Federal Environmental Offense Sentences in the Western District of Tennessee, FY2016–2025
Of the 16 people sentenced for environmental offenses in the Western District of Tennessee in fiscal years 2016 to 2025, only 1 (6%) received a prison term. Another 15 (94%) received probation only. In all 94 federal districts, 28% of environmental cases ended in prison.
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In brief: Of the 16 people sentenced for environmental offenses in the Western District of Tennessee in fiscal years 2016 to 2025, only 1 (6%) received a prison term. Another 15 (94%) received probation only. In all 94 federal districts, 28% of environmental cases ended in prison.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 16 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 Was the Usual Sentence
The 15 people who received probation only had no prison or other confinement. The sheet's prison figures therefore rest on 1 person, and the median prison term is shown as 0 months.
For environmental cases in all districts together, 28% were sent to prison and the median prison term was 5 months. Prison was less common in this district.
The district's median prison term for all offenses was 60 months.
Fines and Restitution
A fine was ordered for 13 of the 16 people (81%). Restitution was ordered for 4 (25%).
Supervised release after prison was ordered for 2 people (13%), with a median term of 12 months. A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 0 of the 8 people with that information recorded.
Which Guidelines Applied
"Environmental" is the U.S. Sentencing Commission's offense type, assigned by the primary guideline in each sentence. The most common was §2Q2.1 (Offenses Involving Fish, Wildlife, and Plants), with 3 people.
One person was sentenced under §2Q1.3 (Mishandling of Other Environmental Pollutants). The data lists the primary guideline for only a few of the 16 people.
These cases were less than 1% of the 4,226 people sentenced in the district.
Pleas
All 16 people (100%) pleaded guilty, and none were convicted after a trial. Because of that, there is no trial sentence to compare with plea sentences.
Among the guilty pleas, 69% had a written plea agreement and 31% were straight pleas with no agreement. In all districts, 98% pleaded guilty.
Guideline Range and Criminal History
The guideline range was recorded for only 6 people. For all 6 (6 of 6), the sentence was within the range, and none were below or above it.
Criminal history was recorded for 5 people. All 5 (5 of 5) were in the lowest category, category I, and 0 of 5 were in the highest, category VI. For all districts, 50% of sentences were within the range.
Counts by Fiscal Year
The district sentenced 8 people in fiscal years 2016 to 2019 and 8 in fiscal years 2020 to 2025. A fiscal year runs from October 1 through the end of September.
Yearly counts were 1 to 4 people, and several years are missing. Only fiscal year 2020 has a median, 0 months, and the other years show n/a.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 3 | n/a | 3 of 3 |
| 2018 | 1 | n/a | 1 of 1 |
| 2019 | 4 | n/a | 4 of 4 |
| 2020 | 2 | 0 months | 2 of 2 |
| 2023 | 3 | n/a | 3 of 3 |
| 2024 | 1 | n/a | 1 of 1 |
| 2025 | 2 | n/a | 2 of 2 |
What the Records Cannot Show
The Commission counts only people who were convicted and sentenced. Dismissals and acquittals are not included.
With 16 people, the numbers describe a small group and not a trend. The data does not show the facts of any case or the type of environmental harm.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Western District of Tennessee (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Tennessee West") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Environmental" (16). 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 Western District of Tennessee, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Western District of Tennessee, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Firearms Sentences in the Western District of Tennessee, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Western District of Tennessee, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Robbery Sentences in the Western District of Tennessee, 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.