Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Southern District of Mississippi, FY2016–2025
1,057 people were sentenced for drug trafficking in the Southern District of Mississippi in fiscal years 2016 to 2025, which is 31% of all 3,361 people sentenced in the district. The median prison term was 102 months (8.5 years), compared with 60 months for drug trafficking in all 94 districts. A ma
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In brief: 1,057 people were sentenced for drug trafficking in the Southern District of Mississippi in fiscal years 2016 to 2025, which is 31% of all 3,361 people sentenced in the district. The median prison term was 102 months (8.5 years), compared with 60 months for drug trafficking in all 94 districts. A mandatory minimum applied to 551 of 1,056 people with that information.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 1,057 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.
Prison Terms in the Largest Offense Type in the District
Drug trafficking is the largest offense type in this district's records. 1,044 of the 1,057 people (99%) received a prison term, and 11 (1%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement.
Among those sent to prison, the median prison term was 102 months. A quarter received 169 months or more, and a quarter received 60 months or less. 5 people received a life sentence.
For all 94 federal districts together, 96% of drug trafficking cases ended in prison and the median was 60 months. The median in this district was higher. The median for every offense type in the district was 48 months.
Mandatory Minimums
A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 551 of the 1,056 people with that information recorded (52%). A mandatory minimum is a prison term set by statute that a judge must impose unless a legal exception applies.
The sheet does not give the share for all districts, so this post does not compare it.
Sentences Compared With the Guideline Range
63% of the 1,056 people (669) were sentenced within the guideline range. That share is higher than the 32% for drug trafficking in all districts. It is lower than the 69% for all offenses in this district.
19% (201) were below the range without a government request, and 17% (176) were below it at the government's request. Fewer than 1% (10) were above the range.
Guilty Pleas and Trials
1,035 of the 1,057 people (98%) pleaded guilty, and 22 were convicted after a trial. The rate for all districts was also 98%.
The median prison term after a guilty plea was 98 months. After a trial it was 294 months, based on 22 people. More than 99% of the guilty pleas had a written plea agreement.
What the Primary Guideline Covers
"Drug Trafficking" is the U.S. Sentencing Commission's offense type. Nearly every case used §2D1.1 (Unlawful Manufacturing, Importing, Exporting, or Trafficking (Including Possession with Intent to Commit These Offenses)), with 1,054 people. §2X3.1 (Accessory After the Fact) and §2D1.8 (Renting or Managing a Drug Establishment) each applied to 1.
The records used here do not break the numbers down by drug type.
Fines, Restitution, and Supervised Release
A fine was ordered for 914 people (86%), and restitution for 25 (2%). 1,041 people (98%) were ordered to serve supervised release after prison, with a median term of 48 months.
34% were in criminal history category I, the lowest, and 13% were in category VI, the highest.
Each Fiscal Year in the Table
Fiscal years 2016 to 2019 have 422 people, and fiscal years 2020 to 2025 have 635. The yearly count was lowest in 2021, with 75 people, and highest in 2018, with 133. Yearly medians range from 73 months in 2016 to 120 months in 2019, 2020, and 2024.
The fiscal year runs from October 1 to the end of September.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 79 | 73 months | 99% |
| 2017 | 88 | 78 months | 99% |
| 2018 | 133 | 89.5 months | more than 99% |
| 2019 | 122 | 120 months | 98% |
| 2020 | 91 | 120 months | 97% |
| 2021 | 75 | 97 months | 99% |
| 2022 | 107 | 110 months | 97% |
| 2023 | 128 | 93 months | 97% |
| 2024 | 113 | 120 months | 96% |
| 2025 | 121 | 101.5 months | more than 99% |
Limits of the Data and the Military Context
The Commission counts only people who were convicted and sentenced, so acquittals and dismissals are missing. Terms are the sentences imposed, not time served.
Keesler AFB, Mississippi, is an installation in this district that appears in this site's court-martial data. Courts-martial are tried in military courts, not in this federal district court.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Southern District of Mississippi (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Mississippi South") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Drug Trafficking" (1,057). 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 Mississippi, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- Federal Firearms Sentences in the Southern District of Mississippi, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Southern District of Mississippi, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Immigration Offense Sentences in the Southern District of Mississippi, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Robbery Sentences in the Southern District of Mississippi, 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.