Federal Drug Possession Sentences in the District of South Dakota, FY2016–2025
In the District of South Dakota, 23 people were sentenced for drug possession offenses in the data for fiscal years 2016 to 2025. 11 of the 23 (48%) received a prison term, and 11 (48%) received probation only. The median prison term for those sent to prison was 3 months.
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › Federal Sentences in the District of South Dakota, FY2016–20 › Drug Possession: District of South Dakota
In brief: In the District of South Dakota, 23 people were sentenced for drug possession offenses in the data for fiscal years 2016 to 2025. 11 of the 23 (48%) received a prison term, and 11 (48%) received probation only. The median prison term for those sent to prison was 3 months.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 23 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 Only Was as Common as Prison
The U.S. Sentencing Commission counts people who were convicted and sentenced. This post covers those in the District of South Dakota whose offense type is "Drug Possession", which is the Commission's category for simple possession cases. The group is 23 people.
11 of the 23 (48%) received a prison term. Another 11 (48%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement. For all 94 federal districts together, 68% of the 5,909 people sentenced for this offense type were sent to prison.
Prison terms here were short. The median was 3 months, and the median for all districts was 6 months. A quarter of those sent to prison received 8.3 months or more, and a quarter received 0.4 months or less. The terms are the ones imposed, not time served.
How the Cases Ended and What the Guideline Range Showed
21 of the 23 people (91%) pleaded guilty, and 2 were convicted after a trial. For all districts, guilty pleas were more than 99% of this offense type. Every guilty plea in this district came with a written plea agreement.
The median prison term after a guilty plea was 4.6 months. The one person convicted at trial and sent to prison received 1 month. A single trial case cannot support a comparison.
Sentences were within the guideline range for 91% of the group (21 people), and above the range for 9% (2 people). None were below the range. For all districts, 90% of drug possession sentences were within the range.
Other Terms of the Sentences
A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 2 of the 23 people (9%). Supervised release after prison was ordered for 9 people (39%), with a median term of 12 months.
A fine was ordered for 16 people (70%). Restitution was ordered for 0.
65% of the group were in the lowest criminal history group, and 4% were in the highest group. Court-martial records have no criminal history field, so that measure has no military counterpart.
Compared With All Cases in This District
Drug possession cases were less than 1% of the 5,041 people sentenced in the District of South Dakota in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. For all offenses in the district, the median prison term was 36 months, guilty pleas were 95%, and sentences were within the guideline range 57% of the time.
The most common primary guideline in these cases was §2D2.1 (Unlawful Possession), for 22 of the 23 people.
Counts by Fiscal Year
16 people were sentenced in fiscal years 2016 to 2019, and 7 in fiscal years 2020 to 2025. The yearly counts are very small, from 1 to 7 people, so the table shows where the cases fell and does not show a trend. Fiscal years run from October 1 to the end of September.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 2 | 12 months | 2 of 2 |
| 2017 | 7 | 3.6 months | 6 of 7 |
| 2018 | 7 | 5.4 months | 7 of 7 |
| 2020 | 2 | 3 months | 2 of 2 |
| 2021 | 4 | 0 months | 3 of 4 |
| 2022 | 1 | n/a | 1 of 1 |
What These Records Cannot Show
Ellsworth AFB, South Dakota, is in this district. Courts-martial are tried in military courts, not in this federal district court, and this post reports federal numbers on their own.
The data has no acquittals or dismissals, and it does not show how many drug possession cases were charged and then dropped. It does not show the facts of any case or the reasons for any sentence.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in the District of South Dakota (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "South Dakota") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Drug Possession" (23). 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 (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 South Dakota, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the District of South Dakota, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Firearms Sentences in the District of South Dakota, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Assault Sentences in the District of South Dakota, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Obscenity and Other Sex Offense Sentences in the District of South Dakota, 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.