Federal Extortion and Racketeering Sentences in the Northern District of West Virginia, FY2016–2025
All 19 people sentenced for extortion or racketeering offenses in the Northern District of West Virginia pleaded guilty. Only 7 (37%) received a prison term, and 11 (58%) received probation only. Across all 94 federal districts, 81% of people in this offense type were sent to prison.
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In brief: All 19 people sentenced for extortion or racketeering offenses in the Northern District of West Virginia pleaded guilty. Only 7 (37%) received a prison term, and 11 (58%) received probation only. Across all 94 federal districts, 81% of people in this offense type were sent to prison.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 19 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.
Contraband Cigarette Cases Make Up Most of the Group
The Sentencing Commission's "Extortion/Racketeering" category is assigned from the primary guideline applied at sentencing. In this district, 15 of the 19 cases used §2E4.1 (Unlawful Conduct Relating to Contraband Cigarettes and Smokeless Tobacco). The other 4 used §2E1.1 (Unlawful Conduct Relating to Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations).
The category name suggests violent or organized crime, but the guidelines in this district's cases are mostly about contraband tobacco. The records do not give the facts of any case. These cases were less than 1% of the 2,879 people sentenced in the district.
Who Went to Prison
The records cover fiscal years 2016 to 2024 for this offense type. Of the 19 people, 7 (37%) received a prison term, and 11 (58%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement.
Among the 7 who went to prison, the median prison term was 24 months (2 years). A quarter received 28.5 months or more, and a quarter received 21 months or less. Across all districts, the median for this offense type was 30 months. For all offenses in this district, it was 37 months.
Supervised release after prison was ordered for 7 people (37%), with a median term of 36 months.
Sentences Below the Guideline Range
Most sentences were below the guideline range. Of the 19 people, 11 (58%) were sentenced below the range without a government request, and 4 (21%) were sentenced below it at the government's request. Another 4 (21%) were sentenced within the range. None were above the range.
Across all districts, 36% of sentences for this offense type were within the range. For all offenses in this district, 57% were. Within-range sentences were less common here than in either group.
Pleas, Agreements, and Mandatory Minimums
Every one of the 19 people (100%) pleaded guilty, and none was convicted after a trial. Across all districts, 95% pleaded guilty. Among these guilty pleas, 95% had a written plea agreement and 5% were straight pleas.
A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 0 of the 19 people. Because there was no trial, the sheet has no separate trial figure.
Fines, Restitution, and Criminal History
A fine was ordered for 8 people (42%), and restitution for 1 (5%). A fine is more common here than restitution.
In the criminal history records, 74% of people were in the lowest category, category I, and 0% were in the highest, category VI. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.
Cases by Year
The district sentenced 15 people in fiscal years 2016 to 2019 and 4 in fiscal years 2020 to 2025. Most of the cases are from the earlier years, and none appear in the table for 2020 to 2022.
The yearly groups have 2 to 5 people, so the table does not show a trend. The "n/a" entries mean no median prison term was recorded for that year.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 3 | 18 months | 3 of 3 |
| 2017 | 2 | 24 months | 2 of 2 |
| 2018 | 5 | 30 months | 5 of 5 |
| 2019 | 5 | n/a | 5 of 5 |
| 2023 | 2 | 25.5 months | 2 of 2 |
| 2024 | 2 | n/a | 2 of 2 |
Limits of the Data
Only people who were convicted and sentenced are counted. Acquittals and dismissals are not in the data, and prison terms are the terms imposed, not time served.
The records cannot show why most of these people received probation, or whether the lower number of cases after 2019 reflects fewer prosecutions.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Northern District of West Virginia (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "W Virginia North") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Extortion/Racketeering" (19). 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 Northern District of West Virginia, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Northern District of West Virginia, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Firearms Sentences in the Northern District of West Virginia, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Northern District of West Virginia, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Prison Offense Sentences in the Northern District of West Virginia, 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.