> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.bodiesburied.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Federal Extortion and Racketeering Sentences in the Eastern District of Missouri, FY2016–2025 - URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-extortion-racketeering-sentences-eastern-district-of-missouri/ - Published: 2026-11-04T10:36:04.000Z - Updated: 2026-11-04T10:36:04.000Z - Description: 35 of the 62 people (56%) sentenced for extortion and racketeering offenses in the Eastern District of Missouri in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 received probation only. 27 (44%) received a prison term, with a median of 15 months. For all 94 federal districts, 81% were sent to prison and the median was - 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 Eastern District of Missouri, FY201](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-district-eastern-district-of-missouri/) › Extortion and Racketeering: Eastern District of Missouri **In brief:** 35 of the 62 people (56%) sentenced for extortion and racketeering offenses in the Eastern District of Missouri in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 received probation only. 27 (44%) received a prison term, with a median of 15 months. For all 94 federal districts, 81% were sent to prison and the median was 30 months. 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 62 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/). ## Probation Only Was More Common Than Prison Probation only means no prison or other confinement. It was the sentence for 35 of the 62 people (56%). The other 27 (44%) were sent to prison. Across all districts, 81% of people in this offense type were sent to prison. The share in this district was lower, and so was the median prison term: 15 months here, compared with 30 months for all districts. A quarter of those sent to prison received 34 months or more, and a quarter received 5.8 months or less. ## Contraband Cigarette Cases Dominate "Extortion/Racketeering" is the U.S. Sentencing Commission's offense type, assigned from the primary guideline in each case. In this district, the most common was §2E4.1 (Unlawful Conduct Relating to Contraband Cigarettes and Smokeless Tobacco), used for 50 people. §2B3.3 (Blackmail and Similar Forms of Extortion) was used for 8, §2E1.4 (Use of Interstate Commerce Facilities in the Commission of Murder-For-Hire) for 3, and §2B3.2 (Extortion by Force or Threat of Injury or Serious Damage) for 1\. These cases were less than 1% of the 9,425 people sentenced in the district. ## Restitution and Supervised Release Restitution, which is payment to a victim, was ordered for 49 people (79%), and a fine for 4 (6%). Supervised release after prison was ordered for 27 people (44%), with a median term of 36 months. The share with restitution is large for a group in which most people did not go to prison. The records do not give the amounts. ## Guideline Range and Mandatory Minimums The range was recorded for all 62 people. Below it without a government request were 30 sentences (48%), and below it at the government's request were 17 (27%). Within it were 15 (24%), and none were above it. For all districts, 36% of sentences in this offense type were within the range. For all offenses in this district, 42% were. A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 0 of the 62 people (0%). ## Pleas and Criminal History 61 of the 62 people (98%) pleaded guilty, and 1 was convicted after a trial. For all districts, 95% pleaded guilty. Among guilty pleas, 100% had a written plea agreement. In criminal history, 89% were in the lowest category and 2% in the highest. Court-martial records have no criminal history field. ## Yearly Counts Fell After Fiscal Year 2019 Fiscal years 2016 to 2019 had 43 people, and fiscal years 2020 to 2025 had 19\. The largest single year was fiscal year 2018, with 22 people. Later years had 2 to 5 people, and the table shows "n/a" for fiscal year 2021, when too few were sent to prison to give a median. The data counts only people who were convicted and sentenced. Acquittals and dismissals are not in it, and prison terms are those imposed, not time served. The records cannot show why the counts changed. | Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty | | ----------- | ---------------- | ------------- | -------------- | | 2016 | 9 | 6 months | 8 of 9 | | 2017 | 4 | 22.4 months | 4 of 4 | | 2018 | 22 | 16.5 months | 100% | | 2019 | 8 | 0 months | 8 of 8 | | 2020 | 5 | 5.7 months | 5 of 5 | | 2021 | 2 | n/a | 2 of 2 | | 2022 | 4 | 0.3 months | 4 of 4 | | 2023 | 4 | 47 months | 4 of 4 | | 2024 | 2 | 42 months | 2 of 2 | | 2025 | 2 | 97 months | 2 of 2 | ### How We Counted Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Eastern District of Missouri (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Missouri East") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Extortion/Racketeering" (62). 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 Eastern District of Missouri, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-district-eastern-district-of-missouri/) (overview) - [Federal Firearms Sentences in the Eastern District of Missouri, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-firearms-sentences-eastern-district-of-missouri/) (same district, other offense type) - [Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Eastern District of Missouri, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-drug-trafficking-sentences-eastern-district-of-missouri/) (same district, other offense type) - [Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Eastern District of Missouri, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-fraud-theft-embezzlement-sentences-eastern-district-of-missouri/) (same district, other offense type) - [Federal Child Pornography Sentences in the Eastern District of Missouri, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-child-pornography-sentences-eastern-district-of-missouri/) (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.