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# Federal Environmental Offense Sentences in the Northern District of California, FY2016–2025
- URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-environmental-sentences-northern-district-of-california/
- Published: 2026-11-04T11:08:07.000Z
- Updated: 2026-11-04T11:08:07.000Z
- Description: Fines were the most common penalty in environmental cases in the Northern District of California: 7 of the 10 people sentenced in fiscal years 2016 to 2023 were ordered to pay one. A prison term went to 5 (50%), with a median of 3 months, and 5 (50%) received probation only. In all 94 federal distri
- 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 Northern District of California, FY](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-district-northern-district-of-california/) › Environmental Offense: Northern District of California

**In brief:** Fines were the most common penalty in environmental cases in the Northern District of California: 7 of the 10 people sentenced in fiscal years 2016 to 2023 were ordered to pay one. A prison term went to 5 (50%), with a median of 3 months, and 5 (50%) received probation only. In all 94 federal districts, 28% of this offense type were sent to prison.

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 10 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/).

## Fines in 7 of 10 Cases

A fine was ordered for 7 of the 10 people (70%). Restitution was ordered for 2 (20%).

Supervised release after prison was ordered for 5 people (50%), with a median term of 12 months.

No mandatory minimum prison term applied to any of the 10 people.

## Prison Compared With Probation

A prison term went to 5 people (50%), and 5 (50%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement.

Among those sent to prison, the median prison term was 3 months. A quarter received 3.3 months or more, and a quarter received 0 months or less.

In all 94 districts, 1,638 people were sentenced for environmental offenses. Of those, 28% were sent to prison and the median prison term was 5 months. The district had a higher share sent to prison and a lower median, but 10 people is a small base.

## Fish, Wildlife, and Plant Cases

"Environmental" is the U.S. Sentencing Commission's offense type. It is assigned from each case's primary guideline.

In this district, 7 people were sentenced under §2Q2.1 (Offenses Involving Fish, Wildlife, and Plants). One person was sentenced under §2Q1.2 (Mishandling of Hazardous or Toxic Substances or Pesticides), and 1 under §2Q1.3 (Mishandling of Other Environmental Pollutants).

Environmental cases were less than 1% of the 4,531 people sentenced in the district across fiscal years 2016 to 2025.

## Guideline Range

For 9 of the 10 people, the position against the guideline range is recorded. For 4 of the 9 the sentence was within the range, and for 5 of the 9 it was below the range without a government request.

None was below the range at the government's request, and none was above the range.

Nationally, 50% of environmental sentences were within the range. For all offenses in this district, the figure was 24%.

## Pleas and Trials

Of the 10 people, 9 (90%) pleaded guilty and 1 was convicted after a trial. Among the 9 guilty pleas, 8 had a written plea agreement and 1 was a straight plea with no agreement.

The median prison term after a guilty plea was 1.5 months. The person convicted at trial and sent to prison received 30 months. One case cannot be compared with a group.

On criminal history, 7 of 9 were in the lowest category, category I, and 0 of 9 were in the highest, category VI. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.

## Reading the Yearly Table

The federal fiscal year begins October 1 and ends September 30\. The records show 7 people sentenced in fiscal years 2016 to 2019 and 3 in fiscal years 2020 to 2025.

Each year in the table has 1 to 3 people, and the table has no rows for 2022, 2024, or 2025\. The yearly medians for 2016 and 2018 are marked n/a. These counts are too small to show a trend.

The records count only people who were convicted and sentenced. They cannot show the facts of any case, and prison terms are the terms imposed, not time served.

| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
| ----------- | ---------------- | ------------- | -------------- |
| 2016        | 3                | n/a           | 3 of 3         |
| 2017        | 1                | 3 months      | 1 of 1         |
| 2018        | 2                | n/a           | 2 of 2         |
| 2019        | 1                | 30 months     | 0 of 1         |
| 2020        | 1                | 0 months      | 1 of 1         |
| 2021        | 1                | 3.3 months    | 1 of 1         |
| 2023        | 1                | 0 months      | 1 of 1         |

### How We Counted

Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Northern District of California (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "California North") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Environmental" (10). 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](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 Northern District of California, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-district-northern-district-of-california/) (overview)
- [Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Northern District of California, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-drug-trafficking-sentences-northern-district-of-california/) (same district, other offense type)
- [Federal Firearms Sentences in the Northern District of California, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-firearms-sentences-northern-district-of-california/) (same district, other offense type)
- [Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Northern District of California, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-fraud-theft-embezzlement-sentences-northern-district-of-california/) (same district, other offense type)
- [Federal Immigration Offense Sentences in the Northern District of California, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-immigration-sentences-northern-district-of-california/) (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.