Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, FY2016–2025
Drug trafficking made up 28% of the 5,462 people sentenced in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. Of the 1,512 people sentenced for it, 95% received a prison term, and the median prison term was 60 months (5 years), the same as in all 94 federal districts.
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › Federal Sentences in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, F › Drug Trafficking: Eastern District of Pennsylvania
In brief: Drug trafficking made up 28% of the 5,462 people sentenced in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. Of the 1,512 people sentenced for it, 95% received a prison term, and the median prison term was 60 months (5 years), the same as in all 94 federal districts.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 1,512 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.
The Largest Offense Type in the District
The district sentenced 1,512 people for drug trafficking offenses in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. That is 28% of all 5,462 people sentenced in the district in those years.
1,443 of them (95%) received a prison term, and 53 (4%) received probation only. The median prison term for those sent to prison was 60 months.
A quarter received 30 months or less, and a quarter received 108 months or more. For all offenses in the district, the median prison term was 42 months, so drug trafficking terms were longer than the district's overall median.
Mandatory Minimums Were Common
A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 1,078 of the 1,511 people with that information recorded (71%). A mandatory minimum is a sentence floor set by statute that a judge generally cannot go below.
The records do not show how the mandatory minimum interacted with each sentence. They show only that it applied to most people in this group.
Sentences Below the Guideline Range
The guideline range is the sentence range calculated under the Sentencing Guidelines. Only 21% of sentences (319) were within it.
60% (905) were below the range at the government's request, and 18% (275) were below it without a government request. Less than 1% (13) were above the range.
In all districts, 32% of drug trafficking sentences were within the range. For all offenses in this district, the figure was 34%.
Pleas Versus Trials
1,446 people (96%) pleaded guilty, and 66 were convicted after a trial. The median prison term after a guilty plea was 60 months. After a trial it was 240 months, based on the 66 people convicted at trial and sent to prison.
Among the guilty pleas, 94% had a written plea agreement and 6% were straight pleas with no agreement. The records describe groups of cases and cannot show whether a trial caused the longer median.
Which Guidelines Applied?
"Drug Trafficking" is a U.S. Sentencing Commission offense type, assigned from each case's primary guideline. 1,360 cases used §2D1.1 (Unlawful Manufacturing, Importing, Exporting, or Trafficking (Including Possession with Intent to Commit These Offenses)).
148 cases used §2D1.2 (Drug Offenses Occurring Near Protected Locations or Involving Underage or Pregnant Individuals). 3 used §2D1.8 (Renting or Managing a Drug Establishment), and 1 used §2D1.10 (Endangering Human Life While Illegally Manufacturing a Controlled Substance).
After Prison and Criminal History
1,421 people (94%) were ordered to serve supervised release after prison, with a median term of 60 months. A fine was ordered for 359 (24%), and restitution for 40 (3%).
46% were in the lowest criminal history category, category I, and 16% were in the highest, category VI. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.
Counts and Medians by Year
Fiscal years 2016 to 2019 had 715 people, and fiscal years 2020 to 2025 had 797. A fiscal year runs from October 1 through the end of September.
The yearly counts in the table range from 95 to 215, and the median prison term was 60 months in most years. The table shows 48 months in 2020 and 70 months in 2025. The records cannot show why any year differed.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 153 | 60 months | 96% |
| 2017 | 215 | 60 months | 96% |
| 2018 | 168 | 64 months | 96% |
| 2019 | 179 | 60 months | 92% |
| 2020 | 156 | 48 months | 94% |
| 2021 | 128 | 60 months | 95% |
| 2022 | 164 | 60 months | more than 99% |
| 2023 | 131 | 60 months | 95% |
| 2024 | 123 | 62.5 months | more than 99% |
| 2025 | 95 | 70 months | 95% |
What These Records Leave Out
The Commission counts only people who were convicted and sentenced. Dismissals and acquittals are not in the data, and prison terms are the terms imposed, not time served.
The records do not say which drug was involved in each case or how much.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Penn. East") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Drug Trafficking" (1,512). 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 Eastern District of Pennsylvania, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Firearms Sentences in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Immigration Offense Sentences in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Robbery Sentences in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, 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.