Federal Drug Possession Sentences in the District of Nevada, FY2016–2025
In the District of Nevada, 17 people were sentenced for the Commission's "Drug Possession" offense type in fiscal years 2016 to 2023. 12 of them (71%) received probation only, and 5 (29%) received a prison term. Across all 94 federal districts, 68% of people in this category were sent to prison.
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › Federal Sentences in the District of Nevada, FY2016–2025 › Drug Possession: District of Nevada
In brief: In the District of Nevada, 17 people were sentenced for the Commission's "Drug Possession" offense type in fiscal years 2016 to 2023. 12 of them (71%) received probation only, and 5 (29%) received a prison term. Across all 94 federal districts, 68% of people in this category were sent to prison.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 17 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 series, which builds on Military Moves Toward Sentencing Guidelines to Mirror the Federal System. How the numbers were built: How the Federal Comparison Data Was Built.
Probation Was the Most Common Sentence
12 of the 17 people (71%) received probation only, which means a sentence with no prison or other confinement. 5 (29%) received a prison term.
In all districts together, 68% of people in this category were sent to prison, which is higher than the Nevada figure. The median prison term for the category in all districts was 6 months.
Reading a Median of 0 Months
Among those sent to prison, the median prison term in Nevada was 0 months. A quarter received 0 months or more, and a quarter received 0 months or less.
The sheet reports these values as they are, and the records do not explain how a person counted as receiving a prison term has a recorded term of 0 months. For that reason, this median should not be read as a typical length of imprisonment. For all offenses in the District of Nevada, the median prison term was 33 months.
Every Person Pleaded Guilty
All 17 people (100%) pleaded guilty, and 0 were convicted after a trial. Guilty pleas were more than 99% for this category in all districts and 96% for all offenses in this district.
Among the guilty pleas, 100% had a written plea agreement, and 0% were straight pleas.
Guideline Range and Mandatory Minimums
16 people had information on the position of the sentence against the guideline range, and all 16 (100%) were sentenced within the range. None was below the range at the government's request, none was below it without a government request, and none was above it.
The share within the range was 90% for this category in all districts and 33% for all offenses in the District of Nevada. A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 0 of the 17 people. The most common primary guideline was §2D2.1 (Unlawful Possession), with 13 people.
Fines, Supervised Release, and Criminal History
A fine was ordered for 8 people (47%), and restitution for 0. Only 1 person (6%) was ordered to serve supervised release after prison, with a median term of 12 months.
By criminal history category, 81% were in the lowest category I and 0% in the highest (VI). Court-martial records have no criminal history field.
Small Yearly Counts and Missing Years
11 people were sentenced in fiscal years 2016 to 2019, and 6 in fiscal years 2020 to 2025. The federal fiscal year starts October 1 and ends the next September. The table shows no rows for fiscal years 2021, 2024, and 2025, because no one in this group was sentenced then.
Years with 1 or 2 people show n/a for the median. The other yearly counts are from 2 to 4 people, so they do not support a trend.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 3 | 0 months | 3 of 3 |
| 2017 | 2 | n/a | 2 of 2 |
| 2018 | 4 | 0 months | 4 of 4 |
| 2019 | 2 | 7.8 months | 2 of 2 |
| 2020 | 4 | 0 months | 4 of 4 |
| 2022 | 1 | n/a | 1 of 1 |
| 2023 | 1 | n/a | 1 of 1 |
What These Numbers Do Not Cover
Drug possession cases were less than 1% of the 3,640 people sentenced in the District of Nevada in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. The data counts only people who were convicted and sentenced, and gives no case details.
Creech AFB and Nellis AFB lie within the district and show up in the site's court-martial records. Courts-martial take place in military courts and are not part of this federal data.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in the District of Nevada (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Nevada") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Drug Possession" (17). 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.
Related Analysis
- Military Moves Toward Sentencing Guidelines to Mirror the Federal System (the background article)
- Federal Prosecution Analysis (all federal posts)
- How the Federal Comparison Data Was Built (sources and method)
- Federal Sentences in the District of Nevada, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- Federal Firearms Sentences in the District of Nevada, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the District of Nevada, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Immigration Offense Sentences in the District of Nevada, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the District of Nevada, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- U.S. Sentencing Commission, Individual Offender Datafiles (source)
- Federal Judicial Center, Integrated Database (criminal defendants) (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. This analysis is for education and information only. It is not legal advice, and every case is different.