Federal Drug Possession Sentences in the Southern District of Texas, FY2016–2025
In the Southern District of Texas, 19 people were sentenced for drug possession in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. Only 11 (58%) received a prison term, and 8 (42%) received probation only. The median prison term was 4.6 months, and all 19 pleaded guilty.
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › Federal Sentences in the Southern District of Texas, FY2016– › Drug Possession: Southern District of Texas
In brief: In the Southern District of Texas, 19 people were sentenced for drug possession in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. Only 11 (58%) received a prison term, and 8 (42%) received probation only. The median prison term was 4.6 months, and all 19 pleaded guilty.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 19 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 Common in This Group
Drug possession is the U.S. Sentencing Commission's offense type for cases where possession, not distribution, was the main guideline. In this district, 8 of the 19 people (42%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement.
Across all 94 federal districts, 68% of people sentenced for this offense type were sent to prison. In this district the share was 58%, which is lower. Both figures count only people who were convicted and sentenced.
Length of the Prison Terms
For the 11 people sent to prison, the median prison term was 4.6 months. A quarter received 5.9 months or more. A quarter received 0 months or less.
Nationally, the median prison term for this offense type was 6 months. For all offenses in this district, the median was 13 months. The prison terms here are terms imposed, not time served.
Guilty Pleas and Plea Agreements
All 19 people (100%) pleaded guilty, and 0 were convicted after a trial. Of those pleas, 58% had a written plea agreement and 42% were straight pleas with no agreement.
The Commission's data does not include acquittals or dismissals, so it cannot show how many possession cases in this district ended without a conviction.
Position Against the Guideline Range
The guideline range was recorded for 17 people. Of those, 88% (15) were sentenced within the range. One person (6%) was sentenced below the range at the government's request, and 1 (6%) was sentenced above it. Nobody received a sentence below the range without a government request.
Across all districts, 90% of sentences for this offense type were within the range. For all offenses in this district, the figure was 58%.
A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 1 of the 12 people with that information recorded (8%).
Supervised Release, Fines, and Criminal History
Supervised release after prison was ordered for 7 people (37%), with a median term of 12 months. A fine was ordered for 10 (53%), and restitution for 0 (0%).
In criminal history, 71% were in the lowest category I and 0% in the highest (VI). Court-martial records have no criminal history field.
The most common primary guideline was §2D2.1 (Unlawful Possession), used for 11 people.
Small Numbers by Year
Fiscal years 2016 to 2019 had 14 people, and fiscal years 2020 to 2025 had 5. No year has more than 6 people, and the table lists only years with cases.
These counts are too small to show a trend. The same offense type across all 94 districts covers 5,909 people, and drug possession cases were less than 1% of the 71,026 people sentenced in this district.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 6 | 2.5 months | 6 of 6 |
| 2017 | 3 | 4.6 months | 3 of 3 |
| 2018 | 3 | 0 months | 3 of 3 |
| 2019 | 2 | 6 months | 2 of 2 |
| 2020 | 2 | 6 months | 2 of 2 |
| 2021 | 2 | n/a | 2 of 2 |
| 2025 | 1 | 5.8 months | 1 of 1 |
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 whose offense type was "Drug Possession" (19). 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 Southern District of Texas, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- Federal Immigration Offense Sentences in the Southern District of Texas, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Southern District of Texas, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Firearms Sentences in the Southern District of Texas, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Southern District of Texas, 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.