Federal Environmental Offense Sentences in the Eastern District of Louisiana, FY2016–2025
Of the 44 people sentenced in the "Environmental" offense type in the Eastern District of Louisiana in fiscal years 2016 to 2023, 42 (95%) received probation only and 1 (2%) received a prison term. In all 94 federal districts, 28% of people in this offense type were sent to prison.
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In brief: Of the 44 people sentenced in the "Environmental" offense type in the Eastern District of Louisiana in fiscal years 2016 to 2023, 42 (95%) received probation only and 1 (2%) received a prison term. In all 94 federal districts, 28% of people in this offense type were sent to prison.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 44 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 Only for Nearly Everyone
Probation only, with no prison or other confinement, went to 42 of 44 people (95%). One person (2%) received a prison term of 24 months.
Because only 1 person was sent to prison, the quarter-based figures all read 24 months. The median prison term of 24 months therefore describes a single case.
In all 94 districts, 1,638 people were sentenced in this offense type, and the median prison term was 5 months. The median for all offenses in this district was 60 months.
Fines Were the Usual Financial Penalty
A fine was ordered for 33 people (75%), and restitution for 2 (5%). Supervised release after prison was ordered for 1 person (2%), with a median term of 36 months.
Fines and probation were more common in this group than prison. The sheet does not report the amount of any fine.
Types of Environmental Cases
The Commission's "Environmental" category is based on the main sentencing guideline. The most common here was §2Q2.1 (Offenses Involving Fish, Wildlife, and Plants), with 16 cases.
Next was §2Q1.3 (Mishandling of Other Environmental Pollutants), with 7 cases, followed by §2Q1.2 (Mishandling of Hazardous or Toxic Substances or Pesticides), with 2 cases. In the district's records for fiscal years 2016 to 2025, environmental cases made up 1% of the 2,953 people sentenced.
All 44 Pleaded Guilty
All 44 people (100%) entered guilty pleas, and no one was convicted after a trial. Among the guilty pleas, 55% had a written plea agreement and 41% were straight pleas with no agreement.
The guilty plea share was 98% in this offense type across all 94 districts and 96% for all offenses in this district.
Guideline Range and Criminal History
Sentences were within the guideline range for 48% of the 25 people with that information (12 people). They were below the range without a government request for 40% (10 people) and at the government's request for 12% (3 people). None were above the range.
In all 94 districts, 50% of sentences in this offense type were within the range. For all offenses in this district the figure was 56%. No mandatory minimum applied to anyone with that information recorded. In criminal history, 92% were in the lowest category and 0% in the highest. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.
Counts by Fiscal Year
The data for this offense type runs through fiscal year 2023. Fiscal years 2016 to 2019 had 23 people, and fiscal years 2020 to 2025 had 21 people.
Yearly counts ranged from 1 to 10 people. Only fiscal year 2016 has a median prison term listed, because the other years had no one sent to prison. The table does not show a trend.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 8 | 24 months | 8 of 8 |
| 2017 | 9 | n/a | 9 of 9 |
| 2018 | 1 | n/a | 1 of 1 |
| 2019 | 5 | n/a | 5 of 5 |
| 2020 | 10 | n/a | 100% |
| 2021 | 5 | n/a | 5 of 5 |
| 2022 | 3 | n/a | 3 of 3 |
| 2023 | 3 | n/a | 3 of 3 |
What the Records Do Not Show
Only people who were convicted and sentenced appear in the Commission's data. Charges that ended in acquittal or dismissal are missing, and the prison term shown is the one imposed, not the time served.
Nothing in the records describes the facts of a case or the harm involved. The post reports federal numbers on their own.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Eastern District of Louisiana (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Louisiana East") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Environmental" (44). 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.
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 Louisiana, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Eastern District of Louisiana, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Eastern District of Louisiana, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Firearms Sentences in the Eastern District of Louisiana, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Immigration Offense Sentences in the Eastern District of Louisiana, 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.