> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.bodiesburied.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Federal Drug Possession Sentences in the Southern District of New York, FY2016–2025 - URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-drug-possession-sentences-southern-district-of-new-york/ - Published: 2026-11-04T10:31:55.000Z - Updated: 2026-11-04T10:31:55.000Z - Description: In fiscal years 2016 to 2025, the Southern District of New York sentenced 65 people for the Commission's offense type "Drug Possession". Probation only was the result for 36 of them (55%), and 27 (42%) received a prison term. The median prison term among those sent to prison was 0 months. All 65 ple - Author: Jocelyn C. Stewart - Tags: Understanding Trends, Federal [Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/) › [Federal Prosecution Analysis](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal/) › [Federal Sentences in the Southern District of New York, FY20](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-district-southern-district-of-new-york/) › Drug Possession: Southern District of New York **In brief:** In fiscal years 2016 to 2025, the Southern District of New York sentenced 65 people for the Commission's offense type "Drug Possession". Probation only was the result for 36 of them (55%), and 27 (42%) received a prison term. The median prison term among those sent to prison was 0 months. All 65 pleaded guilty. Updated November 4, 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 65 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/). ## Probation Only Was Common 36 of the 65 people (55%) were sentenced to probation only, with no prison or other confinement. 27 people (42%) were sentenced to prison. For the group sent to prison, the median prison term was 0 months. A quarter received 0.2 months or more, and a quarter received 0 months or less. The figures are the terms imposed, not time served. For this offense type across all 94 districts, 68% of people were sent to prison, and the median prison term was 6 months. Both numbers are lower in this district. ## All 65 People Pleaded Guilty No one in this group was convicted after a trial, so the sheet has no trial median to report. Guilty pleas were 100% here, more than 99% for this offense type in all districts, and 95% for all offenses in this district. Among the guilty pleas, 95% had a written plea agreement, and 3% were straight pleas with no agreement. ## Sentences Matched the Guideline Range Almost Every Time Federal judges calculate a guideline range in each case. The Commission records whether the final sentence fell inside it, below it, or above it. For 91% of these people (59), the sentence was within the range. It was below the range at the government's request for 2% (1) and below the range without a government request for 8% (5). No sentence was above the range. Across all districts, 90% of sentences for this offense type were within the range. For all offenses in this district the share was 22%, so drug possession cases here were far more often within the range than the district's cases as a whole. A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 1 of the 63 people with that information recorded (2%). ## What the Category Includes Drug Possession is one of the Commission's offense types. The primary guideline was §2D2.1 (Unlawful Possession) for 63 of the 65 people. The cases were less than 1% of the 12,035 people sentenced in this district in these fiscal years. The median prison term for all offenses in the district was 33 months. ## Few People Each Year The federal fiscal year begins October 1 and ends the next September. The district sentenced 39 people in fiscal years 2016 to 2019 and 26 people in fiscal years 2020 to 2025. Fiscal year 2017 had the most people, with 17\. The yearly median was 0 months or close to it in all years except 2023, when it was 9.2 months for 2 people. Counts this small do not show a trend. | Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty | | ----------- | ---------------- | ------------- | -------------- | | 2016 | 8 | 0 months | 8 of 8 | | 2017 | 17 | 0 months | 100% | | 2018 | 6 | 0.2 months | 6 of 6 | | 2019 | 8 | 0.3 months | 8 of 8 | | 2020 | 9 | 0 months | 9 of 9 | | 2021 | 6 | 0 months | 6 of 6 | | 2022 | 4 | 0 months | 4 of 4 | | 2023 | 2 | 9.2 months | 2 of 2 | | 2024 | 1 | 0.3 months | 1 of 1 | | 2025 | 4 | 0 months | 4 of 4 | ## Supervised Release, Fines, and Gaps in the Records 24 people (37%) were ordered to serve supervised release after prison, and the median term was 12 months. A fine was ordered for 28 people (43%), and restitution for 1 (2%). Criminal history category I, the lowest, applied to 80% of the people, and category VI, the highest, applied to 3%. Court-martial records have no criminal history field. Anyone whose case ended in acquittal or dismissal is missing from these numbers, because the Commission records only people who were sentenced. The numbers also give no facts about what any person did. ### How We Counted Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Southern District of New York (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "New York South") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Drug Possession" (65). 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) - [Federal Sentences in the Southern District of New York, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-district-southern-district-of-new-york/) (overview) - [Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Southern District of New York, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-drug-trafficking-sentences-southern-district-of-new-york/) (same district, other offense type) - [Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Southern District of New York, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-fraud-theft-embezzlement-sentences-southern-district-of-new-york/) (same district, other offense type) - [Federal Firearms Sentences in the Southern District of New York, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-firearms-sentences-southern-district-of-new-york/) (same district, other offense type) - [Federal Robbery Sentences in the Southern District of New York, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-robbery-sentences-southern-district-of-new-york/) (same district, other offense type) - [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.