |
| Fraud/Theft/Embezzlement | 1,604            | 2%                | 15 months     | 96%            |
| Money Laundering         | 743              | 1%                | 24 months     | 95%            |
| Robbery                  | 531              | less than 1%      | 120 months    | 96%            |
| National Defense         | 500              | less than 1%      | 25 months     | more than 99%  |
| Child Pornography        | 453              | less than 1%      | 97 months     | 98%            |

## Prison, Probation, and Life Sentences

A prison term was imposed on 68,877 of the 71,026 people (97%). That share is higher than the 91% for all districts. Another 1,319 (2%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement.

For those sent to prison, a quarter received 30 months or more, and a quarter received 5.5 months or less. 29 people received a life sentence. Each figure is the term a judge imposed at sentencing, not the time a person actually served.

## How Often Did Cases Go to Trial?

Almost no one in this district was sentenced after a trial. 70,483 people pleaded guilty, which is more than 99%, compared with 97% across all districts. 543 were convicted after a trial.

The median prison term after a guilty plea was 12.6 months. After a trial it was 71 months, based on 533 people convicted at trial and sent to prison. The people who went to trial may have faced different charges from those who pleaded, so these medians do not measure the effect of going to trial.

Among guilty pleas, 52% had a written plea agreement with the government. The other 48% were straight pleas, entered with no agreement.

## Where Sentences Fell Against the Guideline Range

The federal Sentencing Guidelines give an advisory range of months for each case, based on the offense and the person's criminal history. Judges may sentence within, below, or above it. 70,987 records had this information.

Within the range: 58% (40,983). That is higher than the 48% within the range for all districts. Below the range at the government's request: 18% (12,935). Below the range with no government request: 22% (15,803). Above the range: 2% (1,266).

A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 8,900 people (13%). A mandatory minimum is a floor set by statute that a judge generally cannot go below.

## Supervision, Money Penalties, and Prior Records

Supervised release is a period of court supervision that follows prison. 35,869 people (51%) were ordered to serve it, with a median term of 36 months. 141 (less than 1%) received supervised release for life.

Fines were rare: 651 people (less than 1%). Restitution to victims was ordered for 2,104 (3%).

In criminal history, 43% were in category I, the lowest, and 4% were in category VI, the highest. Court-martial records have no criminal history field, so this measure has no military counterpart.

## Changes Across the Fiscal Years

27,070 people were sentenced in fiscal years 2016 to 2019, and 43,956 in fiscal years 2020 to 2025\. The second period covers more years than the first.

The yearly table shows a median prison term of 21 months in 2016 and 6 months in 2020\. In 2025 the median was 6.7 months. The records do not show why the median changed from year to year.

| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
| ----------- | ---------------- | ------------- | -------------- |
| 2016        | 6,482            | 21 months     | 99%            |
| 2017        | 6,635            | 18 months     | 99%            |
| 2018        | 6,138            | 18 months     | more than 99%  |
| 2019        | 7,815            | 14 months     | more than 99%  |
| 2020        | 8,538            | 6 months      | more than 99%  |
| 2021        | 8,052            | 12 months     | more than 99%  |
| 2022        | 7,274            | 12 months     | more than 99%  |
| 2023        | 6,425            | 12 months     | more than 99%  |
| 2024        | 6,122            | 12 months     | more than 99%  |
| 2025        | 7,545            | 6.7 months    | more than 99%  |

## Limits of the Sentencing Records

The Commission's data covers only people who were convicted and sentenced. Acquittals and dismissed cases are not in it, so the plea and trial figures leave out every case that ended without a conviction. A federal fiscal year runs from October 1 to September 30.

### How We Counted

Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Southern District of Texas (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Texas South") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 (71,026). 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.