> ## 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 Trafficking Sentences in the District of Maine, FY2016–2025 - URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-drug-trafficking-sentences-district-of-maine/ - Published: 2026-11-04T11:12:31.000Z - Updated: 2026-11-04T11:12:31.000Z - Description: Drug trafficking is the largest offense type in the District of Maine: 718 of the 1,628 people sentenced in fiscal years 2016 to 2025, or 44%. The median prison term was 48 months, lower than the 60 months across all 94 federal districts for the same offense type. Of the 718 people, 696 pleaded guil - 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 District of Maine, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-district-district-of-maine/) › Drug Trafficking: District of Maine **In brief:** Drug trafficking is the largest offense type in the District of Maine: 718 of the 1,628 people sentenced in fiscal years 2016 to 2025, or 44%. The median prison term was 48 months, lower than the 60 months across all 94 federal districts for the same offense type. Of the 718 people, 696 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 718 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/). ## The Largest Share of Maine's Federal Cases The U.S. Sentencing Commission counted 718 people sentenced for drug trafficking in the District of Maine from fiscal years 2016 to 2025\. Drug trafficking is the Commission's offense type, and it is a category rather than a single statute. These 718 people were 44% of everyone sentenced in the district in those years. The Commission's data includes only people who were convicted and sentenced. Acquittals and dismissals are not in it. A federal fiscal year begins on October 1 and ends the following September. ## Prison Terms in Maine and Nationwide Of the 718 people, 681 (95%) received a prison term, and 35 (5%) received probation only. Among those sent to prison, the median prison term was 48 months (4 years). A quarter received 84 months or more, and a quarter received 24 months or less. Across all 94 districts, drug trafficking covers 185,188 people. Of those, 96% were sent to prison, and the median prison term was 60 months. For all offenses in Maine, the median prison term was 36 months, so drug trafficking terms were longer than the district's overall figure and shorter than the national drug trafficking figure. Prison terms are the terms imposed by the court, not the time served. ## Guilty Pleas Compared With Trials Guilty pleas were 97% of these cases: 696 of 718\. Another 22 people were convicted after a trial. Nationwide, guilty pleas were 98% for this offense type. The median prison term after a guilty plea was 46 months. After a trial, it was 159.5 months, based on 20 people who were convicted at trial and sent to prison. The groups differ in many ways the records do not show, so the comparison cannot show what a trial costs or saves a defendant. Among guilty pleas, 71% had a written plea agreement and 29% were straight pleas with no agreement. ## Mandatory Minimums and Guideline Ranges A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 257 of the 718 people with that information recorded (36%). Only 15% of sentences (110) were within the guideline range. Another 56% (405) were below the range at the government's request, and 27% (192) were below the range without a government request. Sentences above the range numbered 11 (2%). For all offenses in Maine, 30% of sentences were within the range, and for drug trafficking across all districts, the figure was 32%. ## Which Guideline Applied The Commission lists a primary guideline for each case. Of the 718, 706 were sentenced primarily under §2D1.1 (Unlawful Manufacturing, Importing, Exporting, or Trafficking (Including Possession with Intent to Commit These Offenses)). Another 8 were sentenced under §2D1.8 (Renting or Managing a Drug Establishment), and 4 under §2X3.1 (Accessory After the Fact). ## Supervised Release, Fines, and Criminal History Supervised release after prison was ordered for 679 people (95%), with a median term of 36 months. A fine was ordered for 46 (6%), and restitution for 6 (less than 1%). Among the 718 people, 34% were in the lowest criminal history category, category I, and 13% were in the highest, category VI. Court-martial records have no criminal history field. ## Year-by-Year Counts Fiscal years 2016 to 2019 account for 320 people, and fiscal years 2020 to 2025 account for 398 people. The yearly count was highest in fiscal year 2021, with 109 people, and lowest in fiscal year 2024, with 41 people. The table shows the count, median prison term, and share pleading guilty for each year. The median ranged from 36 months to 60 months across the years. The records cannot show why any year differed from another. | Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty | | ----------- | ---------------- | ------------- | -------------- | | 2016 | 104 | 48 months | 94% | | 2017 | 84 | 54 months | 95% | | 2018 | 60 | 55 months | 97% | | 2019 | 72 | 36 months | 97% | | 2020 | 66 | 37 months | 100% | | 2021 | 109 | 60 months | 98% | | 2022 | 96 | 36.7 months | 100% | | 2023 | 44 | 48 months | 98% | | 2024 | 41 | 60 months | 93% | | 2025 | 42 | 54 months | 95% | ### How We Counted Everyone sentenced in federal court in the District of Maine (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Maine") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Drug Trafficking" (718). 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 District of Maine, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-district-district-of-maine/) (overview) - [Federal Firearms Sentences in the District of Maine, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-firearms-sentences-district-of-maine/) (same district, other offense type) - [Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the District of Maine, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-fraud-theft-embezzlement-sentences-district-of-maine/) (same district, other offense type) - [Federal Child Pornography Sentences in the District of Maine, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-child-pornography-sentences-district-of-maine/) (same district, other offense type) - [Federal Immigration Offense Sentences in the District of Maine, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-immigration-sentences-district-of-maine/) (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.